Recap Big K.R.I.T. at the Majestic and Sharon Van Etten at the Rathskeller

For a rapper without a proper album to his name, Big K.R.I.T. has a pretty deep catalog to pull from: two critically acclaimed 60-minute-plus mix-tapes (and six more) that are full of his dusty, snappy production and his insistent and deliberate flow. K.R.I.T. left no gem unperformed during his set at a sweaty Majestic Theater on Friday, delivering an hour-long dive into his most recent mix-tape successes. Pacing the stage with his eyes straight ahead, occasionally flashing a bright smile as members of his crew handed the front row cups and poured Tanqueray into them, the Meridian, Mississippi rapper performed tracks like the beloved “Hometown Hero” and “Just Touched Down” from his 2010 mix-tape, K.R.I.T. Wuz Here, in between doing a bevy of tracks from his less than two-week-old mix-tape, ReturnOf4Eva.

Unfortunately, K.R.I.T.’s performance was marred with the same low-volume mic problems that gobbled portions of Freddie Gibbs’ opening set, with the vocals being eclipsed by the beat on too many occasions. But K.R.I.T.’s set also lacked the distinguishing nuance of his mix-tapes, which can run from contemplative, hard-charging, boastful, and melancholic. That said, there’s no denying that “Country Shit” and “Sookie Now” are monsters in any setting, even if they blend in with the other songs K.R.I.T. performed. Judging how opener Jackie Chain got wild on the balcony and how fans wrestled for the Packers jacket K.R.I.T. took off and tossed into the crowd at the end of his set, everyone there agreed.

Sharon Van Etten writes sparse folk songs that unload the kind of tear-tinged honesty that normally comes accompanied with a warning that you’d probably want to take a seat first. But there weren’t enough seats for the large crowd that gathered in the Rathskeller Friday night, a testament to the strength of her voice and songwriting.

The petite songwriter’s intimate and lonesome guitar work might have bitten off more than it could chew in the packed beer hall if not for her confident backing duo, which punctuated each jolt of anxiety with a forceful push of bass and drum. The emboldened performance was a much different experience from her simple, downtrodden records, and it left room for interpretation on the crowd’s part as well. Some people stood, some people sat, and still others hopped and danced around. And Van Etten kept their pulses throughout, dragging the front rows to their feet on relatively upbeat tracks, and then buckling their knees back to the floor on a show-stopping performance of “Tornado.”

Van Etten has always been intensely personal, but her backing band allows her to shift the emphasis from the latter adjective to the former. But no matter how people decided to take it, the show she played Friday night was rich with texture and booming with a charming vulnerability.

Montreal’s Little Scream contributed a table of family members to the audience, but the trio’s stripped-down take on standard-issue indie pop won over quite a few more admirers.