Cadence Weapon Sells Out Strong

But one thing I've noticed is how often the rest of the poster outshines the big zig-zag capitals scare-heading at the top. Which, for last night, was 7and7is. There was nothing wrong with the band—not the pink-polo-shirted eyepatch-wearer playing guitar, not the pork-pie hatted lead singer, nothing, nothing! Unless, that is, you count not being able to hear the lyrics above the unharmonius crash of sound. I know the man was singing because I could see his lips moving, his body jerking sideways with the force of his words. I know there were guitars up there—there was even a bass! And drums! But it was all hazy and foggy, I found my eyes glazing over, I looked for the soundman to ease my pain, but he was nowhere to be found, he was buried in the ground. And here's where Holmes steeples his fingers and tells Watson what the first clue was. Fold it, son.

But Cadence Weapon was great. He was solid, he locked it, he mocked everybody in the ring, himself more than anyone. He made friends with the drumloop and wouldn't stop talking to the crowd. "Here's where we do the generic hip-hop thing. Every time I say 'black hand', you move your arms like this." It was better than rock, scissors, paper. At one point he forgot a few lines, but straight out flagged it and freestyled the rap back hard. He was clever and condescending, but he brought the audience around to his end of the joke. Yeah, that's right, he had us pegged like Lite-brite. The man closed with a shot from his new weapon, a side-project-y thing called Silent Partners. The lead singer of 7and7is keened sadly into the microphone and did a little dance. The drum-machine lifted heavy boxes in the back. Cadence rolled out the sad/funny chorus, "I don't know WHAT to think, I don't know WHAT to think/I DON'T know what to think because the bar is out of drinks". If Cadence Weapon starts spreading his new sound around, people are going to forget Rollie Pemberton can rap. Instead, they'll all be talking about the incredible euro/disco/punk/hop sliding like furry lightning out of Edmonton.

But the other bands were solid, too. The opener, Illfit Outfit, have been been practicing for a few years, it seems, and are ready to lay down some sweet sounds. Bit rough, but the words are good, and the fun they had made up for anything anyone could complain of. The shaved pastrami in the middle, Eyes Full Of Stars, were also full of lots of guitars, and some straight-up plain-jane drums, and a young girl's voice canoodling with authority through the mix, a bit breathless sometimes, but always coming back, and keeping the audience coming back, too. Their newer stuff was better than the older stuff they played, for sure, but they say the same of Weezer, too, right? Yeah, I bandwagon with everybody else on that.

Reading: look below, you fans of the papal see.
Listening: Cadence Weapon Is The Black Hand + Cadence Weapon