Tonight in Orem, Utah, concertgoers will be able to take in a historic double bill of Vanllia Ice and MC Hammer; the Salt Lake Tribune preview is loaded with great quotes from Vanilla Ice, and when I checked the wires for a recent picture of one or both of the hip-pop stars, I found the above shot of MC Hammer riding a bumper car in the Wisconsin Dells. Combined, it’s just too much for a blogger to resist.
The biggest pop-rappers of the early ’90s haven’t shared a stage in nearly twenty years, but somehow, a promoter in Orem, Utah, pulled off the impossible.
In an interview, Vanilla Ice — who identified himself by his real name, Robert Van Winkle — said it simply was an offer they couldn’t refuse. “Me and him, we set the world on fire,” Ice said. “We’re going to do it up in Utah.”
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The success of the two artists helped move hip-hop and rap to the mainstream. Or as Ice tells it: “Eminem can use my career as a guideline.”
In November, after years spent on the reality-TV circuit, Ice released “Vanilla Ice Is Back: Hip Hop Classics,” a compilation of classic songs that he re-recorded, such as Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power,” Sir Mix-A-Lot’s “Baby Got Back” and Cypress Hill’s “Insane in the Brain.” “It turned out pretty entertaining,” said Ice, who counts Public Enemy and EPMD as his biggest influences.
Ice promised to raise the entertainment level at the McKay Events Center. “I’m going back to the old school, with cannons and pyrotechnics.”
Sure, the show is going to be awful. And probably not just awful, but trainwreck, disastrously bad. That hasn’t stopped the fine people of the McKay Events Center from charging $32.50 to $38, with meet and greet passes starting at $100. The upside, the tickets aren’t being sold by Ticketmaster. Also, most of the audience and Hammer will have one thing in common: magic pants. (Zing! Tip your waitresses!)
I’ve always been a pretty big fan of Vanilla Ice’s film tour de force Cool As Ice, so enjoy this exciting tribute to the film, created by someone who might want to reconsider how they spend their time.
Music: Vanilla Ice and M.C. Hammer reunite in Orem [Salt Lake Tribune]
i saw Hammer in concert during his heyday, Vanilla Ice was supposed to open (it was the then MC Hammer, En Vogue and Vanilla Ice) but Ice Ice Baby couldnt perform due to “he’s filming a movie”
If “Pumps and a Bump” had been about riding bumper cars in the Wisconsin Dells, Hammer might still have a career.
Clearly its time to drop that zero and get with a hero.
How could you forget Hammer’s Saturday morning cartoon?? The Magic Pants WERE his super power!!!
funnily enough, Rob wants to act hard like he didn’t enjoy it, but let’s be real, he misses the high top.
word to your mother
@Invisible Circus: i thought it was magical shoes. i could be wrong.
@Jerkwheat: But have you ever seen a turtle get dowwwwwwn? (From the rest of Ice’s cinematic oeuvre.)
Dan Gibson: Sure, the show is going to be awful. And probably not just awful, but trainwreck, disastrously bad.
Actually, sadly, it probably won’t even be that interesting — “trainwreck bad” would at least be entertaining. It’ll probably be flaccid and a little sad.
Say this, though: Hammer’s and Ice’s music sounded cheap and synthy even in 1990; it won’t be hard to recreate onstage.
I would easily pay $100 for a meet and greet with these two titans of industry.
@Chris Molanphy: I think Ice’s promise of cannons and pyro are what will likely send the show into fiasco territory. If Ice is trying to put on a show, Hammer will step up his game, and then the real entertainment ensues.