The night before he dropped his brand new mixtape “Pabst & Jazz,” Asher Roth took the stage at a sold out Reggie’s Rock Club with several of his good friends there to back him. Former G.O.O.D. music rapper GLC, Boldy James, and a solo Mikey Rocks of the Cool Kids were among the openers. Check out after the jump for a set of PICTURES and a review!
Photo by Michael Bojda
Let’s get this out of the way right off the bat. I gained much respect for Asher Roth after his set at Reggie’s this past Monday. Coming from a guy who thought not much about him and who had never seen him live before, I thought Asher would pull a Watch the Trone and play “I Love College” 9 straight times and walk off stage. He instead hit the raucous sold out Chicago crowd with banger after banger from his latest mixtape, and in my opinion, created a new image for himself. This guy isn’t just Frat Boy Hippity-Hop anymore, he’s a true artist with a lot of talent.
Photo by Michael Bojda
Asher brought out plenty of his friends too. Vic Mensa and Liam Cunningham of up and coming band Kids These Days joined him on stage for “Hard Times,” which sent the crowd into that kind of reaction that is usually saved for 11 year olds when they see Justin Bieber. Nathan Santos joined Roth for “Not Meant 2 Be,” which quickly became one of my favorite tracks. Santos’ drowned out, smooth chorus provides the juice as Asher raps about the ups and down on the road of an artist in the hip hop game. Chuck Inglish, who DJ’d earlier for Mikey Rocks’ set, came out for the song he produced on Asher’s mixtape, “In the Kitchen,” which they actually made in the kitchen (I’m not bullshittin’, actually made this (it) in the kitchen).
Although he did bring out supporting act after supporting act, the true star of the show was Asher himself. A true showman, the crowd was as into the show as the crowd from 8 Mile during the final rap battle. Jumping up and down, moving side to side, and singing every song they knew, the crowd was partying with Asher and it seemed he was getting more and more energy from them (this would ultimately lead to 3 stage dives from him).
Check out all of the photos, taken by me (Michael Bojda), below. Enjoy!
Notice there wasn’t much of a mention of the Cool Kids in there… well that’s because they only performed 2 songs. They were still on stage for most of the night though, with Mikey performing solo and Chuck DJing for the openers. Reggie’s turned into a true club scene was DJ Wreckineyez absolutely blew everyone (including performers) away busting out hit after hit and showing his scratch and beat juggling skills.
….. who are you to hate on OddFuture but jock wack underground acts?
I feel like they rap about different things. Don’t get me wrong, beats/videos are dope, just could never stand listening to the lyrics.
Thanks for reading though!