The Cool Kids at Majestic Theatre
From the moment they stepped onto the Majestic Theatre's stage Saturday night in their '90s-era throwback Nike sneakers, to the last minute of their hour-long set, Chicago emcees The Cool Kids kept the packed crowd up, on its feet, and following almost every word. But while the rhymes about the laidback times, clothing styles, and cereal brands from the '80s invigorated many, the duo’s stage presence was lacking and lukewarm; the Kids did little more than slosh around the stage as if just waking from a nap.
Barely taking a breath between songs, Chuck Inglish and Mikey Rocks dove into their golden-era-of-hip-hop-inspired catalog, including the early bling-obsessed “Gold And A Pager” and a set-ending tribute to BMX, “Black Mags,” which was clearly the crowd favorite.
The two pushed through some minor sound and mic problems, offering up bass-heavy tracks about kicking back, such as “Bassment Party,” “What Up Man” and “A Little Bit Cooler,” all from last year’s The Bake Sale. The mic problems improved thoughout the set and were finally sorted just in time for the encore, but Inglish and Rocks didn’t help matters by continually rhyming over each other’s verses—an annoying set-ruining skill usually reserved for hypemen.
High points of the night included a somewhat lively rendition of “Mikey Rocks;” “88,” a mark of respect for doing the wop and beat-boxing at the bus stop; and “Pennies,” one of the strongest tracks from The Cool Kids' current tour-promoting mixtape, Gone Fishing. The scene-stealing, standout song of the night was “Jump Rope,” a slow, serenade-esque jam featuring New York songstress Tennille.
The duo’s encore included “Jingling” from The Bake Sale and the classic “One, Two,” a hypnotic track that doesn't have much focus, but drew a slightly more energetic performance from the duo. Sure, the crowd had a good time, but The Cool Kids could easily have turned the Majestic into a frenzy of fandom had they shown more excitement.
