Indescribably Dope

Finally back in the states (and by states, I mean California) after a long set of trips after the bar exam. I'm ready to get back to music blogging with a new vengeance.

Although I could describe what has happened to me over the last 2 months, and the music I've seen recently, it would be a disservice to not immediately report on the dopeness that I witnessed first-hand last night at the Wiltern. Atmosphere put on one of the most memorable performances I have ever seen, and certainly one of the best hip-hop shows to ever occur in Los Angeles. To put it bluntly it was indescribably dope.

Atmosphere performed a sampling of cuts from the latest full length, When Life Gives You Lemons..., including "Any Man", a personal favorite. The crowd was on full throttle even before Slug dropped his first verse of the night, with many fans beginning to spit verse after verse as if they were the MC himself. Slug even commented on how L.A. must just like to hear their own voice. His opening words to the crowd, after a standing applaud and scream filled welcoming, were that "we needed to slow down, don't fuck me to fast."

What impressed me most was how Slug seamlessly whipped through song after song, most of which were slightly re-worked both from the band perspective (with unique instrumentation - girl on the vocals, anyone?!?!?) and the lyrics (plenty of L.A. and Wiltern shout outs). Fans seemed to know the full catalogue, dating all the way back to old school shit from original Sad Clown Bad Dub...Slug has truly come along way with his casual performance flow; his cadence and articulation are exceptional and he delivers words like bullets; they cut through the drowning bass tones just enough to hear what he is saying and truly understand his metaphors as he rolls them off his lips.

He dropped several tracks from his latest Sad Clown EPs, including a song he called his personal favorite (I forget the name).

I got my personal favorite somewhere during his tremendously long encore, Women With The Tattoed Hands, which is a cut that they do not often play anymore. Although I was surprised that not many people were singing along with me, I was just happy to hear him play the original Atmosphere crowd pleaser. He topped it all off with a freestyle with Murs and Abstract Rude at the end, where, amongst more L.A. spot dropping, he killed it with a shout out to the Wiltern.

I have not seen a show that had me reeling like this in a while. Quite honestly the best Atmosphere show I've ever seen (and this was #16). The feeling of joy I experienced during his 30 minutes of encore are hard to define. I guess the best way to capture last night in words is to say that Atmosphere was indescribably dope.