Tuesday August 19th I headed to Philadelphia after work with some friends to hit one of my more favorite venues, the Trocadero, to see Aesop Rock perform.  The trip down was uneventful; the rest of the night was very memorable.

We got in just after 8pm and the sound check was finishing up, shortly there after Grayskul came out to hype the audience and get the show started.

First thing I noticed they only had the beats playing in the background, second thing, no hype men.  This is how hip-hop should be.  Get out there; show me you can rhyme on stage to your beats, not rhyming over your voice from a record.  Between the third and fourth song they asked the crowd who had their new album, I was in the bleachers at the time and saw only a few hands go up, they said, “3, great, we gonna change that tonight.”  They did, they had the crowd moving, digging on their style and they made a fan out of me and I bet everyone else there.

Yak Ballz with Kosha Dillz came on next, the audience clearly knew who they were and were amped.  Again, no voices on the tracks their DJ was spinning, tons of energy.

Yak delivers his rhymes with such precision while Kosha Dillz complimented him that this under-card team could have been center stage.  Extremely energetic set that left the crowds salivating for Aesop Rock.

After a minor change to the set to reconfigure the DJ booth for DJ Big Wiz, Aesop took to the stage with Rob Sonic.  Aesop, dressed only in a plain white t-shirt and a pair of jeans, brought the crowed to a new level of energy.  Rob Sonic supported the next dozen or so songs with such passion you would have thought he wrote them himself.  This guy gets what it is to be on the state with someone else.

Aesop’s set was amazing; hearing him spit live is something everyone who loves hip-hop should experience.  He gets it.  He understands that his sound is unique, how his bars mesh together and at what point to let Rob take over or some of the crowd for feedback, and it’s all in the right proportions.  Aesop’s lyrics are as much audible as they are visual, watching him move around the stage he actually tells the story with hand gestures and movement; his music never really relied on catchy hooks the audience would have to sing along too, another part of this show I really enjoyed.  Rob’s a larger guy, you’d never know by how he ran around stage and never missed a lyric, queue, timing or sounded winded.  Again, this is a true MC, someone who has mastered breathing and stage presence to deliver the best show possible.

After None Shall Pass, goodnights were said and they left the stage, the audience started to chant AE-SOP, AE-SOP and a few minutes later he came back onstage.  A short speech about how he truly appreciated everyone in Philly, since it was often his proving ground outside New York City, Aesop broke into an amazing freestyle.  He then asked if Philly artist Mr. Lif was in the audience.  Sure enough, Lif was and they got him on stage, where the two of them, along with Rob Sonic traded back and forth and gave the crowd about 10 minutes of freestlyin’.   As they finished, the house lights came on, everyone left the stage and people started to leave the venue.  I stuck around till the end, something about being in an empty venue I’ve always enjoyed, then watched the stage hands come out and start breaking down the stage and packing up, off to another city.

This tour is not to be missed.  Cliché, I know, but in all seriousness, if you like true hip hop, not the crap that is shown on 98% of TV, go spend the $20 or so on a ticket and escape into the madness of lyrics Aesop Rock and everyone else will throw at you.

To see all the photos, please click here.

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