Heineken Inspire: The Encore

During the summer and fall, Heineken Inspire embarked on an 8-city tour to bring a unique Heineken experience to its fans. The tour stopped in New York back in July, and Heineken fans were then encouraged to vote on the Heineken Inspire Facebook page to potentially bring the tour back to their city for an encore event. The fans chose NYC as the host for the Heineken Inspire grand finale and I can’t argue with them there because that was a really good show. This special invitation-only Encore event featured performances from some of today’s hottest artists at an exclusive NYC location – Pier 36 on the waterfront of the Lower East Side.



In addition to the performances, fans 21 and older had access to unique on-site experiences including: a gaming area where they were able test their skills in dominoes and spades, a mock recording studio to record their own songs over Heineken’s favorite producers’ tracks, a gallery of Justin Bua’s art and showcase of Heineken collaboration products, an Obama effect photo booth and a football game viewing area where attendees can relax and catch all the football games televised that day. There was also FREE food including: “dirty dogs” and tacos with all the fixin’s as well as Jamaican beef patties, soft pretzels and of course, a surplus of ice-cold Heineken, Heineken Light and my new found favorite: Heineken Dark.



Hoping to get a good view of the show, I made my way to the stage. Unfortunately, time wasn’t on my side because around 4:30p “Basketball City” was damn near un-walkable! It didn’t help that the layout of the stage was built stupidly either. The ‘T’ shaped runway made it very difficult to watch the performers from my angle. Why a stage like that chosen is beyond me, BUT all I know is it wasn’t good idea for a disabled person to be cornered at the left of the stage with hundreds of people behind me. DJ Roxy Cottontail greeted the crowd with a blend of house, techno, and dance music for 2 and ½ hours before Philadelphia-based Diplo, began spinning Hip-Hop, R&B and Reggae. Having never heard him live before, I must say that he has gained another fan.



Around 6:00p, [well over the time he was supposed to arrive] Diplo announced that a “special guest” would be arriving. Half and hour later, J.Cole storms on stage ripping through cuts like: “Blow Up” [and literally blew out the mic], “Who Dat” and “A Star Is Born”.



Cee-Lo Green then came out looking like a pimp with an all-girl band dressed in white lace cat suits and tan boots. He performed a handful of songs from “The Lady Killer” unable to connect with his audience - until he performed “F**k You”. Pete Rock was also in the building along with some friends including actor Anthony Mackie, Dres of Black Sheep and the Father of Hip-Hop, DJ Kool Herc.



After waiting for an hour for Nas to come out, I was slightly disappointed at this point. His set-up was actually longer than his performance, he had quite a few technical difficulties and he was yelling into the mic so much that you could barely understand the words that came out his mouth. Before you knew it, the show was over! It was definitely not what I expected for a headlining artist.

Photo Credits: LaReina McMeanie, Yoshi and Sneaker News