The Movement Of The Atmosphere Made Thursday Night Slightly Stoopid And Less Than Sublime

Photos by Langen Goldstien

My gut told me something was going to happen on Thursday night weather-wise to affect the show but I tried to be optimistic. At times, when driving out to Somerset, Wisconsin, the sun would be shining and I would lose the feeling of worry I had but, at others, the sky would be dark and sinister looking and that’s when I thought about just turning around. Maybe it was a bit of PTSD from the chaos that ensued when weather hit the Fall Out Boy show just a couple of weeks ago but my gut had a strong feeling in it and, one thing my mom always told me, go with your gut.

The movement started the night off flawlessly with their classic reggae sound. Although the crowd was still trickling in as they kicked off early at 5 PM, there were clearly people in the audience who knew who this band was and were ready to get the night started off right. Although I thought The Movement’s sound was a very classic reggae vibe, there were still nods to everything from rock to reggae to rap buried in their sound. Whether you picked up on those elements in the music or not, The Movement was a dynamic band to listen to and watch. All of the members seemed to be in their own world, doing their own thing yet, somehow, all came together to give you a cohesive feeling. I felt bad that there weren’t more people in the audience during The Movement’s set but I was beyond thrilled that I got to experience it and, although reggae may not be my normal cup of tea, you will be able to find me at the next The Movement show.

Following The Movement was the one and only Atmosphere. If you know me, you know I love Atmosphere so being able to see them perform and get to take some photos on top of that was a true dream. Don’t worry if you don’t know Atmosphere. Well, I mean, you should worry because they are great but I feel like since they are Minneapolis-bred, they mean a lot to me and other people who also live in Minneapolis. I know the show on Thursday was about forty minutes away from Minneapolis and in a completely different state on top of that but that didn’t change the thrill or the feeling I got while watching Atmosphere perform.

Atmosphere is a hip-hop duo consisting of frontman – Slug (Sean Daley) and DJ – Ant (Anthony Davis). This is one of those groups that I could listen to on repeat for days on end but absolutely have some favorites from their lengthy discography. Lucky for me, those favorites are what they played and they played them in an impeccable order. Obviously you weren’t there so me going song by song will do nothing for you but let me tell you, the amount of energy and love that both Slug and Ant brought to the stage was staggering. I was in awe watching the way Slug both commanded the audience yet treated them with a sense of respect and love at the same time. It made for a dynamic set and, although the rest of the night wasn’t going to go as planned, I was beyond thankful I got to experience Atmosphere before the night went to crap.

The sky was starting to look a bit ominous as the stage was turned over for Slightly Stoopid but I tried to keep my mood optimistic. I mean, I haven’t had a chance to catch Slightly Stoopid since they were at The Cabooze Outdoor Plaza back in August of 2015 so I was due for a chance to catch them again. Hailing from Ocean Beach, San Diego, California, Slightly Stoopid, like The Movement, has a more straight-up reggae vibe to them but they bring a little bit more of the surf-punk vibe than The Movement. They have nine full-length albums out there so they have been doing this for some time which is the feeling you got while watching them perform on Thursday night.

Although all of the songs seemed to have a slight organic jam element to them, they also felt completely organized and perfect. It was hard for me to decipher if it was actually a jam moment or just part of a song at times being that I don’t spend much time with this band but that mystery also added to the excitement of the set. Another exciting thing about their performance on Thursday was the surprise appearance of Chali 2na from Jurassic 5. Although he was only utilized in a couple of songs and to introduce the band, I feel like Chali 2na brought a sense of excitement to the stage and audience alike making Slightly Stoopid’s set super dynamic at the end of the night.

This is where I should be writing about the headlining act Sublime With Rome but Mother Nature had a different idea of what the audience was going to get on Thursday night. Just when Sublime With Rome was about to take the stage, I saw it– lightning– a telltale sign of what was to come. I tried to shake it off a bit but then Sublime With Rome’s set time was pushed back. I knew what this meant as it was all so familiar after the same thing happened just a couple of weeks ago at this same venue for the Fall Out Boy show. Another crack of lightning and that’s when a staffer took the stage, the house music was cut, and the inevitable happened. The show was being postponed due to weather and they were asking everyone to wait it out in the cars.

Here’s the deal. I had been here before and feel like the venue learned from some of their mistakes during the Fall Out Boy show. The staff was quick to tell people to stay and wait it out and reassured people that the show was not canceled. This is something they did not do at Fall Out Boy which led to a lot of confusion and frustration among ticketholders. From handing out flyers stating that the show was not canceled and having people riding around the parking area in golf carts using megaphones instructing people to just wait, I really like that the venue covered their butts this time but it didn’t work. Unfortunately, Mother Nature did not let up and, after waiting for about an hour, my boyfriend and I decided to call it and head home. It wasn’t much longer after that that I saw that the venue had also gone ahead and posted that the show would not be resuming.

I was partly relieved that it wasn’t another mistake on my part to leave (I gave up on the rain delay during Fall Out Boy and left only to find out that they ended up restarting the show) but also super bummed and discouraged. First, I really did want to see Sublime With Rome. I have only had the opportunity to see them once but I remember them killing it so I was excited to experience it again. Second, I just felt like this venue was cursed for me. I mean, what a coincidence that this has now happened at back-to-back shows at this amphitheater. Although I was bummed, I was beyond thankful for the magic I had gotten to witness on Thursday night.