I was watching Late Night with Conan O’Brien the other night when a quick ad aired, regarding a “secret” Common concert coming to Los Angeles, and directing me to NBCLOSANGELES.com.  I meant to check the site and try to go, but instead I forgot and it become just another post-it note littering my desk.  The show was last night in a warehouse downtown, and according the article on NBC’s local site, it seemed to be a hit.  (Kids love partying and rocking out in unmarked downtown warehouses.)

Here is what NBC Los Angeles had to say about the show:

Grammy-Award winner Common rocked the crowd in a downtown warehouse last night during an exclusive LOCALS ONLY show sponsored by NBCLA.com.

Tennis star Serena Williams, music mogul Jermaine Dupri and actor Michael Rapaport were among the guests to make an appearance at the secret LA show sponsored by NBCLA.com as Common performed tracks from his new album “Universal Mind Control.”

The LOCALS ONLY crowd received details about the exclusive concert after testing their hometown knowledge in a quiz on NBCLA.com. The show’s location was revealed to those who showed they knew LA best.

And here is some footage from the show:

According to AdAge.com, NBC has launched local Beta sites in New York and Chicago as well, and will have secret Common concerts in both cities as well.  Call me Mr. Obvious, but I think NBC is on to something.  At the very least, they’ve found a really cool way to create buzz for their local sites.  It will be interesting to see if the buzz has staying power…

It’s all about re-branding in the digital age, ya’ll.  (I wonder if NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker sent out a company-wide memo, using this line.)

Brian Laesch thinks Common should have stuck with his Chicago Bulls Ball Boy job.  Not really.