Atmosphere's "Paint the Nation" tour at First Avenue on 11/2/08
By: Amber Schadewald
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Blueprint opened the show, standing mid-stage and staring down at the front row with creepy blank eyes. Bouncing a bit in their Atmosphere tour tee’s, it seemed the crowd was just pumped to see anyone rap and use cuss words. Hands went up without any effort to the multiple songs in which Blueprint rapped about himself. “I’m not fucking hip-hop, I’m easy listening,” he said closing his set.
Atmosphere took the stage and I have to admit, I expected to see some sort of MTV banner fold down from the ceiling, but there were no corporate footprints in view. “Feels so good to be home,” Slug said as Ant puffed on his cigarette over the tables. A few songs in Slug offered a drunk dude near the front $20 to go upstairs and “leave the kids alone.” The guy ended up just being carried out by security instead.
A bluesy aspect to some songs and a rigid rock underscore to others, partnering the live instruments along with Ant’s beats was incredible and refreshing. Enthusiastic and definitely a bit on the loopy side, the vocalist stole the show at moments, dancing wildly and improvising a little off key. Her solo was not so easy on the ears, while at other times, her voice sounded like magic as it took over the melodies you’d find on Atmosphere’s albums.
Slug wore an Obama shirt, singing “I just might just”, an obvious fan favorite that he is apparently tired of; he asked the crowd to vote whether they should retire the song with a thumbs up or down. It was a unanimous “keep it”. Old crowd favorites included “Bite her bottom lip”, “God Loves Ugly” and “Don’t Ever Fucking Question That.” Newer tracks like “Sunshine” and “Should’ve Known” sounded pretty stellar and of course inspired lots of hoots and dancing.
Rotating between cigarettes and lollipops, Ant stayed pretty quite in back, occasionally mouthing his other half’s lyrics and bouncing around. Simply putting his arms in the air himself, Slug was easily able to inspire crowd interaction, to which he stated, “Sometimes I just ask you to do stuff to see if ya’ll do it.” Towards the end of the multiple hour show, the crowd was loosing a little steam and the songs started to sound a little bit unfamiliar and hazy.
By the time the show was “over”, Slug said they’d skip the whole waiting period and just get on with the encore already. “Guarantees” was included in the set, as well as the undeniably invigorating “Always Coming Back Home To You,” hitting the spot for all the hometown fans. Another seven songs of pure old Atmosphere bliss and Slug begged for just one more. Inviting up friends Brother Ali and Blueprint, the three rappers gave Ant the go ahead to lay down a beat and took turns freestylin’. It was pretty amazing to say the least; Ali and Slug sounded like champions.
Location Info:
First Avenue
Artist Info: Atmosphere
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