A&R Music Bar - Columbus, Ohio
Allow me to start off with a baby anecdote that pretty well illustrates how my entire evening went. I drive downtown to the venue, only to discover that the lot I am accustomed to parking in is now a garage, end up circling construction around said garage twice to find the entrance, get in, park, then find the little standalone kiosk where you pay to park and get the ticket for your dash. As we're walking up to the machine, a car full of people whips around the corner and asks us why we're there and if we've paid for parking and I had this momentary panic wondering whether or not something weird was about to go down. Turns out, they were there to see good old Aesop Rock, had already paid for parking, but got to the box office to discover the show was sold out, so they gave us their little parking pass and said enjoy the show. Shazam, free parking. And that was basically the whole night: lots of almost weird, potentially disastrous moments that ended as perfectly as possibly.
As far as the show itself goes, I'm not super familiar with Aesop Rock, but that didn't stop me from having a hell of a time. From what I can tell, they ran the gamut from old favorites to tracks from the latest album as well as new material from cohort Rob Sonic. The atmosphere was that of a typical dance party rap show in the best way possible, with booming bass, lots of yelling, dancing, enough smoke in the air to get a decent contact high, decent video production and a straight DJ set from Big Wiz as an intermission. Personal highlight was something that they've apparently been doing for every show where they call someone up on stage to shave their hair into a Mohawk by Busdriver while they rapped, dubbing the recipient The Spirit of Columbus. Which brings me back to one of the tour's supporting acts that I am actually a little more familiar with, Busdriver, who, I have to say, absolutely killed it. I'd never seen him live before and didn't get to catch his whole set, but between that and the onstage buzzcut, I would have happily paid to see that show twice. Fortunately, Aesop Rock did not disappoint, although at one point I found myself getting sucked into their video show more than their performance, but what can I say? It was a kung fu movie and I'm a sucker for that stuff. Bottom line, they have a few more weeks left on this tour and you'd be doing yourself a big favor if you caught it, as it is an absolute blast. And, if you're feeling brave, sign up to get your haircut on stage and be sure to send us a picture!
-daveSMASH
