By: Zach Hasler
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Atmosphere's "Seven's Travels" tour made the anticipated hometown stop in Minneapolis October 24th and 25th at First Avenue. I attended Friday, and for those that didn't—well, I hope you made it out on Saturday. The Rhymesayers faithful following packed the room, threw down, and were treated to an evening of first-rate true hip-hop. Before doors opened at 5, there were a couple hundred people already waiting for a prime spot. When these local heroes steer their van into town after sharing their skills with fans across the land, both artist and audience are energized.
Firstly, the openers: this is a great collection of talent, and diverse to boot. Micranots have been representing Twin Cities hip-hop since forever, and they rocked the room with a tight set; when Slug later chided the new-schoolers (OK, myself included), "What do you really know about Micranots?", you knew from whence his perspective came. Brother Ali's first full-length, "Shadows on the Sun", has been on heavy rotation on my headphones lately, and he brought the goods as well, with letter-perfect jams like "Champion" and "Room With a View". His stage presence is formidable, and his popularity with the crowd was reflected in that much of the audience was familiar with the material. For my money, though, early evening honors go to Oddjobs, who were on earlier than both the aforementioned acts. Their love for the music is obvious, they have fun on stage, and the Minneap expatriates (now residing in NYC) clearly enjoyed being on the home turf.
Atmosphere was the main draw, of course. Slug & Ant's (MC & producer, respectively) new record, "Seven's Travels", is another unique collection of dope beats, poetry, insight, and humor. Having got about as big as indie can get, they seem prepared to crash the hip-hop radar and make their presence felt on yet another level. Slug said, "You've been trying to keep me your little secret, and it's just not working". The reason for that is Atmosphere provides some of the best music and live shows anywhere. After well-documented courting by the major labels, they struck a distribution deal with Epitaph, the predominantly punk indie label run by Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion (anybody else wonder about the connection with Atmosphere being on Vans Warped this past summer?) And (probably to the chagrin of some loyalists) they've even produced a video for "trying to find a balance". Suffice to say, they are a force to be reckoned with in hip-hop these days, influential and respected.
Slug hit the stage in a fuzzy-hooded parka, joined by Mr. Dibbs on the turntables wearing some sort of face-obscuring ski mask. Oddjobs' Crescent Moon as second MC was already primed from his group's set, and it was on. Atmosphere made the Twin Cities feel it right off the bat, with "Always Coming Back Home to You" a perfect opener, then ratcheting it up with "Trying to Find a Balance". The set list for the evening held an equal share of cuts from the "Lucy Ford" and "God Loves Ugly" albums, and a full helping from the new record including "Shoes", "Reflections", and "Good Times". Slug was intense, wired, always seeming to look into the crowd for anyone who wasn't with it in order to draw them in. Beyond being a great lyricist, he's simply a top-notch entertainer as well. You know he loves his audience, and loves to jab at them also. (He would later dedicate a song "to anyone who can vote and doesn't", and reminded everyone that "my son depends on you fucks".) And in return, the Twin Cities love Slug, giving him the hip-hop soldier's welcome home. An interesting moment occurred when he turned in a performance of Alanis Morrissette's "You Oughta Know"; it didn't help or hurt the show, and seemed to score points mostly for kitsch. And when renowned mosh-pit fiend Dibbs was given the spotlight early in the set, it was great to hear him drop not one but two Rage Against the Machine tracks. As their "Killing in the Name" came to a boil with Slug and Crescent Moon leading the crowd in the infamous "fuck you, I won't do what you tell me" chant, Dibbs ditched the ski mask, came tearing around the tables, and dove into the crowd, igniting the room.
My personal wish list for the show would have been fulfilled with some freestyles by Slug or Ali, but it didn't happen (by my reliable sources, it did on Saturday). Regardless, by the time Atmosphere encored with "Bird Sings Why The Caged I Know" and the new touring anthem "Cats Van Bags" (the latter bringing Brother Ali back to the stage), Rhymesayers Entertaiment had once again justified their status as one of the leading underground crews in hip-hop. If this particular group of wackos is coming to your town, get a ticket soon (the majority of shows on the tour are selling out), and get your hip-hop hunger sated, because they bring it heavy, and bring it real.
Location Info:
First Avenue
Artist Info: Atmosphere, Brother Ali, DeeJay Bird, Deetalx, Los Nativos, Micranots, Oddjobs
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