Despite the unusually chilly and rainy day in Minneapolis, stepping into First Avenue felt like stepping into a warm embrace. The familiar faces, the sense of comfort-it was a home away from home, and on Monday night, it felt even better than home.
As I stepped into the iconic concert venue, I was greeted by the eclectic mix of music spun by Trackstar the DJ. While Trackstar is best known as the tour DJ for Run The Jewels, his performance that night was nothing short of a standalone rockstar. His innovative blend of old and new songs, spanning diverse genres, captivated the audience’s attention and set the tone for the rest of the night.
I’ve covered the headlining act Killer Mike before. Because it was just a year ago that I gave you the entire rundown of this remarkable man, I will spare you and just go through the highlights. Killer Mike has been a force in the rap scene for decades. His work with everything from Dr. Dre to 2 Chainz and all the way to Outkast is iconic, but he really came into his own with his work with duo Run The Jewels. Honestly, it doesn’t matter what one of Mike’s various projects you like the most; the fact is we all know the name Killer Mike, and we all have a song by him or featuring him that we claim as our own.
I know that the moniker “Killer Mike” is a scary one. It sounds more like one of the various death metal bands I listen to or something extreme, but as soon as Mike took the stage on Monday night, I felt this odd sense of familiarity with him. He came off as “just another guy but a superstar kind of guy.” Okay, maybe that doesn’t make sense and if you think I’m losing it due to that sentence, that would be fair. What I’m trying to say is that although Mike is a giant superstar, he came off as personable and had this way of connecting with everyone in the audience at some point during his lengthy one-and-a-half-hour-long set. Whether he was relating to the men in the audience as he talked about being a dad and a man in general or reminding you to vote, there was just something so real and honest about his performance and banter with the audience.
Although Mike is just one man, he was not alone on the stage. Joined by opening act Trackstar the DJ (who also DJ’d throughout Mike’s set) and a truly phenomenal small choir of five uber-talented vocalists, Killer Mike’s set filled the room beautifully. I can’t understate the talent behind him when it comes to the additional vocalists. Each got a chance to introduce themselves via song, and with every little snippet that was sung by the individual singers, the hair on the back of my neck stood up straighter and straighter. I’m not going to say that Killer Mike can’t do a show on his own because, as a superstar of his nature, he obviously can, but I will say that I found myself watching the choir and paying attention to their parts a bit more than I was with Mike himself.
Mike is not only an amazing musician, he is a charismatic philanthropist. He has worked on many causes ranging from politics to social equality. Although he was sure not to cross any lines, Mike spent a lot of time talking to the crowd about some of these causes, especially the political ones. I loved the way that he didn’t tell you how to vote or who to vote for; more just made the point of how important it is to vote in general. Sure, there were some backhanded comments about the “orange one” if you caught them, but I loved that he didn’t preach to the audience; he just educated them. This just added to the personable feeling I got from him throughout the set.
Sometimes, I forget just how fortunate I am to live in the city I do and to be doing this concert grind night after night. Killer Mike reminded me just how lucky I am a couple of songs in. He explained to the audience that First Avenue is one of the venues he has played the most in the country, and he loves it. He talked about how amazing First Avenue, the Minneapolis scene, and the Twin Cities in general are, and it spoke volumes to me. I may take it for granted from time to time, but here was a megastar reminding me that not everyone has this. Not everyone has a First Avenue down the street from them. Not everyone has people like Killer Mike visiting night after night, but we do up here in Minneapolis, and it is not something to take lightly.
