Soundset '09 at Canterbury Park
Slug and Brother Ali
Sometimes it’s the small moments that really stick out during a massive daylong festival. At Soundset ’09, the Rhymesayers-organized hip-hop fest last Sunday at Canterbury Park, those moments included:
• The first teenagers through the gate screamed and ran full speed for the main stage, even though nobody was going on for an hour.
• P.O.S. was stopped every 10 feet for a picture or an autograph, trailed by an HBO film crew.
• Haiku D’Etat used a preset beat straight from GarageBand as filler.
• Eyedea’s mom sported an “I Served Eyedea” T-shirt with “served” crossed out and replaced with “birthed.”
• Mr. Dibbs (El-P’s current and Atmosphere’s former DJ) gave middle fingers and "What are you going to do about that?" looks to DJ Abilities while presenting his showcase track.
As for the performances, we’ve divided some of the standouts into the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The Good: The day’s highlight was easily The Pharcyde, whose four original members outdanced and outshined many acts barely half their age. A mid-set string of solo songs and new/lesser-known Pharcyde tracks was something of a lull, but shout-along bookends like “Runnin’,” “Ya Mama,” and “Passin’ Me By” made up for it. Fatlip also hilariously answered the rumors about his part in the band’s breakup with a dead-on rendition of Bobby Brown’s “My Prerogative.”
Eyedea And Abilities, who are prepping for the July 21 release of their new record, By The Throat, got one of the most enthusiastic receptions of the day. They tore through old and new tracks with equal abandon, although the new ones carried a bit more of the abstract feel from Eyedea’s side project Face Candy.
Minneapolis group Just.Live was an unexpected treat on the Fifth Element Stage. Looking like a bizarre amalgamation of Fishbone, N.E.R.D., and Spank Rock, they brought a much-needed dose of neon-colored fashion sensibility to a largely black-and-denim-tinged festival. Tracks like “So Ghetto” and “I’m Phresh” were retro electro, even as their lean catchiness bended in a more modern sound. At an event dominated by no-nonsense dudes, the group’s willingness to clown around made them stand out. (They played the first verse of the Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air theme and got the whole crowd rapping along.)
The Bad: Aceyalone was there as part of Haiku D’Etat, along with Abstract Rude and Myka 9. Though he didn’t play “A Beautiful Mine,” the track from his 2006 collaboration with RJD2, Magnificent City, that’s used as the theme for the TV show Mad Men. Abstract Rude also nearly took a guy's eye out with one of the free CDs he whipped into the crowd.
P.O.S. arrived onstage to a giant roar from the crowd, opening his set with “Let It Rattle” from his recent album, Never Better, before dropping into the crowd-pleasing catharsis of “P.O.S. Is Ruining My Life” from Audition. Sadly, the backing track from the latter was missing its signature metal guitar chug. He later ran into some technical problems on “Savion Glover,” leaving him and Sims to attempt the song almost a capella before giving up and moving on. When he picked up a guitar for “Never Better,” it was mixed too loud. Glitches like these kept P.O.S.’s set from being an absolute barn burner.
The day’s biggest downer? Circumstances beyond his control forced this reviewer to leave before Atmosphere’s set. Ouch.
The Ugly: DOOM’s befuddling and lackluster performance was Soundset’s weirdest letdown. He missed his scheduled slot, forcing Brother Ali (sterling as always) to go onstage early. DOOM then refused to pull up with his entourage until the entire backstage area was cleared. From there, technical delays stunted the momentum even further. When DOOM finally appeared onstage, metal mask and all, it was obvious that whoever this was, it wasn’t DOOM because he was lip-synching. A bit of camp theater followed, with the fake DOOM disappearing through smoke that billowed from his pockets. When the “real” DOOM appeared, his hype man gleefully mocked the crowd for how they had been “fooled.” It was all poorly executed and tiresome for an audience that already spent hours standing in the sun. Challenging audience expectations is laudable enough, but even when DOOM actually got onstage, he was still lip-synching to a vocal track (or, at best, doubling an existing vocal track)—a highly unsatisfying way to experience one of the most creative rappers of his generation.
That said, one bad apple didn’t ruin the hip-hop orchard. As a daylong event, Soundset ’09 was a ringing success, and it’s hard to imagine how Rhymesayers will follow it up next year.
Photographer Alexa Jones' images from Soundset '09:
Toki Wright
The audience during Brother Ali's set
Brother Ali
Brother Ali
Brother Ali
Brother Ali
El-P
Freeway
Heiruspecs
Immortal Technique
Immortal Technique
Immortal Technique
Lazerbeak
Mictlan
The audience during P.O.S.'s set
The audience during P.O.S.'s set
The audience during P.O.S.'s set
P.O.S.
P.O.S.
Sage Francis
Sage Francis
Slug and Brother Ali
