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Show Review: 'Atmosphere' - The Phoenix, Toronto
Show Review: 'Atmosphere' Hit The Tdot!
Atmosphere were in the midst of their 'When God Gives You Ugly' tour, and we arrived at the venue just as the opener was wrapping up. The place smelt like sweat, beer spills and boy (testosterone and cheap cologne). The majority of the crowd were in their early 20's, and most of them were wasted, smashed and seriously lean. Younger fans piled in the centre, smooshed up against the stage, and the older supporters did the wallflower stance, propped up against walls and pillars. These fans have grown with the group, they've gone through their 20's listening to the duo, I am one of these people, and this was the first time I was to see them perform live, excited doesn't even begin to explain how amped I was about the show.
I've been an avid Atmosphere supporter for many years. I believe Slug to be one of the sharpest lyricists and spitters in music today, his words are more than conscious, smart, observant and always thought provoking. Ant the producer is seriously versatile, switching from Motown flavoured grooves, to more gritty beats with an ease, and a flair that is uniquely his own. These two are pretty much invincible. They've released 6 albums and 11 Sad Clown Tour records, have toured extensively, and have some pretty intense and varied fans the world over.
Slug rhymes about his reality, that of the people around him, and his society, his words aren't always pretty, the messages brought forth by his stories are sometimes hard to swollow... tales that highlight how lives can be affected by drugs, drink, love, lust, death, hard work and too much play, but it's the music that coats these often rough pills with smooth, sweet goodness and makes them easier to digest (check the joint 'Sunshine', where bright beats and keys, support a track that starts off talking about being hungover and ends up taking you on a sunny day adventure).
They're a great team, and for this performance they were joined by a synth player, guitarist, and female vocalist, these cats added a whole other level to the show. When the band came on stage, the crowd lost it, Slug started chatting about how he had almost lost his voice and that he'd been to a Canadian Doctor who had healed him for a mere $180. He appeared to be in good form, the crowd were hyper and psyched, sang along to all the songs and generally got caught up in the energy of the night.
He sang 'God Loves Ugly', and newer songs like 'You', and the beautifully simple and poignant 'The Rooster', with passion and a heavy dose of attitude. Man, does this fella have some pipes, sing? No problem his voice strong, fierce, solid...and the loyal fans sang along.
Slug took a minute to warm up to the crowd, I think it couldn't have helped that he was feeling under the weather, but I also think the kids present had got to the "wasted beyond belief" stage, and were coming across a little obnoxious, and savvy-less....whooping and hollering when he mentioned alcohol, drugs and sex...which was pretty much every 5 minutes. Put it this way, If there's one thing that would get my goat if I was an artist in my 30's who has penned many a song about the negative impact of drugs and alcohol, and I was performing my music to a bunch of young kids who where drink-drink-drunk, but knew all the words to my songs, I'd be a little off too....a little sea-saw with the old emotions, happy that the kids were there, but appearing somewhat disgusted by them too... What do I know? Could be way off, might not be.
Dispite this tense vibe my friend and I picked up from Slug, the man was a deadly performer and the show was one of most brilliant performances I've seen in the past decade, the crowd however were one of the shittiest. I came for the music, I ate it up, but bounced during the encore so as to escape the rush and tumble, high on the audio treats I'd just feasted upon.
Atmosphere re-issued their 'God Loves Ugly' album with a FREE bonus DVD last year. Their sixth album 'When life gives you lemons, you paint that shit gold' dropped last month, a record full of stories about fictional characters who's situations make us think about our lives, the way we behave and our society, couple that with Ant's signature class production and you have a seriously solid record.
The group have just finished the North American leg of their tour in support of these releases, headlined at the Soundset '09 Festival back home in Minnesota, a killer fest in its second year presented by Slug's own label 'Rhymesayers Entertainment', and will start touring Europe in mid June (peep the dates on their myspace).
Check 'em out!
BONUS!!
A video for the song 'Your Glass House' from the latest record 'When Life GIves You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold'. You can pick up the record... HERE and whilst you're at it pick up one of these dope t-shirts too...Super Fine!
Atmosphere - 'Your Glass House':
Posted by Leandatron at 5/31/2009 10:18 AM 
Categories: Show Review,Video
Tags: gig Phoenix Toronto you lemons shit life minneapolis slug Atmosphere videos god ugly gold Ant show loves
Categories: Show Review,Video
Tags: gig Phoenix Toronto you lemons shit life minneapolis slug Atmosphere videos god ugly gold Ant show loves
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