Our Review of Bun B, Framework at Neumos
We've been listening to UGK's "One Day" at ten minute intervals since we woke up this morning. Yes. It IS that good, and Bun B's larger-than-life (yet dancing dangerously close to humble) performance at Neumos on Friday night was equally satisfying.
Into gangsta rap and the club scene? Frequent mentions of certain lady-parts, an ostentatious tour bus dominating 10th and Pike, and the flashy, dressed-up crowd would have sated your appetite. But there was more to the show than that. Bun B's a professional, the real deal; better yet, he's a grown-up with good taste in visual spectacle and a finely-tuned ear for the perfect hook.
Bun B's set was short, only about half an hour, but packed with a wide range of material from his catalog, including tracks from II Trill and a couple verses from "International Player's Anthem." That was his 22-year-old daughter (she's gorgeous, even when bored out of her gourd and blatantly texting her friends on stage) up there with him, along with a dozen other assorted people supporting. We loved that Bun gave his hat, a nice hat, to a fan mid-set.
Framework wasn't as compelling on stage as we were hoping for, but that didn't stop us from admiring the twisting, thumping beats from Vitamin D and purchasing our copy of Frame's brand-new album, This Is It. (We're playing tracks from This Is It in between repetitions of "One Day.") Favorites so far: "I Shoulda Knew," "U Wit Dis," and "This Is It."
More on Bun B, Framework and D. Black after the jump! Photo of Bun B and (the late) Pimp C from ghetto___gospel on Flickr.
He performed several songs from the new cd, including "Dead Prez" and "Can't Trust No Bush." "No Bush" was a surprisingly political track, given Frame's proclivity towards the gangsta. Of course, he put his own spin on it, and he even taught the crowd some slang. "Who don't fuck with Bush?" he called out. Some uncertain hands rose, and Frame pressed on: "Who doesn't like President Bush? I don't fucks with him." Seattle's soul diva Choklate was up there with him for most of the set, sporting Kanye-style goggles with style and panache. She's on some tracks from This Is It, which is no surprise given her strong showing on his first release, Hello World.
D. Black, sans fog, performed with Spaceman at his side and plenty of self-deprecating "I'm fat" jokes to bolster his stage banter. He doesn't need the jokes, though. D. Black's a great performer and a strong speaker. The lights were a little too bright on him, and the crowd took some cajoling to get warmed up, but D. and Spaceman pushed through the challenge and delighted us with some showy synchronized dance moves to add yet more charm to their solid material. We also heard the Kingzmen hit "Fly Den a Mufuka" and D. Black's "The 808", involving a suspiciously Cancer Rising-reminiscent beat. "Synergy," says CR's Gatsby on the subject.
It was an early night at the sold-out Neumos. SPD was in the building, as was the stench of copious amounts of weed. Some of the crowd moved to the official Soul Gorilla afterparty at the Baltic Room, and we're sure it was off the hook over there; as for this Seattlest, it was time to take our new Framework cd, our newfound appreciation for Bun B's grown-up, honest work, and our notebook home for the evening. A classy, satisfying, gangsta rap show....who would have thought?
Here. You too should have the chance to get addicted to this song:
