The 2 High 2 Die Tour made a stop at First Avenue in Minneapolis this weekend, and MC Ho was there to take it all in for all you Oles I know, so fearless. The lineup consisted of the Sacramento punk quartet signed to the Odd Futures label Trash Talk, Queens-bred food aficionado/rapper Action Bronson and the fearlessly explicit rapper Danny Brown.
Doors opened at 8 p.m., but Trash Talk didn’t come on until 9:30 p.m. For those of you who don’t know Trash Talk, this band has a reputation for being abrasive and in-your-face at their shows. They’ve been on my bucket list forever and far exceeded my expectations. Search any of their shows on YouTube, and it won’t take long to see that these dudes go hard. To give you an idea, a Facebook friend recently posted this on her newsfeed regarding Trash Talk: “I’d go to Trash Talk tonight, but I kind of want to keep my face and teeth.” Fair enough.
As soon as the clock hit 9:30 p.m., a single power chord was played, and that was enough to get the crowd rowdy for the band’s set. Minutes later the screen lifted from the stage to finally show the band, and the crowd was welcomed with a half-filled PBR can flung straight from the stage. Seconds later, Trash Talk opened their set with “Walking Disease,” and before I knew it, the crowd morphed into a big pit and 30-year-old men were swinging their arms and legs like upset children in the toy aisle at Target. Trash Talk lived up to its reputation for spontaneity: Within 45 minutes, lead singer Lee Spielman sang from five different locations off-stage including the second floor staircase and the bar below it.
Next was rapper/chef Action Bronson, and, to be honest, I don’t have much to say for his set. His DJ played old pop hits like Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” and Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer.” Later, Bronson managed to spit out his verses and do his single “Strictly 4 My Jeeps” another video worth watching – it summarizes his style quite nicely.
Following Bronson was the headlining act: Detroit’s raunchiest rapper, Danny Brown. If you know anything about Danny Brown, you know “raunchy” is the only description that fits him. Googling “Danny Brown Triple Rock” will allow you to find out why and don’t say I didn’t warn you!.
Before Danny Brown even took the stage, his DJ had hyped up the crowd with remixes of Waka Flocka Flames “Hard In Da Paint” and A$AP Ferg’s “Work.” Pre-show, I wasn’t that much of a Danny Brown fan, and I wasn’t really that pumped for his set, but his DJ was enough to get me hyped. As soon as “Hard In Da Paint” came on, First Avenue became a huge mosh/jump/hop-fest. To be honest, the last time I was drenched in so much sweat from a show was the Girl Talk concert in the Pause two years ago.
Danny Brown came onto the stage with no hype man, and suddenly the smoke clouds rose up around me as if everyone at the show had agreed to smoke as soon as he walked on stage. Brown played most of his songs from the critically acclaimed album “XXX,” including “Monopoly” and the tour-appropriate “Blunt After Blunt.”
The 2 High 2 Die Tour proved that you can take three different artists from three different musical landscapes and still perform a cohesive set for people to enjoy. MC Ho gives this concert four mics out of five.
Stay Trill,
Horacio
