Common and Pete Rock’s Webster Hall Concert Reminds Us Why We Still Love "H.E.R."

While enveloping Webster Hall in a haze of boom-bap nostalgia last Thursday, Common took a break for a date. Kicking back on a tomato-red couch, Com unfurled a folksy freestyle for both the crowd and the lady — an audience member — sitting next to him. With Pete Rock and classic vinyl behind him, he delivered a free-wheeling and immediate rhyme session, nodding toward celebrity guests like DJ Premier and just about anything else his racing mind could conjure. With its blend of a gymnast’s acrobatics and an easygoing, but focused mic presence, it was technically sharp yet occasionally clumsy, carrying all the charm of a b-boy trying to impress a prospective lover. He might as well have led with, “Can I kick a rhyme for you?”

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While they crossed into different eras and sounds, and there was a lot of surface area to cover, things never felt sluggish; their frequent call-and-response interactions with the crowd embedded it all with a sense of momentum. There was a coordinated spontaneity: At one point, Pete Rock began making a beat on his MPC, and of course, there was Common’s aforementioned freestyle. The continued activity filled up any potential empty spaces, creating a playful kineticism that kept the crowd engaged. The special guests helped with that, too.

At various points of the night, folks like Camp Lo’s Geechi Suede and De La Soul’s Posdnuos popped out to bask in the golden age revivalism; Geechi performed “This Is It (Luchini),” while Posdnuos served up an electric rendition of “Me Myself and I. It was both a tribute to the past and the ability to bring those memories into the present. It’s an unspoken statement of purpose for Common and Pete Rock’s joint album. It’s the reason they can still sell out venues like this one more than 30 years into their respective careers. A reminder that, sometimes, what was can still be if you love hard enough.

When Common rapped “The Light,” it sounded as pristine as it did when it rang through your boombox 25 years ago. Gliding across the stage to perform his love letter to hip-hop, “I Used to Love H.E.R.,” Com emitted all the wide-eyed sincerity of someone who still does.