We Review: The Elefaders, N/NW @ the Sunset
On Saturday night, we took one of our oldest and best friends to her very first hiphop show over at the Sunset in Ballard. She's typically more of a KT Tunstall/Garden State soundtrack kind of girl, and we had to bribe her with $2 mojitos at La Isla's late Happy Hour to get her to even leave the house after 9pm. Her feedback after three hours of Elefaders (trippy), N/NW (loud) and dj100proof's mixes? "The people-watching is really interesting!" We then discussed who would probably wake up with a stranger in their beds the next morning. (Neither one of us would, certainly.)
People-watching at the Sunset's monthly Graffiti Rock hiphop evenings is one of our favorite things, too. There are plenty of faces at these shows we've never spotted on Capitol Hill, which is an accomplishment in and of itself. We dug the Elefaders' relaxed, jungle-inspired triple-dj take on The Ultimate Beat; we're hesitant to call it ambient, but the Elefaders would be a fantastic choice for a party involving a lot of sitting around on couches and taking it easy. Our friend's take? "They're really repetitive." Repetitive... yes, but in a skilled and listenable kind of way. After their set, dj100proof (in his infinite wisdom) had to rachet the somewhat sobered energy back up with some classic funk. Dance party! Shots all around! A quick rendition of Happy Birthday for some guy, even!
Around midnight, N/NW ambled on stage. They're a strange mix of earnest and too-cool, of collective disjointedness and moments when all the elements would slide into place. Part of the problem, to our ear, was that there were too many elements being juggled in the first place; six MCs jostling for mic time, boring beats, and too many drinks beforehand do not an awesome show make. Though we liked some of the individual pieces (Johnny Concrete's growly voice is distinctive, and Mic Lee has relatively good timing), the group as a whole could use some paring down and tuning up.
This week, we've got a couple promising shows on the calendar, and you might as well pack your bags for Fremont for the weekend since both shows are at Nectar Lounge. On Friday, pay your $7 for Alpha P, Kublakai, Neema, and a couple other acts bringing a wide variety of local hiphop sound to your ear. On Saturday, head back to Nectar for Macklemore, The Physics, JFK and Wizdom. Yes, yes. Double-time. With so many hours logged at Nectar this weekend, we think it would be remiss to skip the pizza yet again...
Friday // Alpha P // Nectar // 9pm // $7 //21+
Saturday // Macklemore // Nectar // $7 //21+
