Thundercat!

       So yes. After my 3 paragraph blog post on how DJ sets bore me to tears and sometime stress me out, my next review is about a DJ set. One which I actually paid money for. Because I'm super smart.

SUPR SMRT.

       In my defense, my primary motivation wasn't Erkyah Badu's set at all, I even left before she went on. I was there to see Thundercat blow my mind once again, but this time in a (very very slightly) bigger location. The last time I saw him was last year at the Independent and that was one of my favorite concerts of the year, so does this stack up?

Opening Act: Starship Connection

Funky!

Super funky!

        As you can see, it was a 3 piece band consisting of a guy on turntables, a keyboardist and a guy on what I can only assume is a drum machine. They were great. They lay down some sick grooves and generally kept the place going for the hour they were up there. I will always respect a band that mixes it up and has fun doing it, and seeing them all work so well together made it all so much more watchable.

       Only problem I had was the hour run time. Maybe it's just me, but an hour seems like a long time for an opener.


"Headlining Act": Thundercat

       Short version: Not as good as his Independent performance, but still amazing.

You cannot deny how happy this man looks.

 
        It's really not his fault. The Independent is just a better venue in general and the place was less packed in over there. Also it was more "His concert" that time than this one.

        But I swear it was still really, really good! As you see in the picture above he really puts his all into his playing along with his keyboardist and drummer who all get their turns doing their solos. It's a technical feat to see them and it's something you can groove to. He played a good mixture of both his albums and moved in and out of songs so smoothly they melded into each other. Was it a bit jammy? Yeah, but in a good way, he kept things interesting.

Crowd:

       Mostly polite, not too many pushers or shovers, and people actually asked if I could move instead of just shoving in front of me, which I enjoy greatly. Too bad part of the reason I left was because it was crowded as balls and the only way I can accurately describe the smell was an Osh Hardware Store. Kind of musky and dirty.

Overall:

What can I say. Thundercat always puts on a great show no matter where you see him and just because the venue was crowded didn't ruin anything. Fun times.

Score: 7/10