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Okay, fine. We admit it: actually being at an event rocks at least ten times harder than watching it streamed online, no matter how good the audio/video feed is and no matter how much you love the internet. Day Three of The Program involved Seattlest physically putting our hands in the air and side to side (Grynch said to!), and even doing some headbanging to The Saturday Knights. Yes, we did spend physical, non-internet money on Day Three, but we also got to experience Grynch, Khingz (and co.), and TSK in physical, non-internet person. We jogged home during the break between TSK and Blue Scholars... Maybe we'll stay on Day Four.
Grynch, whom we've reviewed in times past, has a gift for graceful, powerful stage presence and a weighty, resonating voice. His hiphop is all about stories, including stories about Grynch's hiphop. He kept his set short and brought Rubio up for the last song, "All I Need" (hint: it's hiphop that he needs) and the crowd actually booed when Grynch announced that it was the last song he would be performing that night. Grynch's new record, My Second Wind, will be released in late January; don't miss the release party at Chop Suey on Jan. 20, which also will be featuring D.Black, GMK, and Rubio and hosted by Cancer Rising's Gatsby. Before Khingz jumped on stage, we had some time to check out the crowd. What we saw: lots of hipsters, hippies, some preppies, and the occasional hiphop head (had to look in the 21+ area for the hiphop heads, sadly). We even saw one guy in full African-esque tribal regalia!
Photo by Christopher Nelson, via KEXP's blog
Khingz himself looked friendly and braided, dapper in his purple "WE (RUN) SEA" shirt and ready for the revolution should it occur on Day Three of The Program. He burst in with a particularly awesome beat, brought up Nam and Gabriel Teodros by the second song (all the hands in the crowd were up), and directed his love towards the South Side. There was an adorable song about Revolutionary Love ("when each person is held up and respected!" -- Khingz), and with Teodros doing his signature spread-fingered full arm wave and Nam doing his signature happy grin, we thought we were set for special guests until Neezie Pleaze arrived as well for a track or two. With the Massline folks it's always a family show.
Next up: our favorite performers at The Program yet! The Saturday Knights are Seattle, at least old-school grungy badass Seattle. Tilson and Barfly do not give a fuck what the crowd's expectations are, and it's insanely refreshing: mic stands were thrown! The national anthem was belted out! A long-haired skinny guitarist was present! The Saturday Knights understand all the hiphop rules, and now they get to make up their own. There's a touch of the honky-tonk, a touch of the horny old billy goat, and more than a touch of the rambunctious rock star. The young crowd had no idea what to do with TSK, but Seattlest did: we rocked OUT and hoped it would never, ever end. Based on our conversations in line, our fellow show-goers (oh, excuse us, Geo: party-goers) came for Blue Scholars; it must have been a nasty shock to get thrown head-first into TSK's whiskey-lovin', "fuck the public" reality. Tilson: "Now we're getting down to serious business." Barfly: "Serious business... That's an oxymoron! Business is a JOKE!" It was a spiritual high for Seattlest, and we speed-walked home before anything could taint it.
The Blue Scholars' set was more charming than usual. Sabzi played some of his battle beats, including "Flash," and there was even a Team America tribute. Merica, fuck yeah! (Was that a response to TSK's guest Star Spangled Banner rendition?) The SyncLive chatroom discussed what exactly consisted of a typical Blue Scholars crowd. "A Bellevue High School track meet." "Sober teenagers." "Way more Filipinos." The supersoaker made an appearance again, and the guys performed "The Avenue" to the crowd's delight. We all adjourned for the evening somewhere around 1am. Day Four is tonight: GMK, J. Pinder, Dyme Def (they can't seem to leave rap alone), and Blue Scholars wrapping up the show. Er...we mean the party.
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Christopher Nelson took the photo above, it was first published on the KEXP Blog. Don't beat me up! We're trying to edit it in!