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Welcome to part two of my experience at Zune's Live at the BBQ event in downtown LA. It's not too late to check out part 1 of this article before you read any further.

Common finally arrives, but I do my best not to look like I’m in a panic, I just got this assignment a few hours ago and didn’t get the chance to work out any solid questions, my boss just gave me a few general topics to discuss and told me to go with it. If Common was just some fly by night guy who had a hit song that 13 year olds couldn’t get enough of that was one thing, but this was Com Sense! One of the greats and one of my personal favorite MC’s (so much so that on my myspace, Common and Stan Lee are the only guys on earth I want to meet.). So my fear of him being put off by my lack of preparedness had me on the verge of wigging out. I’m told by my contact at Microsoft that Common wasn’t really in the mood for an interview, but not to worry, he was going to do a few as long as they were short. Yes! I thought, five questions are easier to make up than say, fifteen. Suddenly however, I was filled with a new fear, what if Common is a jerk? I mean, all I knew so far was that he didn’t really feel like talking to me. I was ‘the media’ after all (a position I’m still getting used to), on a bad that made us enemies, was today a bad day? Was Common gonna totally dis me for being a part of the evil juggernaut that seeks to bring down people like him? That would totally suck.

I sit there and think about bolting, and that I’ll have to figure out how I’m going to tell my boss that I made it to the interview but didn’t go through with it. I figured I might tell him that E-40 pulled a gun on me and I ran off. He didn’t know E-40 like I did, he would have easily believed me. Before I could make my escape my contact grabbed me and said that Common was done with interviews and that I would have to wait until after his set before I could talk to him. The most amusing part of this news was the expectation that I would somehow be disappointed. Ha ha ha ha, yeah I’d hate to have to sit through a free live show from backstage standing next to security and listen to Common perform songs from his new album as well as some of my all time favorites, what kind of crap job do I have where they force me to listen to and enjoy music from one of my favorite artists, slave drivers.

Common puts on a great show, he has two guys on keys, a drummer and a DJ. His voice is clear, his lyrics on point, and the acoustics are perfect. The crowd is enthralled and hangs on every word and lyric. The best part of it all was when I looked out across the crowd and saw so much diversity, considering that Common is known for his afrocenctricity, I was truly amazed at how many people he has reached out to throughout his career, it put an exclamation point on the entire evening. My second favorite part of the show was when he got up and performed my favorite Common song ‘The Light’, and judging from the fan reaction, I wasn’t the only one there that felt that way as we all sang along with the chorus. He did a few more cuts, some free styling, and then brought the show to a close. I was so taken with the crowd and the music that from that point on I wasn’t nervous anymore, I just couldn’t wait to meet Common, no matter what the outcome.

Ten minutes later, I’m waiting outside his trailer with the other journalists that had to wait. Every other crew had a camera man and mic. I was the only guy who came alone with a digital recorder and a vague idea of what I was going to say. Since I was flying solo, I did the only thing I could think of to past the time; I called my boss and talked about work, and how cool it would have been if I had our camera man Chris with me. My boss agreed but gave me the good old, “what can you do about it now?” line. We chatted about the event some more (mostly about all the women I saw) until it was time for me to get in there and earn my paycheck.

Here I am, my first time on a real live tour bus, and the first thing I think is, “Cool, they have a microwave!” I know, I know, I was just as amazed by the microwave as you would have been, but focus, there is more important stuff. I got a look at Common’s entourage on the tour bus, they looked wiped out (at least most of them) I’m not sure what exactly they do, but it must be hard work, those guys were up to some serious first class relaxing. Common himself was in the very back of the bus finishing up the interview before mine. The moment I was actually in the room, I realized something very important, he was right there in front of me, I had his undivided attention, and he was relieved that I didn’t have a camera. As soon as he saw the recorder in my hand he relaxed. He said, “Oh, I can sit down for this.” He shook my hand (a firm, manly shake) and said hello. The interview (add hyperlink here) went fine for the first few questions, then it got a little hairy. There’s something that I’ve neglected to explain, while I have done many interviews over the phone, Common was my absolute first live one on one interview, and he was one of my favorites. And here I was, barely prepared, asking Common questions.

My first few questions went off without a hitch, he considered my query’s and gave me honest well thought out answers. I was on top of the world, until the folks from Microsoft said, “All right, we have time for one more question.” I’m lucky I hadn’t really eaten yet that day, because I might have crapped my pants. One more question? There were hundreds I could have asked him, but the pressure of only coming up with one was too much and I froze. Ever the consummate professional, Common just leaned in and said, “For all the trouble, you can ask me two more.” That’s like God giving you three questions and you waste the first two asking if it’s really him. After a moment or so I finally managed two more questions, not exactly Rolling Stone caliber stuff, but it worked. I thanked Common for his time and made my way past the entourage, outside the trailer, past the women who were prepared to go through great lengths to be where I just was, and to my car, where I sat for a moment taking the last three hours in.

I think I’m really going to like this job.