“Make some noise if you’re happy to be alive,” Sean Daley-- Stage Name: Slug-- yelled out into the sold out crowd of the Hollywood Palladium, eliciting a deafening roar from his fans. Even if it wasn’t apparent from the line that wrapped itself around the block outside of the venue, it became so upon seeing the interactions between group and fans that this band means a helluva lot to a whole lot of people. With one of the most diverse crowds this reviewer has ever seen at a show, ranging from the young teenager to the slightly balding middle aged man, there was never a moment where it didn’t seem everyone there wasn’t unified in their love and devotion towards the rapper/producer duo.
The show they put on was extremely minimalistic as far as their staging went, just a DJ platform and two small chandeliers hanging on either side of it, which only added to the aesthetic. This wasn’t a show that rode on gimmicks, but on talent alone, as Slug spit his rhymes with the speed and ferocity of an AK-47.
The highlight of the night came from when Atmosphere pulled fellow rapper Murs up on stage for “Dirty Girl.” The crowd went so wild, in fact, that for a moment the rappers were completely drowned out. Happening about a third of the way through the show, it was the moment of the proverbial roller coaster in which the car dropped off the first free fall and started the high intensity ride that is the Atmosphere performance.
There’s a reason Anthony Davis-- Stage Name: Ant-- and Slug have been in the underground hip hop scene for as long as they have, and their live performance is testament to that. Maybe they aren’t burning up Top 40s radio stations, but not only does it seem they don’t want to be, they don’t need to be. Any fan of hip hop and rap should not just try to catch the duo, but they need to, because it is a hell of a performance.
Their latest album, Southsiders, is available on iTunes.
Check out our May cover feature with Atmosphere here!
Words and Photos by Victoria Patneaude
*Note: The opinions expressed in the Music Connection Photo Blog do not directly reflect that of the Music Connection brand. These are posted “as is” without additional support from MC.