Last week, I peeped Goapele alongside Floetry at the TLA in Philadelphia. First of all, let me say that when I heard they were going on tour, I was excited because I wanted to see Goapele live, as I hadn't before, but there was no stop listed in Philly. I chalked it up and said 'OH WELL'.

Then I was walking down South Street and saw it listed on the marquee of the TLA. I'm not sure who is in charge of promotion, but that was sad. No one knew until the day before, but that didn't prove to be a negative, because it was packed.

Anyway, we got there when the act before Goapele was finishing. I couldn't tell you their names, but they were some brothas and they were okay. The main dude was unbuttoning his shirt like he was LL, and that was funny, but he had a nice voice.

Then my homegirl Goapele came on as beautiful as she wants to be. And there weren't many people in there who were super familiar with her, so I kind of stood out when singing, but who cares right? She started off with "Change It All" from the new album, before busting into "First Love" also from the new album, and leading into "Love Me Right", which she revealed is the next single. I was happy to hear "Different" and I had hopes that Black Thought or someone would come out and do the rap part, since we were in Philly, but that's my wishful thinking! The band was really tight and held her down, although at times they drowned out her soft, but powerful voice. She of course did "Closer", which was her introductory song to the world. People started to warm up to her then, but since that was the last song, it was too late.

Philly is a tough crowd really...you practically have to eat fire while singing and dancing to get a reaction out of anyone.

Floetry was okay. The girls look phenomenal. They lost a bunch of weight and appeared very energetic and happy to be in their second home of Illadelph. They revealed that it's been 6 years since they moved here. They did their most notable songs "Say Yes", "Floetic", "Gettin Late", and "Butterflies". Marsha (songstress) sang her *** off. Her range is something else. But, there were some points where she'd screech, and I shuttered in disapproval. But it's her artistry and I respect her for that. I never realized how funny they both are and how they have such good chemistry together. The band was the highlight however. Their percussionist and keyboard player possessed so much talent and passion for what they were doing. You could just tell. I'd love to hear more from both of them just on the instrumental tip. As the jam sessions and poetic vibe went on and on, we got tired and headed out. I could hear people around me gruntled at how long some of the spoken word element was overtaken the actual music element, but I'm like 'duh, this is a FLOETRY concert'...that's just what they do!

Very enjoyable concert and even better we had a BOGO ticket..buy one, get one free. That's what I'm talkin' bout!!