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A sold-out show at WashU’s the Gargoyle marked the headlining conclusion of WashU Hip Hop Week, much to the delight of hip-hop fans and b-boys alike. But on a night that held the promise of poetry, there was but one letter of the alphabet that stood out: the letter M. For opening bands Illphonics and The Paxtons, M stood for ‘mediocre.’ St. Louis locals, Illphonics had the better performance of the two, with their signature medley of styles and influence varying from Pink Floyd to Ludacris. However, a lackluster performance left little of an impression. For The Paxtons, there is no such thing as too much constructive criticism, because they have nothing to do but get better. Partially due to bad levels – an ear-shattering bass among other maladjustments – and generally abrasive vocals (with the possible exception of the harmonious female contribution), their performance was sub-par at best.
On the other hand, the performance by RJD2, the star of the show, could be summed up with an abundance of more favorable M words. M for magical. It was unreal how the guy could pull beats seemingly out of nowhere, and everything he did was seamless. He set high expectations with his extensive music catalog and an ambitious four turntables at his disposal – but he did not disappoint. M for mesmerizing. I was in awe of how well he mixed his samples on the spot, even with some setbacks by monitor problems early in the show. M for methodical. Word on the street is that RJ is a math genius, not hard to believe with the amount of vinyl he went through during his set. Every move of his was meticulously planned out and executed with the kind of skill that should not go unnoticed. M for masterful. RJ knows his tables inside and out. Like a savant, he creates his art without any hesitation – he just does it. Even with abnormally sub-par sound for WashU’s tiny venue, he was able to make it work.
Finally, M stands for memorable. RJ played a non-stop set for a solid 2 hours that was filled with excitement and creativity. Once he got going, it was a fun night, one that the audience won’t soon forget. Of countless hits, he played a number of fan favorites, and even snuck in some “Don’t Stop Believin’” much to the delight of the crowd.
Overall grade: M+
I can take constructive comments so your feeling on our set is fine (iLLPHONiCS) and if you weren’t impressed with our performance I offer the invitation to you to come see us play again (on me) because I know and we have proved we can and often get down but to call The Paxtons whack based off the sound is in my opinion whack (No offense). The whole night The Paxtons, RJD2, my band had to deal with bad sound. We had monitor problems and people couldn’t hear all elements of that band. Even RJD2 personally said to me and made clear to the engineers his dissatisfaction with the sound. At one point he yelled at the engineers because of this. You’re probably like so does that make up for a “Mediocre” performance? No but when the students in attendance cant hear a word I’m saying, when you cant here our instruments clearly, when the backing tracks for an artist distorts, when you dont have good monitor mixes, and I lose my voice screaming trying to flow songs it doesn’t make make what you deem mediocre any better. Your critiques of the sound is a very BIG indication of how it can make a difference. RJD2 had the benefit of being a well known artist with well known songs that you already know and love so even if the bass cracked or the sound sucked you would STILL would have a blast but as far as us openers if you cant hear us how can you truly enjoy it? Now I want to make this clear I LOVE Wash U and all the people that hosted the show and we plan on playing Wash U more in the future I’m also an avid reader of ELEVEN but before YOU cast stones at us or any act in the future REALLY evaluate the situation I spoke of above…..
I graduated from Webster in Audio so I know how much difference good sound makes.
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