St. Paddy’s was a Party with P.O.S. at First Avenue

While the masses were all hitting the bars for green beer and shots of Jameson on Friday night, the real party was the P.O.S show at First Avenue. His latest album, Chill Dummy, came out on vinyl on Thursday so everyone was ready to party in celebration, and party they did. The opening acts were very diverse but the majority of the crowd (those who weren’t wearing flashing green headbands and getting too drunk to stand by 8:30 PM) received them very well.

First up was Invisible Boy, headed by Chris Bierden, a local singer and bass player with his hands in many different projects. Invisible Boy’s sound was very different than that of P.O.S, with indie vibes that reminded me of Belle & Sebastian and Neutral Milk Hotel. The crowd wasn’t super polite the whole time, but everyone was also still filing into the venue and getting their drinks. Their set was jam packed with music with a few pauses to say “thank you” to the crowd and to P.O.S.

Zuluzuluu, another well loved group of locals, was next to hit the stage. Their beats were perfect for the half drunk, half sober, and fully ready to jam crowd to sway and shimmy along to. Zuluzuluu is almost always popping up on bills for shows around the city but Friday was somehow my first time seeing them, and I was not disappointed. They were the perfect positive but powerful complement to Invisible Boy’s dreamy vocals and P.O.S’ gritty sound.

When P.O.S finally hit the stage, the crowd at the sold out First Ave packed themselves together like sardines on the floor so they could get as close to the action as possible. He played an eclectic mix of *very* old songs and new bangers from his new album “Chill Dummy.” Not only were the songs on the setlist eclectic, so were the guests that joined Stef on stage. The ethereal and mystical Lady Midnight entered the stage to lend her voice to the hooks of a few songs in a row. Fellow Doomtree members Sims and Mike Mictlan made separate appearances for some crew songs like “Spill Me Up” and “Get Down.” Local up and comer Dwynell Roland and the incredibly well dressed Rapper Hooks and Monclelas Boston all joined the show for a song. The final guest for the evening was Stef’s own son, and local rapper Hard_R, who took the stage for his verse on “sleepdrone/superposition,” and it was a powerful, full circle moment. “Encores are a thing of the past. You don’t need to chant someone’s name to get them to play you songs anymore,” P.O.S told the crowd as he began the last leg of his set. The audience somehow seemed to sober up enough to be respectful during the entire set. There was jumping, hand waving, and the *good kind* of pushing and thrashing around, during the performance.

When P.O.S left the stage everyone seemed to hover by the merch table hoping to meet the performers while they decided what to do with the rest of their St. Patrick’s Day night. On my ride home I passed so many people throwing up on the sidewalks and felt so thankful that I spent my evening with like minded people singing along to some of my favorite songs.