Girl at the Rock Shows

It has been a wild week. From The Sex Pistols to the Billie Joe Armstrong-fronted Pinhead Gunpowder, I feel like I’ve lived a thousand lives this week, with each one a bit more insane than the last. By Thursday night, I was exhausted and felt like nothing could top the week I had already had, but the concert Gods weren’t done with me yet, and I had another show to check out at The Fillmore. I knew very little about any of the acts playing, but the tour name was ‘The Experimental Rap Tour.” Yeah, I was intrigued, so after slamming an energy drink and having a little pep talk with myself in the visor mirror of my car, it was time to see just what exactly “experimental rap” is.

Although a young kid (around twenty years old), opening act matt proxy knew how to get the small but mighty audience at The Fillmore moving. Matt isn’t just part of this tour; he’s also a local kid, which definitely added to the hype around his set. Although I had never heard of Matt or his music before this, I instantly felt connected to him. I’m sure we have very little in common, but the emotion he laid out on stage for everyone to see and feel was insane. It reminded me a bit of the first time I saw REIKI perform. It was raw, and it was intense. The set started off smooth and calm, but quickly escalated into furious fast raps and metal-inspired instrumentation. I was hooked not only because it was a super unique sound to me, but because, for the most part, Matt sold it. Sure, I thought the moment when Matt disappeared from the stage, leaving his DJ to poorly lip-sync a few songs, was a bit weird, but overall, I was impressed by the talent, emotion, and energy that I experienced during matt proxy’s short time on stage.

Following matt proxy’s set was a quick set from redveil. Born Marcus Marton, redveil is a rapper, songwriter, and producer from Maryland. I almost stumbled into redveil’s show in March when he was at The Fine Line. Something about that show caught my eye, but then a bigger fish came along, and I jumped ship for a different show. I’ll always regret that because what I got from redveil wasn’t only passionate like what matt proxy gave me; it was soulful. Sure, redveil is a rapper, and you definitely got that vibe throughout his time on stage, but that’s not what intrigued me. I was intrigued by this well-thought-out layer of soul and jazz that seemed to arc over everything redveil did on stage. A sense of peace and calm radiated from him as he stalked the stage and got the audience hyped. I was confused by what I was feeling and hearing, but I was here for it and really appreciated not only redveil’s energy, but also the creativity that he brought to the speakers. As an opening act at a show where I didn’t know much about anything, redveil had me hooked, and I hope to experience this act live again soon.

The same goes for headliner JPEGMAFIA. I know I’ve missed a few chances to see this performer live over the years, and after witnessing his magic on Thursday, I regret missing them. Like redveil, I was instantly struck by the variety that I was getting from JPEGMAFIA’s sound and performance. Visually, JPEGMAFIA (born Barrington Hendricks) had an almost punk-like look. Giant black, lace-up boots that stretched up to his knees, a studded belt, and a patched-up hoodie- it all felt very punk, almost bridging into a goth vibe. His performance on stage kind of matched that. He had a very intense way of pacing the stage. It was a stomp, and it was fast with a super wide gait attached to it. It was intimidating and commanding in all the right ways, and the music fit that.

Sonically, JPEGMAFIA is intense. Chaos is the best way to describe the sounds I got for most of JPEGMAFIA’s time on stage. It was very much Death Grips meets H09909. It was half noise, half rap, half industrial, half punk; it was really half everything, and the way this man organized it into individual songs will never make sense to me, but that’s not a bad thing. I like sounds that challenge me as much as they please me, and that’s exactly what happened as I was sitting there trying to take in what I was hearing. I was confused and, at times, I thought I was hearing a car crash at best, but looking back on the night, the art that I took in from JPEGMAFIA left me energized, happy, and feeling like there was a new spark lit under my ass to just be true to myself because, ultimately, that was my biggest takeaway from this show. JPEGMAFIA isn’t making music for the masses. He is making it for himself and those it resonates with, and I think that is what made his set so impactful for me and the rest of the audience.

Thursday night’s show at The Fillmore was not sold out. In fact, it was the first time I had ever seen this venue curtain off the upstairs. From the right angle, the room looked about half full, which didn’t look particularly good, but honestly, I think I’m the only one in the room paying attention to that. Throughout both matt proxy and redveil’s set, there was an energy in the room that would easily fool you into thinking this was a sold-out show. That energy didn’t just come from the stage; it came from the audience, too. Nobody else in this room cared that it wasn’t full because the kids in the audience were getting what they wanted, and that was the music. I loved this so much. I feel like a lot of performers may get lost in the fact that they aren’t playing to a full room. I’ve seen some acts fall to their knees in front of just a handful of people, but what’s the point? Just like the performers spent time getting ready for the night, so did the audience members, so why waste a night? Always give your all whether you’re on the stage or in the audience. I love that everyone at The Fillmore on Thursday night seemed to understand the assignment, and I think that definitely added to my love for this show.

Line Up:

matt proxy

redveil

JPEGMAFIA

Venue: The Fillmore

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing Notable

Average Age of the Crowd: 24

Crowd Surfers- 0

Stage Divers- 0

Mosh-ability- 7 out of 10

Amount of Beer Spilled On Me While Walking Around- $0

Broken Bones- None

Spotted Flying Through The Air- Nothing

Fights- None

Pukers- 0

Passed Out People- 0

Celebrity Sightings – None

How Many Times I’ve Seen These Bands Before (or at least how many times I can remember)-

matt proxy – 0

redveil – 0

JPEGMAFIA – 0

Show on Deck – Snow & Flurry Fest

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