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Justice, Mos Def, White Williams - photos from FADER's 50th

Before the show my friend Joey asked, “Is Justice just DJing, or are they, you know, DJING?” It was the lowercase one, though the lowercase and uppercase versions of their set have at least a few songs in common – “D.A.N.C.E.”, “We Are Your Friends”, and “Killing in the Name Of” at least….

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Photos by Bao Nguyen. More below….

White Williams….

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Justice….

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Mos Def….

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The whole thing ran late. White Williams was the opener, and he didn’t even go on until at least 10:30 or 11:00. To make it worse (it was Monday night), he talked for like 5 minutes between every song. There may have been technical difficulties – I’m not sure, but he definitely wasn’t winning anyone over with his banter.

Justice were good, though I was already starting to fade by the time they went on. I wasn’t alone – Bowery Ballroom was half-empty by the time they finished their set. That was good for those who were feeling it and dancing (they had lots of room).

Mos Def went on around 1am to the same half-filled room that now also included actor Luis Guzman. The whole thing was awkward-feeling by then. I wonder if anyone would have been still been there if all the alcohol wasn’t free. Mos Def wasn’t doing it for me, and I took off after a couple of songs.

Kanye West was rumored to be performing. I don’t think that happened. Someone also said he was there. I didn’t see him.

All photos by Bao Nguyen @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC (Dec 10, 2007).