[RH Photos] King Krule in Chicago (12/11/2013)
Photography by Nolis
On a blistering cold Wednesday night on the North Side of Chicago, everything I thought I knew about British indie artist King Krule was blown away. The 19-year-old artist, formerly known as Zoo Kid, took the stage in front of a sold out Lincoln Hall crowd that seemed to be almost frothing at the mouth for him to play just a note. Cat calls from women likely twice his age rained down on him as the young artist sang with his deep baritone voice, resolute and certain in a way that permeated inner confidence. It felt like a small miracle every time he opened his mouth that Krule could produce such a powerful voice from such a slight package.
King Krule has the most intense, radiating crop of red hair I have ever seen. As if showing it off, the lights continually strayed from the artist's face, masking it in shadows as his hair became highlighted, almost illuminated by the cascading, colorful lighting. Introducing his first song, Krule simply said, "This is a song about me." For his next song: "This is a song about living under a sea." And another was introduced by simply saying, "This song is about reptiles," before tearing into a library of songs that ranged from blues-y stories of loss and disappointment to uptempo surf/punk jams that seemed to leave the crowd wondering where the kid who made the self-titled, ambient electro-influenced project earlier this year went. Confused, but interested, the crowd gravitated to Krule, reacting to every pluck of the string and nasally-deep melody. From the get-go, the crowd was Krule's.
The thing I noticed almost immediately during my first King Krule show was that he seems to cover every genre. Not musically, per se, but from the punkish-intonations in his voice, the hip-hop influenced way he grips the mic when not on guitar, to the frenetic foot and head movement that makes him look like he's at a SBTRKT set at Bonaroo. At 19, Krule appeared more self-assured and confident than men three times his age, forgoing petty chit-chat between songs to dive headlong into each arrangement, his deliberate movements and passionate intensity keeping the crowd nearly silent, save for applause.
King Krule's star has risen exponentially throughout 2013, and he's poised to rise even higher in the coming year. If his set at Lincoln Hall Wednesday was any indication, though, we'll be seeing (and hearing) a lot from King Krule for a long time to come.
ProbCause, Caleb James & More Perform Live at Lincoln Hall (11/14/13)
If you're in Chicago, there's really only one way to be spending your Thursday night-taking in some of the top hip hop acts the city has to offer. Tonight, On The Grind Management presents a top to bottom tight lineup with ProbCause, Save Money's Caleb James, Taylor Bennett, The Palmer Squares, Kidd The Chicagoan and DGainz. Check out the promo video for the show below, grab tickets here and read below for a quick synopsis on who will be in the house tonight at Lincoln Hall.
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ProbCause has had a hell of a year since dropping his critically-acclaimed project The Recipe Vol. 2 earlier this year. Since then he has headed out on several tours with dance duo Cherub, headlined shows in and out of Chicago and performed at North Coast Music Festival. Life has been good for Prob as of late and the live show he has crafted with his drummer through endless shows was pulling fans from Mac Miller's set at NCMF and is not to be missed.
Caleb James has been making major moves since he dropped his latest project, The Jones earlier this year. The Save Money member is a throwback to late 90s playful, upbeat hip-hop a la Ma$e and early Bad Boy, but with his own flair for lyricism and crafty beats. With Caleb, it's always a party.
Taylor Bennet, widely known around town as "Chance's little brother" has been making a statement as of late that he is more than the sibling of one of the hottest artists on the planet right now-recently dropping The Taylor Bennett Show and scheduling his first headlining show at Reggie's in December. The show tonight should be a tune-up but Taylor always has plenty of energy to keep things going strong throughout his set.
The Palmer Squares have been steadily gaining ground in the Chicago hip-hop market through carefully chosen features and a project, Finna, released last month. The crew is endlessly multi-dimensional and should be making some big moves as they continue to move up the ladder of acts in the city.
Kidd The Chicagoan is, as you may have guessed, also from Chicago. The young artist has popped up here and there, earlier this year with his mixtape, #KiddChiMania, earlier this year and has followed that up with several inspired singles and features. Definitely someone worth keeping an eye on as he grows with his music.
[RH Review] of Montreal @ Lincoln Hall 10/30
The rain didn't stop anyone from making it over to the sold out show at Lincoln Hall last night to see of Montreal turn it out Halloween Eve-style, with the grooviest set I've seen in a while. Lincoln Hall was packed to the brim with fans decked out in costumes and ready to dance, hoping to hear their favorites and some new tracks from of Montreal's latest record, Lousy With Sylvianbriar, for the first time.
The show kicked off with a man dressed Nacho Libre giving an appropriately creepy and energized introduction for Kevin Barnes. Barnes hit the stage in a vintage 60s two-piece pant suit, thanking everyone for coming and jumping into "Triumph Of Disintegration," followed by the first track off the new record "Fugitive Air." The band was accompanied by stage dancers who came out in full white body suits, catching psychedelic projections on their bodies, and eventually diving into the crowd, surfing their way to the back of the venue. They brought the whacky down a bit for "Raindrop In My Skull," another new track from Lousy, sung by the beautiful Rebecca Cash. Her spooky sensuous voice entranced the crowd adding a mysterious and enticing vibe to the set. But my favorite part was probably the fact that they played a ton of songs off Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer including "Suffer For Fashion," "Heimdalsgate like a Promethean Curse," and "Gronlandic Exit," with an a capella introduction from the crowd singing the funky synth part under Barnes's vocals.
The show was a perfect way to start off the Halloween weekend, but the tour continues. Don't miss your chance to see of Montreal live, and check out their new music video for "Fugitive Air."
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