We Went: Saul Williams at Neumos

Shortly after taking the stage at Neumos last night wearing a cape, a number of long, gold-colored necklaces and an impressively large amount of blue eye shadow, Saul Williams hectored the crowd at Neumos to let ourselves go for once.

"We’re happy to be artists in a time when artistry seems to mean more. We’re happy to be in a city that respects artistry and we’re happy to have a reason to dress up." Then he acknowledged how hard it is for us Seattleites to let go: "It’s Seattle, I know. I’ve heard the records. But, dance, jump, scream or even throw a middle finger in air. Just let go."

It took some doing to get us all to let go, as it does for any band playing in our fair city, but Saul Williams stuck with it and brought it all last night. He is, after all, at the most-recent peak of his skills, and there is nothing like seeing Saul Williams bring his A game to a stage.

The punk, the speed, the beauty, the volume, the hip hop, the poetry; it was all on display at Neumos and we loved it. Using the force and energy of new songs from The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust like "Niggy Tardust" and "Tr(n)igger" (not to mention his cover of U2’s "Sunday, Bloody Sunday," which takes the communal anger of that song and revives the hope in its words that change is actually possible), the anger and hurt of older tunes from his self-titled release like "List of Demands" and "Black Stacey" and the outright honesty of his words when he honored us with renditions of two of his poems: "Coded Language" and one whose name we can’t remember, Williams pulled us onto stage with him and joined with us (literally at one point) in the audience.

We are all one, he says, time and again. It’s his message and he imparted it last night with all the power, force, belief and trust in us that we could ever need. Seeing him perform at this point of his career is to see a man who loves what he does with every ounce of his being and wants the rest of the world to feel that. It’s a force more powerful than any performer we’ve seen, and each time Williams comes to town, he bowls us over even more.

Saul Williams performing his work is something everyone should experience. Unfortunately, the video we shot last night is pathetic. We were too far back to get any kind of a good shot and the teeny little mic on our camera couldn’t handle the sound he produced. Instead, we’ll leave you with this version of "Coded Language" from the Def Poetry Jam.