I had to split this into parts, because this is a RIDICULOUSLY long read. I’ve been writing it since Monday night…and there was ALOT of ground to cover. So, get your popcorn ready and fire up the ole reading glasses.. here’s my exclusive behind-the-scenes look and wrap-up of this past megashow weekend. HOLLERATE!

Now, in order for me to really give you an idea of my weekend, I literally have to give you the full run down of the couple days prior to the Megashow:

The Daily Grind

Tuesday 8:40 AM – 3:50 AM PM
I Got home from work, started animating the video screen intros and titles for the show. They were deceptively simple animations. Meanwhile, I’m fielding calls left & right about set list changes for Mecca’s set and trying to coordinate 2 more rehearsals with the crew.

Wednesday 8:35 AM to 2:26 AM
After I got off work, I went home and Mrs. Deff was gracious enough to hook me up with some Taco Bell she picked up while she was out. I downed that and hopped back on the train to make rehearsal at The School of Rock (Yes, THE school of rock that existed before the movie). There we met up with Pack, Mecca, Session, Dom from Jersey Roots, GC (the sax-rapper), Mecca’s 2 singers Sofia & Nika… and of course, my backup singers for the night, Emory Toler & Nomi (Props to them for the sense of professionalism – it was top-rate).

It was this night that we found out that the lighting guy who we were supposed to use for the Megashow, ran off and got hitched without notice…so, now we’d have to use the BB Kings lighting guy who was not gonna be familiar with our set. Rehearsal went on till about 11:30 or so, and I headed home. Continued animating till late.

Thursday 8:35AM – 10:15 AM
Mrs. Deff broke out to the Midwest for the weekend, so I was left alone in QN5 Manor to work. Originally, we were supposed to have another rehearsal at SOR, but it just didn’t pan out. I started running through ideas for the intro, but nothing was really clicking…I finally got on a roll. Around 1:AM I got a call from Mecca that the majority of the live band that was supposed to play during his set pulled out last minute. So, we had to rethink things and I had to put off animating a bit to put together his Old School Medley.

When I realized how much work I had left to do.. (ie. format the final show CD sequence, finish the animated titles, eat, sleep, etc)...I decided to work until my vision blurred. I called out of work the next day and slept for 4 hours.

Friday (Crunch time Begins) 1:45 PM 8:45 AM
I wake up after 3.5 hours of sleep with a slight headache. I hop in the shower to regain consciousness and eat some Doritos for breakfast.

I started animating again. I finally figured out how to present the shit in a way that would make sense, since Pack, Mecca & I had come up with the jokes and the format, but I still needed to WRITE the final script. Once I nailed that down, I continued pressing on, knowing that tomorrow was the big day and these titles were such an integral part of the show, that they NEEDED to get done beforehand.

Kno had asked that the CL set intro with images of Fire. I don’t know how many of you do video editing and shit like that, but clips of “FIRE” by itself are kinda hard to come by without a stock license fee. I scoured the web for about 2 hours looking for the perfect clip… but to no avail…they were all $150-$300 dollars a pop. No thanks.

I ended up jacking a tiny ass 120×240 clip and tiled the video to make it look bigger than it was, (I’m slick, son). Viola! Fire.

Midnight rolls around, and I hear a knock on my door…it’s my niece Vanessa, (aka “Daisy” on the boards). She suprised me with a visit to NYC from Miami to see the Megashow. She rules. She’d later prove to be a key asset to Megashow weekend.

I’m already fried, I get back to work and time just begins to fly. Around 11:20 AM, my body starts to shut down and I can’t maintain consciousness anymore. I need to sleep…so I do.

Saturday (Hell Day) 11:20 AM – 9:00 AM
3 hours later I wake up and IMMEDIATELY hop back on the work wagon. I’m now CRAMMING to finish, because we have to be at BB Kings @ 10 PM sharp for soundcheck and merch setup, etc. I’m about 80% done with all the titles, I begin rendering the files for DVD, which takes forever.

2:30 PM: SOS shows up after a grueling Greyhound bus ride from ATL (don’t try this at home kids). He gets his GTA:SA on, and I continue to work. My niece gets her IM on with her Mac Powerbook laptop (I’m jealous). I’m 85% done with the titles.

4:30 PM: CunninLynguists & Kynfolk show up (ie. Kno, Deacon, Natti, SunnyStylez, DJ Sicari & their pal, CJ). All of which take turns for a shower after their long ride up from KY. I’m about 94% done now.

5:30 PM: Pack shows up with a CANE to get the show CD and the DVD. Dude fucked up his ankle trying to bring down a rebound at the RSC b-ball tourney the prior Thursday. I live on a 4th Floor. But he managed somehow (Cause Pack is gully). Kynfolk is having some sort of mini-party behind me as I struggle to get the DVD finished. I’m about 96% done animating.

6:20 PM: Session & Debut show up to make a couple of last minute changes to the show CD. I couldn’t get to that yet, cause I was still animating and rendering DVD files. I’m at my wits end – physically and mentally fried by this point. I’m about 99% finished animating/rendering.

7:00 PM: I finally finish rendering everything I need to make the DVD and get poppin’ on the final music CD.

I hit BURN DVD.

[ERROR: ADMINISTRATIVE PRIVELEGES PREVENT YOU FROM ACCESSING THE DVD DRIVE. THIS FUNCTION IS CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE]

I put clench my fists and avoid punching the fucking screen in and killing everyone in the room, just for being available to kill.

It’s at this point that I’m beginning to have a breakdown…I’d animated, edited and rendered these fucking things for this show and at the very last minute, my machine pulls some bitch shit like this. [It’s a long story as to WHY the shit didn’t work, but that’s for another day].

Immediately, Kno & Pack held a mini-tribunal to try to figure out a way to resolve the issue. I still hadn’t showered, hadn’t shaved, had no show CD ready and there was still MAD work to do.

7:30 PM: So, we can’t BURN a DVD now, and we don’t have titles. Kno figures a way to burn the disc with a program he finds online. We figure out a way to burn the DVD: my niece’s Powerbook Laptop.

Unfortunately, she didn’t have a DVD burner and the software only allowed DVD burns. Kno & Pack make the decision to pitch in $ to go to Best Buy to buy an external DVD-RW drive for her laptop.

8:00 PM: Deacon, Kno, Vanessa & Pack leave to find a DVD Burner. I begin working on formatting SOS’s music for the show, while they’re gone.

8:30 PM: They return with the DVD burner, we hook it up… burn the DVD… and it plays…but the navigation is fucked up and it won’t go to the next chapter.

My legs are killing me. I’m starving and pissed.

9:00 PM: I finally figure out what the problem is…re-author the DVD and burn it. It plays now and works well enough for the show’s purposes.

9:30 PM: I begin working on the final show CD. Most of the shit was already laid out, but now with Mecca’s set running off CD, i needed to rework some cuts, etc and finalize music for my intro.

10:30 PM: I’m fucking BAKED by now…stress kills. I finally finished the finalized show CDs & DVD, Pack breaks out and heads over to the BB’s and coordinate shit. I shave my head, hop in the shower, and get dressed.

11:20 PM: Kno, SOS, Vanessa & I pack up what’s left of the merch hop in the rental to Times Square. Traffic is a FUCKING NIGHTMARE.

12:00 PM: We find parking, unload the rental, lug the shit to the spot and walk in. There’s a huge line. Security begins harassing us and treating us like third class citizens (which would preface the rest of the night).