Nectar was packed full of hiphop fans anticipating the power line-up on Saturday night. Macklemore, back from a tour in Europe, headlined in a masterful performance with special guests XPerience (out of Olympia) and Evan Roman; Grayskul (and his shaggy-haired little brother!) rocked some of his solo work, and we finally got to hear Wizdom do his thing. Wiz's solid work was actually upstaged by his special guest, Grynch, who is astoundingly, consistently good at focusing his energy and drawing in the crowd.

Macklemore pulled out all the stops, including donning a curly long brown wig for a provocatively sarcastic song about patriotism and national identity. "Goddamn right I'm American... I'm Ameri-fuckin'-can," he crooned Tom Petty-style. Then, sensing the crowd's uneasiness, he swung into a rendition of a Blue Scholars anthem. "Bring 'em back home....Bring 'em back home...." Everyone was singing along. "Yeah. Nothing like quoting Blue Scholars to bring the crowd back in your favor. But can we keep it awkward, for a moment?" Cue the "Penis Song"--remixed!--and a costume change for Macklemore, this time involving screen-printed spandex. XP's singing voice is sonorous and warm; Evan Roman's is confident and intriguing (we give her kudos for rocking a particularly stylin' zippered denim dress, too). Macklemore is celebrational, confrontational, and supremely at ease on stage.

Other highlights/notes: JFK's rap transcends the merely good and reaches the awe-inspiring. With his eyes rolling back in his head, he chastised, wiled, and cracked jokes; his little brother chimed in on words like "socialism" and "circus" for emphasis. Brilliant. We especially liked a the "She loves me, loves me not" song and the Cadence tattoo on his right arm. The Physics were open and sunshiney without being at all cloying, and they're getting more coordinated and more at ease in front of the throngs. Wiz has a habit of ending every line on an up-note as if each phrase is a question, but we liked his beats. We also really liked one of the songs he and Grynch (two white guys) performed together in which the jist of the song seemed to be primarily about white people rapping. A little humor never hurts!

Photo by the inimitable Ryan Lewis.