Mike Mictlan

It was quite a celebration on Saturday night at First Avenue, as a sold-out crowd showed a lot of love towards local hip-hop crew Doomtree—who in turn gave a lot of love right back, as well as an energetic performance that highlighted a collective that is currently hitting on all cylinders. With a handful of solo records out over the last year or so, as well as their first ever full-length under the full-crew Doomtree umbrella, and forthcoming records due out early next year from P.O.S., Sims, and Dessa, Doomtree had a lot of banging tracks to chose from, and most of them were on offer during the two-set, nearly three-hour annual Blowout.

P.O.S.

The fuse did take a little while to get lit though, as the early start time, combined with long lines at the door, had people filtering in (and warming up—damn it was a cold night in Mpls) while the first set was going. But the gang was clearly ready to provide whatever enthusiasm the crowd might have been lacking, initially, with the smile on P.O.S.’s face enough to light up the club on its own. So, while it took a while for the crowd to get into it, the group was certainly on point right from the get go; with the spotlight at the start of the show falling on the rhymes of Mike Mictlan, Sims, and P.O.S., who simply owned First Ave’s revamped stage, with its small stairway leading down from the stage into the crowd adding to the engaging atmosphere of the club. It’s been quite a year for the Doomtree crew, and Saturday night was a bash to celebrate everything they have achieved, and how a lot of their dreams and aspirations have been realized. Backed by DJ’s Paper Tiger and Lazerbeak, the beats were solid and slamming all night, and each MC brought their different styles (and solo material) to the mic, blending their disparate techniques deftly throughout the entire show.

Dessa

Cecil Otter stayed in the background for the beginning part of the set, but tore things up when he got the chance on an old track from his False Hopes record, and really brought the first set to life with his rhymes. P.O.S. gave us just a little taste of his new record that’s dropping in February, blowing up on “Drum Roll.” I was actually hoping for a few more tracks from that record, but I’ll have to wait until he (perhaps) does a record release show for Never Better. Dessa also performed a few sultry tracks that might find a place on her forthcoming record in the new year as well. But this was a Doomtree show, after all, and a majority of the tracks the crew tore up (and seemed to enjoy performing the most) were from their excellent collaborative Doomtree record. “Drumsticks,” “Gander Back,” and first set closer “Game Over,” were all early set highlights that were brazen examples of how strong that record is.

After a short break, Cecil Otter came back on stage, unaccompanied, and did a stirring trio of songs from his Rebel Yellow record, that not only shows how improved his stage presence has become over the years, but how clever and self-deprecating a wordsmith he is. Next up was Mike Mictlan, who also did a rousing set of songs from his Lazerbeak-collaboration, Hand Over Fist record. Mike announced the birth of his daughter to the crowd, before dedicating a spirited full-crew version of Prizefight to her, which just might have been the best song of the night. And from that point on, the place was on fire. The room had reached beyond maximum capacity, and the hyped crowd just added to the groups energy. “Accident” really tore things up, and then the crew literally tore things up, tearing off the huge letters that spelled out Doomtree on the DJ decks, and throwing them into the ecstatic crowd. Doomtree even brought out I Self Devine on guest vocals for an incendiary version of “Twentyfourseven” that had the whole crowd throwing their hands (and wings) into the air.

Mike Mictlan

So, it was quite the revelry taking place at the Ave on Saturday night, one where the group was nearly as happy as the audience, with all they’ve accomplished throughout the year. And the crowd made sure to show their appreciation, for not only all the great releases they’ve been responsible for over the years, but for an amazing show as well. One where the true talents of everone were on full display, as were the excellent songs that have now piled up in the Doomtree catalog. They had enough killer tracks to fill a nearly three-hour set and leave the audience breathless (at least those of us on the floor were). So, well done, Doomtree crew. This show was a real celebration of all you have you have achieved over the last year or so. And with such good records looming on the horizon, we know you aren’t even close to being finished yet.

[review by Erik Thompson, photos by Zoe Prinds-Flash]

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Also: Doomtree “Game Over” Video