Lineup: Danny Brown/Maxo Kream/ZelooperZ ("The Exhibition Tour")
Venue: Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA
Date: September 18th, 2016
ZelooperZ: With this being the third consecutive U.S. tour in which he's secured an opening slot on, I'm now convinced that ZelooperZ is contractually obligated to hit the road with Danny Brown every time he tours in America. While I'm not really a big fan of the handful of songs I've heard from him over the years, Brown's 21-year old protege/frequent collaborator has significantly stepped up his live show since the last time I saw him in April 2014. His zany style that is undeniably influenced by Brown and near-constant high energy level made his performance very engaging. ZelooperZ did a good job of establishing a really fun tone and getting the crowd hyped up out of the gate.
Maxo Kream: Outside of looking at his genre tags on rateyourmusic.com (FYI: he was classified as trap/cloud rap), I went in completely blind to Mako Kream's set. His ambient, psychedelic production put a nice twist on the classic trap formula (808-heavy beats, lyrics about selling drugs and gang-banging, random sound effects and yelling, etc.) he utilized on most of the songs and his attention-grabbing intensity was sort of refreshing given the pop sensibilities that are often attached to the genre. His rapping chops are questionable and his habit of aborting songs after 45 seconds was annoying, but his ignorant, catchy hooks and excellent production made Maxo Kream's set worthwhile.
Danny Brown: Detroit-bred indie hip hop act Danny Brown is something special. From his gleefully strange, large-than-life personality to his absurd versatility with flows, he's the type of bold, unique artist that doesn't come along too often in the world of hip-hop. That trail-blazing, iconic status carries over to his live performances as Brown once again proved why he's one of the greatest rappers in the world with an astonishing set at Paradise Rock Club in Boston last night.
The release of his reportedly raw, chaotic new album Atrocity Exhibition-which is currently due out on September 30th-inspired Brown to dust off a number of rarely-played songs from his 2011 breakout mixtape XXX. While I love his last record Old, XXX is definitely more impressive from a pure rapping standout, which made this set a beautiful showcase for Brown's technical chops. Seeing Brown rip through incendiary tracks like "Die Like a Rockstar", "Aderrall Admiral" and "Monopoly" without getting tongue-tied or skipping lyrics was fucking jaw-dropping to behold. I feel like precise live rapping is one of the most underappreciated traits in all of music and there's very few people in the game right now that can match Brown's proficiency in that department.
Brown closed off the night by previewing four songs from Atrocity Exhibition. The frantic production and blistering verses on the four tracks that he played ("Really Doe", "When It Rain", "Pneumonia" and the previously unreleased "Dance in the Water") basically confirm the rumors that Atrocity Exhibition is going to be more in line with the raw chaos of XXX than the party-centric trap of 2013's Old. If this selection of tracks are any indicator of what's in store for the rest of the album, Atrocity Exhibition is going to be the vicious, abrasive and fun release of Brown's career so far.
This show once again validated why I believe Danny Brown is one of hip-hop's premier live acts. Each time I've been to one of his shows (this marked the fourth time I've seen him live), he's delivered a damn near flawless performance and created a raucous atmosphere that is a ton of fun to take in and be apart of. This 40-date tour just kicked off last week, so if you live anywhere outside of the Northeastern United States markets that it already hit (Philadelphia, New York City, Providence, Albany), I urge you to cop tickets so you can experience Brown's brand of abstract hip-hop mayhem for yourself.
Scores:
ZelooperZ 7/10
Maxo Kream 6.5/10
Danny Brown 9/10
Setlists:
ZelooperZ included:
BM
Paypal
Elevators
Danny Brown:
Die Like a Rockstar
Lie4
I Will
Bruiser Brigade
Monopoly
Outer Space (first verse only)
Aderall Admiral
Blunt After Blunt
Dope Song (Side B)
Smokin' & Drinkin'
Break It (Go)
Handstand
Dip
25 Bucks
Float On
Grown Up
Attak (Rustie cover)
Really Doe
When It Rain
Dance in the Water
Pneumonia
Showing posts with label danny brown live review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label danny brown live review. Show all posts
Monday, September 19, 2016
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Concert Review: Danny Brown-- Boston, MA-- April 9th, 2014
On May 9th 2013, I saw Danny Brown live for the first time. Brown absolutely tore up the intimate setting of the Middle East in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 11 months later to the day, I saw him do the exact same thing in a slightly bigger setting at the Paradise in Boston.
The show did certainly not start off on an excellent note. ZelooperZ- who is one of the members of Brown's posse Bruiser Brigade- opened the show and he was not particularly impressive. He rapped with basically no charisma or creativity over a plethora of below-average trap beats. I will say that he did have a solid amount of energy the entire time he was on stage; making his set not completely torturous to sit through. I commend ZelooperZ for his stage presence and his natural ability to work a crowd, but overall he was nothing special.
I thought ZeLooperz was going to be the low point of the show: I was dead wrong. The second opener was Bodega Bamz and he gets the dubious honor of being the absolute worst live rapper I've seen by a wide margin. Every second he was on stage was agonizing. For those unfamiliar with his music, think of him as the Latino answer to Chief Keef- a trap artist who takes himself far too seriously. If you don't have a sense of humor in trap rap, it just doesn't work. The reason guys like A$AP Ferg (who Bamz kept oddly playing samples after several of his songs), Juicy J and 2 Chainz are fun to listen to is because they deliver a majority of the songs they make in a loose, funny tone. When that sense of fun is gone from trap rap, the artist is an absolute drag to listen to. Not only were his songs far too serious, they were also obnoxious as hell. The hooks were repetitive and his flow is extremely grating to listen to for any length of time. Bodega Bamz didn't even have good beats to salvage his music. Every single beat he had could've been topped by any average person dicking around with loops in GarageBand for an hour or two. The only enjoyable moment of the entire set was when Bamz begged the crowd to throw him a Newport on the stage for a couple of minutes before playing his next song. That laughter was much appreciated after being bombarded with the worst trap I've ever heard nonstop for 15-20 minutes. Bodega Bamz was pure garbage and I'm really sad that Danny Brown couldn't muster up anyone better to support him on this tour.
After an over half-hour wait, Brown's DJ SKYWLKR came out for a brief set. In SKYWLKR's 10-15 minute set -which consisted of remixes of other rap songs like "Hard in the Paint" by Walka Flocka Flame and "Love Sosa" by Chief Keef- he managed to blow the doors off both opening acts. SKYWLKR is a highly underrated producer and Brown is very lucky to have him as his permanent DJ. Brown stormed onto the stage at the end of SKYWLKR's set and launched right into "Break It (Go)". A raucous party anthem like "Break It" perfectly sets the tone for Brown's live show. Each and every time Brown takes the stage, he's clearly having the time of his life and is able to create an infectious, party-like atmosphere with his performance. Brown may be having fun on stage, but he's also incredibly precise on the mic. Brown's raw, minimalist studio recordings pay diviends as he is able to easily match the tone and delivery of the recordings in a live setting. The setlist was basically the same older material he always plays ("Monopoly", "Blunt After Blunt", "I Will" ) paired with some choice cuts from both the serious ("25 Bucks, "Lonely") and party side ("Smokin' & Drinkin'", "Handstand") of his new record Old. The set may not be that advenerous, but it's perfectly fine because a majority of what he played is amongst his best material. Where this show differed from the previous time I saw him was Brown having members of Bruiser Brigade with him on stage. They didn't really add much to the show (Hell ZelooperZ didn't even have a mic except for the hook on "Kush Coma") save for providing backing vocals and accompanying Brown in finishing some of his punchlines. While it wasn't as amazing as his performance at The Middle East last year, Danny Brown stil put on a hell of a performance that puts most other hip-hop acts to shame.
Side Notes:
-Brown performed "Lonely" by himself sitting on the edge of the stage, which made for an uncharacteristicly poigant moment for one of his performances.
-ZelooperZ stage dived at the end of "Dip" and lost his hat; which lead to an amusing scene involving a security guard coming onto the stage with a flashlight trying to find it.
-ZelooperZ came out to a Lil B song. This was easily the best moment of his set #thankyoubasedgod
-Bodega Bamz had a crew of about 7-8 people with him on stage. This was extremely confusing because only 1 of them had a mic. I've never seen a larger group of inactive people on a stage before in my entire life.
-Bamz dedicated some song about selling crack to the gay community, which added yet another layer confusion to his set.
-Some guy in the balcony kept yelling "Latino Heat!" during Bamz's set.
-One of Bamz's posse members ran around the stage with a Puerto Rician and some other Spanish country flag that I didn't recognize during his last song.
-Bamz's DJ randomly played "Man of the Year" by ScHoolboy Q after Bamz had exited the stage.
-The subway ride back from The Paradise was comical as some drunk dude got on the subway and randomly went up to some guy who was carrying a guitar and, told him that "he had nice fingers" then proceeded to ask him if he played the piano.
Scores:
ZeLooperz 4/10
Bodega Bamz 2/10 (boosted from a 1 simply because of how hilarious the Newport incident was)
Danny Brown 8.5/10
Setlist:
Danny Brown:
Break It (Go)
Molly Ringwald
Smokin' & Drinkin'
Express Yourself
Blueberry (Pills & Cocaine)
Lie4
Handstand
I Will
Side B (Dope Song)
Witit
Bruiser Brigade (w/Dopehead)
Dat Chopa
Jealousy (The Purist Cover)
Monopoly
Blunt After Blunt
Kush Coma
25 Bucks
Dip
Encore:
Lonely
The show did certainly not start off on an excellent note. ZelooperZ- who is one of the members of Brown's posse Bruiser Brigade- opened the show and he was not particularly impressive. He rapped with basically no charisma or creativity over a plethora of below-average trap beats. I will say that he did have a solid amount of energy the entire time he was on stage; making his set not completely torturous to sit through. I commend ZelooperZ for his stage presence and his natural ability to work a crowd, but overall he was nothing special.
I thought ZeLooperz was going to be the low point of the show: I was dead wrong. The second opener was Bodega Bamz and he gets the dubious honor of being the absolute worst live rapper I've seen by a wide margin. Every second he was on stage was agonizing. For those unfamiliar with his music, think of him as the Latino answer to Chief Keef- a trap artist who takes himself far too seriously. If you don't have a sense of humor in trap rap, it just doesn't work. The reason guys like A$AP Ferg (who Bamz kept oddly playing samples after several of his songs), Juicy J and 2 Chainz are fun to listen to is because they deliver a majority of the songs they make in a loose, funny tone. When that sense of fun is gone from trap rap, the artist is an absolute drag to listen to. Not only were his songs far too serious, they were also obnoxious as hell. The hooks were repetitive and his flow is extremely grating to listen to for any length of time. Bodega Bamz didn't even have good beats to salvage his music. Every single beat he had could've been topped by any average person dicking around with loops in GarageBand for an hour or two. The only enjoyable moment of the entire set was when Bamz begged the crowd to throw him a Newport on the stage for a couple of minutes before playing his next song. That laughter was much appreciated after being bombarded with the worst trap I've ever heard nonstop for 15-20 minutes. Bodega Bamz was pure garbage and I'm really sad that Danny Brown couldn't muster up anyone better to support him on this tour.
After an over half-hour wait, Brown's DJ SKYWLKR came out for a brief set. In SKYWLKR's 10-15 minute set -which consisted of remixes of other rap songs like "Hard in the Paint" by Walka Flocka Flame and "Love Sosa" by Chief Keef- he managed to blow the doors off both opening acts. SKYWLKR is a highly underrated producer and Brown is very lucky to have him as his permanent DJ. Brown stormed onto the stage at the end of SKYWLKR's set and launched right into "Break It (Go)". A raucous party anthem like "Break It" perfectly sets the tone for Brown's live show. Each and every time Brown takes the stage, he's clearly having the time of his life and is able to create an infectious, party-like atmosphere with his performance. Brown may be having fun on stage, but he's also incredibly precise on the mic. Brown's raw, minimalist studio recordings pay diviends as he is able to easily match the tone and delivery of the recordings in a live setting. The setlist was basically the same older material he always plays ("Monopoly", "Blunt After Blunt", "I Will" ) paired with some choice cuts from both the serious ("25 Bucks, "Lonely") and party side ("Smokin' & Drinkin'", "Handstand") of his new record Old. The set may not be that advenerous, but it's perfectly fine because a majority of what he played is amongst his best material. Where this show differed from the previous time I saw him was Brown having members of Bruiser Brigade with him on stage. They didn't really add much to the show (Hell ZelooperZ didn't even have a mic except for the hook on "Kush Coma") save for providing backing vocals and accompanying Brown in finishing some of his punchlines. While it wasn't as amazing as his performance at The Middle East last year, Danny Brown stil put on a hell of a performance that puts most other hip-hop acts to shame.
Side Notes:
-Brown performed "Lonely" by himself sitting on the edge of the stage, which made for an uncharacteristicly poigant moment for one of his performances.
-ZelooperZ stage dived at the end of "Dip" and lost his hat; which lead to an amusing scene involving a security guard coming onto the stage with a flashlight trying to find it.
-ZelooperZ came out to a Lil B song. This was easily the best moment of his set #thankyoubasedgod
-Bodega Bamz had a crew of about 7-8 people with him on stage. This was extremely confusing because only 1 of them had a mic. I've never seen a larger group of inactive people on a stage before in my entire life.
-Bamz dedicated some song about selling crack to the gay community, which added yet another layer confusion to his set.
-Some guy in the balcony kept yelling "Latino Heat!" during Bamz's set.
-One of Bamz's posse members ran around the stage with a Puerto Rician and some other Spanish country flag that I didn't recognize during his last song.
-Bamz's DJ randomly played "Man of the Year" by ScHoolboy Q after Bamz had exited the stage.
-The subway ride back from The Paradise was comical as some drunk dude got on the subway and randomly went up to some guy who was carrying a guitar and, told him that "he had nice fingers" then proceeded to ask him if he played the piano.
Scores:
ZeLooperz 4/10
Bodega Bamz 2/10 (boosted from a 1 simply because of how hilarious the Newport incident was)
Danny Brown 8.5/10
Setlist:
Danny Brown:
Break It (Go)
Molly Ringwald
Smokin' & Drinkin'
Express Yourself
Blueberry (Pills & Cocaine)
Lie4
Handstand
I Will
Side B (Dope Song)
Witit
Bruiser Brigade (w/Dopehead)
Dat Chopa
Jealousy (The Purist Cover)
Monopoly
Blunt After Blunt
Kush Coma
25 Bucks
Dip
Encore:
Lonely
Friday, May 10, 2013
Concert Review: Danny Brown-- Cambridge, MA-- May 9th, 2013
Yesterday was an absolutely fantastic day for me. Not only did I finish my spring semester at school, but I also got to see the one and only Danny Brown tear it up at a sold-out show at The Middle East Downstairs in Cambridge last night.
The show started up at 9:30 with Miami/Boston rapper Stu Cat. I'm not overly familiar with the Boston hip-hop scene and from what I've heard I wasn't expecting much, but this dude can definitely rap pretty well. He got the crowd into it and his first few songs were actually really good. I will say his set did hit a bit of a roadblock when be brought out this clown rapper named MC Chucklehead to come out and rap with him. This guy was just awful, his style was like if Riff Raff took himself seriously. Judging from his between song banter he seems like a pretty good dude, he just isn't a gifted rapper. Stu Cat was still pretty good on his own, but the presence of MC Chuklehead definitely brought the energy and quality of his performance. Side-note: Stu Cat sort of looks like Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton and came out with a towel on his head like Newton does when he is on the sidelines, which caused me to laugh very hard.
Kitty came out next and she put on a very entertaining show. For those who don't know, she's a 20-year old white-girl rapper and her music is just a fucking blast. Her rapping came off more fluid and intense in a live setting opposed to the laid-back style she uses on records which was gave her performance a gritty edge that I wasn't expecting. I also have to give her props for playing with so much energy when she had a illness, she give it 100% even though she was sick (a few of the faster parts she couldn't rap because her throat was clearly fucked up, but she gave it her best shot which is all that matters.) Some people might give her shit for being a white-girl rapper, but people need to drop their ignorant biases and stop writing her off: this chick can rap and it's time people starting taking her seriously as an artist. Kitty got shit going and she is a natural-born performer that I would love to see again.
DJ Skywlkr, the DJ for Danny Brown, came out and spun for about 25 minutes to hype the crowd up. I normally don't like DJ's, but he actually rolled out some pretty good beats and he definitely succeeded in getting the crowd pumped up for Danny Brown. As I expected, Danny came running out when Skywlker dropped the beat for "Jealousy" and rapidly launched into the best hip-hop show I've ever seen. If there was any doubt that Danny Brown is amongst hip-hop's elite artists, that was shattered by his performance last night. This dude just flat-out killed it for an hour. Unlike most rappers I've seen, Brown finished every song perfectly. For hip-hop outsiders, that doesn't sound like an accomplishment, but most rappers are lazy and about half of the time don't even finish the whole song so it was refreshing to see a rapper complete their songs flawlessly in a live setting. He also did some cool things like cut the beats out and just rap acappela, which was amazing and showed just how gifted of an MC he is. On top of his precision with the songs, Brown is just an incredible performer. He gave off insane energy and the sold-out crowd gave every ounce of that energy back, which made for an awesome vibe and it's always badass to see a crowd and the artist so into a performance. He was clearly stoked to be on-stage and was extremely appreciative for the reception he got. The setlist was pretty damn solid with a lot of lesser-known, older songs and a good amount of material from his breakout mixtape XXX as well a few new ones from his upcoming record Old (which judging from the stuff he played last night is going to be another slam-dunk for him.) My only complaint is I would've liked to hear songs like "XXX", "Outer Space" and "Adreall Admiral", but the set was completely fine as is so I can't really bitch too much. Danny Brown is the best live rapper I've seen by leaps and bounds and I urge any hip-hop fan to go see him when he plays in your city, you will not be disappointed
Scores
Stu Cat 7/10 (would've been higher if it wasn't for MC Chucklehead)
Kitty 8/10
DJ Skywlker 7/10
Danny Brown 9/10
Setlists:
Kitty:
Dead Island
$killionare
NO OFFENSE!!!!
New Song
Ay Shawty 3.0
Scout Finch Bitch
UNfollowed
?
Okay Cupid
Danny Brown:
Jealousy
Witit
Molly Ringwald
Black Brad Pitt
Toxic
Blueberry (Pills and Cocaine)
Radio Song
Lie4
I Will
Dip (new song)
Dope Song (new song)
Baseline
Terrorist Threats
Bruiser Brigade
Piss Test
Monopoly
Blunt After Bunt
Kush Coma
Express Yourself
The show started up at 9:30 with Miami/Boston rapper Stu Cat. I'm not overly familiar with the Boston hip-hop scene and from what I've heard I wasn't expecting much, but this dude can definitely rap pretty well. He got the crowd into it and his first few songs were actually really good. I will say his set did hit a bit of a roadblock when be brought out this clown rapper named MC Chucklehead to come out and rap with him. This guy was just awful, his style was like if Riff Raff took himself seriously. Judging from his between song banter he seems like a pretty good dude, he just isn't a gifted rapper. Stu Cat was still pretty good on his own, but the presence of MC Chuklehead definitely brought the energy and quality of his performance. Side-note: Stu Cat sort of looks like Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton and came out with a towel on his head like Newton does when he is on the sidelines, which caused me to laugh very hard.
Kitty came out next and she put on a very entertaining show. For those who don't know, she's a 20-year old white-girl rapper and her music is just a fucking blast. Her rapping came off more fluid and intense in a live setting opposed to the laid-back style she uses on records which was gave her performance a gritty edge that I wasn't expecting. I also have to give her props for playing with so much energy when she had a illness, she give it 100% even though she was sick (a few of the faster parts she couldn't rap because her throat was clearly fucked up, but she gave it her best shot which is all that matters.) Some people might give her shit for being a white-girl rapper, but people need to drop their ignorant biases and stop writing her off: this chick can rap and it's time people starting taking her seriously as an artist. Kitty got shit going and she is a natural-born performer that I would love to see again.
DJ Skywlkr, the DJ for Danny Brown, came out and spun for about 25 minutes to hype the crowd up. I normally don't like DJ's, but he actually rolled out some pretty good beats and he definitely succeeded in getting the crowd pumped up for Danny Brown. As I expected, Danny came running out when Skywlker dropped the beat for "Jealousy" and rapidly launched into the best hip-hop show I've ever seen. If there was any doubt that Danny Brown is amongst hip-hop's elite artists, that was shattered by his performance last night. This dude just flat-out killed it for an hour. Unlike most rappers I've seen, Brown finished every song perfectly. For hip-hop outsiders, that doesn't sound like an accomplishment, but most rappers are lazy and about half of the time don't even finish the whole song so it was refreshing to see a rapper complete their songs flawlessly in a live setting. He also did some cool things like cut the beats out and just rap acappela, which was amazing and showed just how gifted of an MC he is. On top of his precision with the songs, Brown is just an incredible performer. He gave off insane energy and the sold-out crowd gave every ounce of that energy back, which made for an awesome vibe and it's always badass to see a crowd and the artist so into a performance. He was clearly stoked to be on-stage and was extremely appreciative for the reception he got. The setlist was pretty damn solid with a lot of lesser-known, older songs and a good amount of material from his breakout mixtape XXX as well a few new ones from his upcoming record Old (which judging from the stuff he played last night is going to be another slam-dunk for him.) My only complaint is I would've liked to hear songs like "XXX", "Outer Space" and "Adreall Admiral", but the set was completely fine as is so I can't really bitch too much. Danny Brown is the best live rapper I've seen by leaps and bounds and I urge any hip-hop fan to go see him when he plays in your city, you will not be disappointed
Scores
Stu Cat 7/10 (would've been higher if it wasn't for MC Chucklehead)
Kitty 8/10
DJ Skywlker 7/10
Danny Brown 9/10
Setlists:
Kitty:
Dead Island
$killionare
NO OFFENSE!!!!
New Song
Ay Shawty 3.0
Scout Finch Bitch
UNfollowed
?
Okay Cupid
Danny Brown:
Jealousy
Witit
Molly Ringwald
Black Brad Pitt
Toxic
Blueberry (Pills and Cocaine)
Radio Song
Lie4
I Will
Dip (new song)
Dope Song (new song)
Baseline
Terrorist Threats
Bruiser Brigade
Piss Test
Monopoly
Blunt After Bunt
Kush Coma
Express Yourself
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