Concert Recap: Ice Cube, Cypress Hill, and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Brings The West Coast Sound to West Texas

I remember in early July when Andrew and I saw a post on Cook’s Garage’s social media page saying they were going to announce a big concert in the upcoming days, and we threw some ideas around as a joke. With Cook’s Garage being known for bringing in big country acts, no one expected on July 8th that they would announce 90s Hip-Hop legends Ice Cube, Cypress Hill, and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony would come to Lubbock at the end of August. Ice Cube? In Lubbock? What are the odds? Sure, we’ve had Rick Ross come once, fraternities bring an artist they can afford each football season, Waka Flocka is practically a Texas Tech alumni, and Nelly came to Cook’s after he dipped his toes into Country music last year, but multiple rap legends in one location is blasphemy in Lubbock.

Upon arrival, the merch line spanned the entire width of the venue, and the crowd was piling in. Before the show started, a DJ played classic Hip-Hop tracks to get the crowd excited including Still Tippin’, Electric Relaxation, and Gin and Juice. Talking to some people right in front of the barricades, most said this show is one of the biggest nights of the year for them, and their excitement was unmatched.

Tye Harris, a rapper from Oak Cliff, Texas, came out first with a short set to get the crowd going. He opened with Asphalt & Concrete which started with him playing on the piano before switching to a trap beat where he melodically flowed over the track. The song ends with an almost opera-styled vocalization. Being a rap fan for years, I have not heard anything like that before, and his unique sound got the audience hyped. Midway through his brief set, an audience member offered him a can of beer on stage which caused the crowd to roar in excitement as he took a sip. The set totaled only 15 minutes, but he set the tone for the night ahead.

It was not long until Bone Thugs-N-Harmony came out on stage. Though Bizzy Bone did not travel with the group, seeing Krayzie Bone, Wish Bone, Layzie Bone, and Flesh-n-Bone was satisfying for me. They opened with the classic Thuggish Ruggish Bones, and from that point, I was ready for an incredible set from them. Other songs included East 1999 (my favorite track), 1st of tha Month, and Budsmokers Only. For those unaware, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony are the only people who worked with Eazy-E, Notorious B.I.G., and 2Pac while they were all still alive. They made tribute to those artists by playing Juicy, California Love, and Boyz-n-the-Hood before performing their adjacent collaborations. To close their set, Bone Thugs performed their Grammy-winning track Tha Crossroads asking everyone in the audience to wave their phone flashlights in the air to honor Eazy-E. It was a beautiful moment and a great way to end their set.

Cypress Hill came out moments after Bone Thugs walked off the stage. I was trying to upload a couple of concert photos to my phone for Instagram and had to abort the process from how quick the transition was. DJ Lord, Cypress Hill’s touring DJ, came out first with percussionist Eric Bobo performing a short intro before starting the show with I Wanna Get High. B-Real walked out on stage rapping the opening verse. With Sen Dog nowhere to be found, he eventually walked out to his verse which was a cool way for the group to introduce themselves. For over an hour, Cypress Hill went through some of their best material spanning from their self-titled to Skull & Bones. Their stage setup included a huge blowup skull and drum kits dressed with marijuana-themed decorations. They closed the show with their biggest songs: How I Could Just Kill a Man, (Rock) Superstar, and Insane in the Brain before finishing off with House of Pain’s Jump Around which they said though it wasn’t their song, it was so hard they just had to play it anyways. If the concert ended with Cypress, the concert was already worth every cent.

All Ice Cube would have to do to make this show any better showed up, and he definitely did more than that. Ice Cube’s on-stage presence, the show was almost a musical. Ice Cube performed with his longtime collaborator and co-member of Westside Connection, WC. Between every song, Ice Cube and WC would talk to the crowd and foreshadow the next track with cheeky transitions that the audience ate up every single time. One included Ice Cube talking about how it’s always great to play on a Friday night (it was a Saturday night). However, Ice Cube reiterated that when he is in town, it is a Friday night before playing the song Friday. A favorite of ours was Ice Cube pointing to multiple people in the crowd saying that if they are here tonight, they are a witness. Everyone being a witness perfectly transitioned into the opening line of N.W.A.’s Straight Outta Compton “You are now about to witness the strength of street knowledge”. Ice Cube’s on-stage presence is some of the best I have ever seen. The way he played the crowd with every song and performed with perfect breath control track after track was perfect. I had high expectations for a top 5 west coast rapper, and he exceeded those expectations by a large margin. The show was the rap version of the Billy Joel residency at Madison Square Garden, a perfect showcase of his discography with all of his hits and a life-changing experience for everyone in attendance. I am still in disbelief about the show.

I will conclude by saying that not only the artists brought their A-game to Cook’s Garage. The crowd was a joy to be around. I got to talk to a few people behind the barricades between sets, and they were a pleasure to chat with. A good audience always produces a good show environment, and it was all love on Saturday night.

Andrew Watters contributed reporting. All photos by Zachary Sorrels unless otherwise noted