Curren$y Concert Review
Curren$y
November 20th, 2015
The Granada - Lawrence, KS
A very sizable crowd had gathered inside The Granada. I'm not sure why, but I didn't expect quite the turnout. Thinking back, it was a Friday night rap show in a college town with a major label rapper, so I really should've known.
The size of the crowd wasn't yet at its peak when Weaver and his DJ took the stage. The Lawrence rapper seemed to have a small personal fan section near the front, shouting out names of songs they wanted to hear, an encouraging sign. Weaver (or occasionally Weave Pancho, after the colorful garb he often sports) cautiously walked across the stage. He offered lots of creative lines and had a remarkable flow for someone on the bottom of a bill. Weaver also noted his DJ for the night had produced one of the tracks he performed. The production on all of his tracks is chilled out while still being very dynamic, which fits well with his subject matter of smoking weed, reaching a higher consciousness, etc. While he stumbled with the lyrics on one of his last few songs, he laughed through it and took it like a champ.
"I'm from Olathe," announced Dom Chronicles, the second opener, to many jeers from the audience of proud Lawrence and Kansas City citizens. He did that on purpose. The KC via Johnson County rapper had a similar approach to Weaver; a bit soft-spoken but very solid flows, lyrics, and production. Chronicles also seems to have a fascination with outer space imagery, using it on his album covers and in his lyrics. Chronicles and IndyGround associate Farout performed their song "Supernova" together and had the crowd shout, "I'll die and then become a supernova." While a little more vocal intensity would have been helpful for both openers, I walked away with a higher level of admiration for both of them.
With the show running seamlessly so far, the lights in the venue went completely dark. A curtain behind the stage was rolled back, and a short video of Curren$y talking about his new album was shown. People cheered as the video faded out, expecting the appearance of the rapper himself. After several minutes in the dark his DJ and photographer rush out onto the stage and begin setting up. DJ Duffey assured the crowd that Curren$y (a.k.a. Spitta) was backstage "rollin' up."
After a couple minutes, Louisiana stoner rap extraordinaire, Spitta Andretti himself, strolled out onto the stage. The lights were still very dark but lots of colored beams shot out from each side of the stage. Spitta got right down to business, performing songs from the first two albums of his famed "Pilot Talk" series. "Let me know if this is too old for you," he told his fans before multiple songs. They were never too old - his fans ate them up. After the first ten minutes of his set The Granada was smokier than I'd ever seen it and I'm fairly certain that no smoke machines (other than those in the crowd) were in use.
Upon listening to his recorded music one might imagine that Curren$y's smooth delivery and lack of off the wall-style energy might not translate to an incredible live show, but that was definitely not the case. His perfect recital of all of his verses while being so clearly blazed out of his mind was noteworthy in itself. I personally hadn't seen a rapper do that since seeing Freddie Gibbs.
After one fan threw a blunt on stage, Spitta in a jokingly mad demeanor explained to him that he only smoked joints and requested that no more blunts be thrown at him (something I had never heard anyone say). After the barrage of blunts (which included a baggy with four of them in it) ended, Curren$y lit up and kept the show moving. Before a track from his newest album, "Pilot Talk III," he asked the fans, "is this too new for y'all?" Another fun moment was a story he told about meeting crotchety, old record label executives and having them smoke weed as they listened to his music.
I'd say as long as you're a fan of rap music and don't mind getting a contact high, you're guaranteed to have fun at a Curren$y gig. His combination of lush instrumentals, stone cold flows, and friendly humor are tough not to enjoy. The dude even stayed on stage for five whole minutes signing peoples CD's and shoes until he was ushered off by his manager.
While the area surrounding it was wet and cold on Friday night, The Granada seemed to be the calming spot at the eye of the storm.
Full photo gallery: https://www.flickr.com/photos/118613296@N06/albums/72157660783829079
November 20th, 2015
The Granada - Lawrence, KS
A very sizable crowd had gathered inside The Granada. I'm not sure why, but I didn't expect quite the turnout. Thinking back, it was a Friday night rap show in a college town with a major label rapper, so I really should've known.
The size of the crowd wasn't yet at its peak when Weaver and his DJ took the stage. The Lawrence rapper seemed to have a small personal fan section near the front, shouting out names of songs they wanted to hear, an encouraging sign. Weaver (or occasionally Weave Pancho, after the colorful garb he often sports) cautiously walked across the stage. He offered lots of creative lines and had a remarkable flow for someone on the bottom of a bill. Weaver also noted his DJ for the night had produced one of the tracks he performed. The production on all of his tracks is chilled out while still being very dynamic, which fits well with his subject matter of smoking weed, reaching a higher consciousness, etc. While he stumbled with the lyrics on one of his last few songs, he laughed through it and took it like a champ.
 |
| Weaver |
With the show running seamlessly so far, the lights in the venue went completely dark. A curtain behind the stage was rolled back, and a short video of Curren$y talking about his new album was shown. People cheered as the video faded out, expecting the appearance of the rapper himself. After several minutes in the dark his DJ and photographer rush out onto the stage and begin setting up. DJ Duffey assured the crowd that Curren$y (a.k.a. Spitta) was backstage "rollin' up."
 |
| Dom Chronicles |
Upon listening to his recorded music one might imagine that Curren$y's smooth delivery and lack of off the wall-style energy might not translate to an incredible live show, but that was definitely not the case. His perfect recital of all of his verses while being so clearly blazed out of his mind was noteworthy in itself. I personally hadn't seen a rapper do that since seeing Freddie Gibbs.
After one fan threw a blunt on stage, Spitta in a jokingly mad demeanor explained to him that he only smoked joints and requested that no more blunts be thrown at him (something I had never heard anyone say). After the barrage of blunts (which included a baggy with four of them in it) ended, Curren$y lit up and kept the show moving. Before a track from his newest album, "Pilot Talk III," he asked the fans, "is this too new for y'all?" Another fun moment was a story he told about meeting crotchety, old record label executives and having them smoke weed as they listened to his music.
I'd say as long as you're a fan of rap music and don't mind getting a contact high, you're guaranteed to have fun at a Curren$y gig. His combination of lush instrumentals, stone cold flows, and friendly humor are tough not to enjoy. The dude even stayed on stage for five whole minutes signing peoples CD's and shoes until he was ushered off by his manager.
While the area surrounding it was wet and cold on Friday night, The Granada seemed to be the calming spot at the eye of the storm.
Full photo gallery: https://www.flickr.com/photos/118613296@N06/albums/72157660783829079
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