Aesop Rock & the Octopus Project @ First Avenue

(The Octopus Project)

Aesop Rock’s music is as highly regarded as that of any of his contemporaries in the lyric-centric segment of the hip hop community and this night proved any critical dismissal of his latest album, None Shall Pass, vastly inappropriate. His ability to stand amidst a minimalist stage show, accompanied only by his DJ, Big Wiz, and his sideman Rob Sonic, all the while captivating an audience simply with the velocity of his rhyming separates him from 99.9% of emcees today.

The night’s openers, the Octopus Project, were by far and away a most unexpected surprise, especially considering the hip hop focused context of the night’s bill (which also featured Blockhead and DJ Signify). After a rocky start with the crew’s visual set up (the projector didn’t want to cooperate for the better part of the band’s first two songs) the Octopus Project played an entirely schizophrenic performance, one that ranged from a slow theramin-heavy ambiance to blazing guitar-powered instrumentals.

(The Octopus Project)

To explain the group’s sound and live show would be difficult to fully immerse myself in had I not seen Tortoise earlier this year. The Octopus Project, like Tortoise, are rooted in electronic experimentation, its members swapping guitar, drum and xylophone duties resulting in a harmonic wave, confronting listeners like a billowing mountain breeze. That being said, there’s one obvious difference between the groups, the Octopus Project are first and foremost a rock band.

Drummer, guitarist, stage banterer Toto Miranda took little time in making his presence felt as he beat the living hell out of the drum kit during the band’s first song (he eventually broke the snare drum during the second). Not to say however that the group is entirely furious and monolithic (remember that mention of being schizophrenic?) as percussionist/bassist/theramin(ist?) Yvonne Lambert slowed the pace of the evening on multiple occasions offering concert hall-like poise as she played the unique instrument with such ambiguous eroticism that even the unexpectedly rowdy pit stopped to take notice.

Miranda, who over the course of the performance rallied the audience into clapping and joined bassist/drummer Josh Lambert, performing on top of risers at opposite ends of the stage for a song, eventually stopped the set begging for a moment on the microphone. He explained that he was so lucky to have been chosen as opener for Aesop Rock, but as the Octopus Project was the warm up band, he figured that the band should in fact warm up the crowd. “I’ve heard other people do this and it looks like a lot of fun,” he explained before shouting “give me a hell yeah.” The crowd responded graciously, offering a warm “hell yeah” in return. And instantly the call/response was on, “volcano,” Miranda continued, receiving the expected response: “mailman”… “grandma”… “now scream like you just got hurt real bad.”

There was not a face in the audience that wasn’t smiling as the band left the stage, clearing their eerily lit up rack of fuzzy amps and unusual instruments. It wasn’t long however before the chanting started, “Aesop, Aesop, Aesop…”

(Aesop Rock & Rob Sonic)

As DJ Big Wiz took the stage, hyping the crowd prior to the introduction of Rob Sonic and Aesop Rock, there was a strange feeling roaming First Avenue; one of genuine warmth. Addressed by Aesop later in his set, Minneapolis has long since been a solid city in terms of hip hop acceptance, and the night’s packed venue was proof of just that; art need not radio play, MTV’s spotlight nor blind critical salivating to be deemed important. Introducing the set than with “Keep Off The Lawn,” followed by “None Shall Pass” and “Catacomb Kid,” the first three tracks from his recently released album None Shall Pass, the crowd reaction proved his thoughts every bit as true as he had expressed them.

After storming through over an hours worth of both his and Rob Sonic’s material (from Sonic’s forthcoming Sabotage Gigante album) Aesop took a few minutes in promoting Atmosphere’s upcoming tour in surprising detail (considering they’re neither label nor tour-mates). Remember that warmth that was going around the club?

Leaving the stage briefly following the tongue-twister “Coffee,” the trio returned to a chanting crowd breaking into the track that seemingly everyone in attendance wanted, “Daylight.”

While it could be said that openers stole the show to some degree, Aesop Rock and Rob Sonic’s on-stage chemistry was entirely in sync as the two picked at each other’s brain, chiming in at exactly the correct moment throughout the set. They confronted the audience as a whole rather than two separate emcees, this being somewhat of a novelty considering both are known for their solo mic skills. And just as it seemed that the show would continue, the crowd’s energy cooking the stage, the show faded out with “Daylight,” showing Aesop as the showman he is, and ensuring that his fans will come back next time for what they so eagerly wanted more of.