Lack of promotion hindered attendance at center, fan says

Youngstown rap groups opened Crunksgiving, a rousing hip-hop show.
By KATIE LIBECCO
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
The acts were big, the crowd wasn't.
The Chevrolet Centre hosted the first large hip-hop concert, Lil John's Crunksgiving, drawing around 1,000 people Wednesday night, whereas the Trans-Siberian Orchestra had two sell-out performances on Sunday at the Chevrolet Centre. Performers at the hip-hop show included the Eastside Boyz, Dem Franchise Boys, Jim Jones and the Ying Yang Twins, all popular national rap acts.
Lil John and the Eastside Boyz, Big Sam and Lil Bo, made Dirty South bass and party music famous. They're most known for their unique vocal styles, song contributions to video games, including "Need for Speed Underground" and their song & quot;Yeah & quot; with Usher, featuring Ludacris.
"There really wasn't enough promoting for this. I think they could've done better. Maybe they will for the next show," Ray Brooke, 21, of Youngstown, said of Wednesday night's show. "Turnout wasn't what I thought it was going to be, but it was pretty good."
Although concert promoters did not release an official number of tickets sold, the empty rows of blue seats in the arena couldn't hide the lack of concertgoers. Across the front of the stage there were rows of fans, but only back about 20 rows.
"It was a great night and I heard a lot of good stuff. I loved it," Carl DePizzo, 22, of Youngstown, said. "Security did a really good job tonight, too."
Crunksgiving's audience was primarily young, consisting of mostly high school and college students.
Ashlei Jemison, 17, and Hollywood Williams, 15, attend Campbell Memorial School. Williams said she attended the show to see Jim Jones, while Jemison said she wanted to see Lil John.
"It went how I expected, it was great," Williams said.
Prices
Tickets for the concert went up to $60, but were a small price to pay for more than four hours of live hip-hop, original mixing and a chance to hear the best rappers today freestyle. Although there was no merchandise for sale at the show, fans could purchase cans of Crunk Juice energy drink for $5.
The evening's performance began with performances by local rappers. The first group to take the stage was Youngstown State University students Keith "2 Fly" Logan and Priceless Pain. After one song, another Youngstown group, Don't Even Move, took the stage, featuring performers Eclipz, another YSU student, and Infamous Cobb, a former YSU student. The crowd showed a lot of support for the upcoming groups.
After the local groups, Dem Franchise Boys took the stage; they got the most stage time throughout the night. The southern rap group topped charts last summer with their single, & quot;White Tee." They followed it by September's release of & quot;I Think They Like Me. & quot;
Dem Franchize Boys include members Gerald & quot;Buddie & quot; Tiller, Bernard & quot;Jizzal Man & quot; Leverette, Maurice & quot;Parlae & quot; Gleaton and Jamall & quot;Pimpin & quot; Willinghamd. Originally signed to Universal Records, they are recording with Virgin Records.
The best performance of the night was that of rapper Jim Jones, with his crew of 10 emcees and one DJ on stage. His set was highlighted with his song "Certified Gangsters." A crowd of about 30 in the front of the stage were enthusiastic, while there was little movement in the audience.
Another act
The action did pick up when the Ying Yang Twins took the stage, and their songs were well received by the crowd. The Atlanta-based group can be heard all over the radio with their song & quot;Wait [Whisper Song], & quot; a popular party song. They hit the national music scene in 2000.
Their performance, overall, was well choreographed, especially their Michael Jackson dance break. Their DJ, Scientist, also had a solo that featured a lot of flair and style. They ended their set with "Shake it Like a Salt Shaker."
Lil John's performance was notably shorter than the other sets, but didn't fall short on the number of "Yeahs" and "OKs" necessary. Comedian Dave Chappelle popularized Lil John's trademark statements on "The Chappelle Show" last season, and Lil John's popularity has only increased from it.
Charles "Lucky" Penny, returned from his new home, Atlanta, where he is working on a new album to see the first big hip-hop show at the New Chevrolet Centre. Performing during the arena's ribbon cutting ceremony, Lucky Penny was the first rap artist to appear on stage at the arena.
Promotion
"I feel like the show had great energy, but I'm hoping they do something things differently next time. The biggest factor to look at it obviously promotion, but maybe do some surveys and look at demographics," he said. "People have got to realize that Chevrolet Centre is here and they can't be so political. It's Youngstown's arena. It's the people's arena. Things need to change."
Lucky Penny also did his best at describing what crunk means to the hip-hop community.
The next performance at the Chevrolet Centre will be Clay Aiken's holiday show, "Joyful Noise 2005" Sunday. Tickets are $53.50 and $43.50 at all gettix.net locations, including City Centre One Building, Skate Zone, USA Cinema or charge by phone at (866) 443-8849.
For more information on the shows, visit www.chevroletcentre.com.