October 5, 2011

CONCERT REVIEW + PHOTOGRAPHY: ASTRONAUTALIS AT THE TRIPLE ROCK SOCIAL CLUB (MINNEAPOLIS)

Astronautalis (Minneapolis), Me and My Arrow (Minneapolis), Votel (Minneapolis)
October 3rd, 2011
Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis, Minnesota

On a warm Monday night, Minneapolis had it’s first chance to welcome it’s newest Rap-resident home with open arms and take in top notch openers Me and My Arrow and Votel. In return, Andy Bothwell ; a.k.a. Astronautalis; performed a heart felt, energy filled, talent riddled set that blew the roof off the Triple Rock.

As a recent transplant to Minneapolis from Seattle, the look on Andy’s face told you everything. It was not just a smile, it was a look of “Fuck yes, I made the right decision”. “The River, The Woods” started a blistering set including other new songs off of his fourth full length release This is Our Science. He also brought out a few old songs, one of which was “Short Term Memory Loss”. This song was accompanied by a story about being on a date when he was 15 with an older woman (16) who was driving through torrential rain over a bridge spanning the St John’s River in Jacksonville, FL. They hydroplaned on the bridge and started heading to the guardrail, with zero control of the vehicle. They hit the rail, a tire on the vehicle blew and kicked them away from the edge. I had to laugh when people cheered when he announced at the end of the story that they survived.

If you have ever been to an Astronautalis show, you will recall how he asks the crowd for topics to incorporate into a freestyle rap. This is not your typical freestyle, as anything that is usually associated with rap (guns, women, drugs, etc) is off limits in terms of suggestions. The list he got from the 350 people in the Triple Rock was a nerd’s wet dream: Dr. Who, Calvin and Hobbs, Flux Capacitor, Quantum Entanglement, and Pepto-Bismol.

Toward the end of the show, Andy made his way into the middle of the floor and spoke to the mass of people, talking about Occupy Wall street and the total lack of coverage it was receiving until recently, and how we all need to occupy a voting booth in November.