I figured it was about time I’d see an Odd Future show. Having followed Tyler and crew since their early stream of releases, I’ve watched their rapid rise with interest. I’d never been quite as consumed by them as kids just a bit younger, but it’s been refreshing to watch a more-or-less organically rising hip hop phenomenon take hold for a new generation of listeners.
This was the first striking thing about the experience: awaiting the show to start, fans massed around in an excited, nearly reverent, silence, only breaking out in drunken cries at one another occasionally. A large percent of the population donned OF memorabilia, shirts, hats — a regular fan army; a far more universally loyal army than I’d seen at any old school shows of late, more than an even for Wiz Khalifa (who seems to be the greatest 13-year old’s rap obsession, for some reason). As easy as its become to ignore “the OF hype” this was an omnipresent reminder as to just how culturally entwined they’ve already become.
As the show neared beginning, a large screen was set up on stage, the OF posse attempting to play a teaser for their Adult Swim project, Loiter Squad. They seemed to be having trouble working it, and there was a delay, during which they set those of us taking pictures up, not in the usual photo pit, but far from the stage on the back-most balcony. I hadn’t had this problem with any individual show in recent memory: Snoop Dogg, Method Man, Big K.R.I.T., significant rappers. The point isn’t to complain, rather, to exemplify the aura surrounding the OF movement: you can’t even get close to them, and they really aren’t concerned about the press buzz.
Finally, the video was working, and a goofy, childishly funny extended trailer played. A dentist with no arms, Tyler as a clumsy black cop, “Blackass,” in which they try to pull a prank on a member’s father, and get shot, and so on. As it turned out, the show was premiering later that very evening, and as the screen was disabled and Taco emerged, they urged the audience to check it out.
Members arrived more or less one by one as the lights went out, the show beginning with a sudden bang. The audience flipped out. I do mean flipped out, as I looked below, rather than the customary areas of intensity, the entire dance floor had turned into a wild, roaring moshpit. Many kids, too excited, clearly had no idea what they were seeking out, and were rapidly toppled. It was a literally chaotic scene, audience members wrestling one another to get back to their feet, all the while dodging the thrashing survivors. Finally, the very center formed into something of a Roman battle circle, people dashing in and out, trying to push each other over. These hipsters and tweens were outdoing trap shows, it was almost funny.
Then Tyler came out, and everyone really lost their heads. I’d never thought of the goofy, seemingly amicable guy as a sex symbol, but girls had been screaming throughout the video during sequences where he went shirtless, and in his presence, it was as if I was back in grade school, watching the N’SYNC and Backstreet fiends. You’ve got to hand it to the kids, Tyler, The Creator certainly makes a more interesting Nick Carter. They began by trading verses, and throwing boxes of crackers into the audience (“We’re not throwing them at you.”), switching up songs at random. In fact, as the show went on, the beats suddenly stopped coming, and Tyler joked, “We gotta wait, because Taco fucked up. Yo man, what Taco can’t do?” He then explained, “We really don’t have a set list, we just play random songs, and look at y’all, and you aren’t complaining, we just go by that.”
Tyler, not surprisingly, was by far the most charismatic of the group (Earl notably absent), joking and engaging with the audience with near constancy. He showed love to the city, laughing, “I love the A-town. Ya know why? Cuz I know there’s a group of girls here that fucking love me.” As to why he felt so about ‘here’ anymore than any other ‘there’, he didn’t elaborate, but the ladies in the house all screamed, regardless. He commanded us to rap Earl’s verses, asking “Can you do that? No, can you do that?,” talked about how badly he needed to “take a shit,” later motioning explosions from his ass, and so on. He also called out a few celebrity guests, toying with them. First, Curren$y was apparently present, Tyler shouting towards the front right, “That’s big Curren$y right there, y’all!,” laughing, “He hates that shit.” Next, DJ Drama was sitting in the left wing, and Tyler called at him, “DJ Drama is here. Isn’t that some weird shit? He’s the best yeller, always yellin’ on tracks, all over the place. You can do some yelling right now if ya want to.” With the spotlight turned on him, Drama did indeed, but the audience drowned him out.
Throughout the show, the group generally tried to speak to their followers, with the realest connection coming from a simple asking of the usual question: “Are you all having a good time?” The answer is one of the loudest I’ve heard in some time. In response, “Gotta make sure ya gettin’ yo money’s worth! Ya know? You work hard for that money. We work hard for that money too. Ya know, if we all work hard, we can take over the world.” Then they laughed, it was a bit cheesy after all. What followed, however, was hysterical.
I’d finished hopelessly attempting to take pictures, and had moving onto the floor in an attempt to get into the greater energy. We’d been pelted from above, mostly with beer cans and the beer itself. At this brief monologue, however, a girl above decided to make it rain. No joke. She tossed handfuls of bills down into the audience, and as the next song began, people were both dancing and dodging and fighting for the falling wealth. As the track ended, Left Brain asked, “Who the fuck is throwing money? You can come do that on stage! We do take tips, ya know.” The spotlight was turned on her, and she threw more money. “Let her on stage!” Tyler chimed in. She didn’t appear, but was presumably moved to the front, as Tyler later pointed and said, “You stay right there, I wanna meet the girl throwin’ money after this.” It was a random, hilarious moment.
The show seemed to be nearing conclusion, as the group began playing the musts, “Yonkers,” “Sandwitches,” and a insanity brewing rendition of “Radicals,” the tweens going absolutely ape-shit with each repetition of the “kill people, burn shit, fuck school” hook. I recalled the exact same feeling from the exact same sentiment displayed on D12’s “Revelation” when I was that age, and even I was infected, jumping with my middle finger up. The Odd Future love was infectious that night, and even the group noted it, Tyler saying, “man, there is mad love in here tonight. Ya know, this our last show in the US, to end it on this high is just…” trailing off happily.
The show ended on the – at least to me – surprising note of “Bitch Suck Dick,” with everybody, including (hell, particularly) the women chanting along with the absurd chorus. Then the lights were up, and the posse began to filter out. The audience wasn’t moving, and seeming to sense their agitation, Tyler stuck around, mouthing along to the words of the song the venue had begun playing, but somewhat oddly, no encore was offered. Maybe Tyler just really had to take that shit, and in the end, he could get away with it: his people loved him.
