Noise Damage

Rhymesayers’ P.O.S. tore through a sold out mainroom at First Avenue with the fury his audiences have come to know well. Fresh off of a busy schedule of touring through the Summer and early Fall (including a few Twin Cities Building Better Bombs shows) this was a hell of a homecoming for the hometown hero. The show provided some eclectic tunes to an audience that was packed full of fans – new and old.

More after the jump…

The openers for the show, hand picked by the gregarious headliner himself, ranged quite a bit in their styles. The first up, Moonstone, brought with them a blend of vocoder-enhanced classic rock and spiritual spoken word. Being an orthodox Lunarian parish, their Reverant Mackert has much to say to the crowds they inevitably draw. Fresh off of a third-place billing on the City Pages “Picked to Click” this year it’s obvious to see why those in the know in the local music scene have been following these guys. Their rich psychedelic tapestries may have caught the crowd by surprise but, based on the murmurs of praise, I’d say that they may have a few prospective Lunarians joining their parish.

Next in the eclectic mix were Prof and St. Paul Slim enlightening the crowd with their unique blend of mid-90′s braggadocio and modern hip-hop synthesizers and deep beats. Down up front the kids knew every word, up in the back folks were grooving to the beats – these guys tore the place down. Slim’s been no stranger to success lately, scoring a hit with a Minnesota Golden Gophers them song (“Play4Brew”, featured prominently on his MySpace page) and releasing an acclaimed album earlier this year (“Recession Music”). The future looks bright for the Prof and Slim, here’s to hoping we’ll see many more shows from these guys.

Changing the pace quite a bit, one-man electronic band Slapping Purses gave the crowd something they couldn’t have expected to have sandwiched between a pair of rap acts – electronic noise reminiscent of u-Ziq with a bit of Venetian Snares thrown in for good measure. ‘Purses stood with his wicker suitcase and custom-made rhinestone skull microphone at center stage kicking some rhythms and glitched-up melodies that few in the mainroom could’ve fathomed. What set this set apart was the addition of a live drummer, it brought alot of energy to what might’ve been an empty stage. Strange looks wandered around the room when the set started but it didn’t take long for the incredibly heavy beats and noise to infect the crowd. By the end of the set, nearly three and a half hours after the main room doors opened, everyone was chomping at the bit for P.O.S. to take the stage. When he did, he opened up with this: “Can you build your own microphone? I don’t think so. Give it up for Slapping Purses.”

With that, P.O.S. rolled right into a set full of headline-worthy tracks, starting with “Let It Rattle” and going through until the last encore with “Stand Up (Let’s Get Murdered)”. Throughout the set P.O.S. showed off not only his lyricism but his great attitude as well, smirking when a plaid mad bomber hat was thrown on stage and returning with some witty banter about said hats between songs. Toward the end of the set, while observing a group of moshers in the crowd he gave them a bit of wisdom, “I’m all for mosh pits but I’m not for black eyes on little girls.” DJ Plain Ole Bill looked like he was having a blast throughout the show too, dropping large amounts of turntable skill throughout the show. The set featured many favorites from 2009′s Never Better along with a few choice selections from the back catalog. Highlights included Sims and Dessa joining for support during “Low Light Low Life” and a heartfelt rendition of De La Souls, dedicated to his mother Grace, that struck a very positive nerve with the crowd and contributed even more to the overall great vibe at the show.

Overall the show was one of my favorites this year. It put an eclectic mix of great local artists in front of a crowd that was receptive, perhaps uniquely so, to experience new things. The crowd had to be one of the best I’ve seen in a long time as well, wiping away bad main room memories from other recent shows. If P.O.S. is coming to your town you owe it to yourself to check out his show. He’s currently touring with Eyedea and Abilities, another great Twin Cities punk-inspired rap act. Check his Rhymesayers artist page for dates and details.