Author: Seva Galitskiy
Brockhampton came to Seattle for two nights at the Showbox last week. Throwing back to back shows at mid-size venues in countless cities for their “Love Your Parents Tour” really shows how quickly they’re transitioning to the mainstream in less than a year. Earlier last month Kevin Abstract tweeted “Brockhampton will never have a good mosh pit our fans are so soft Aw :/”. I’m pretty damn sure Seattle proved him wrong.
The Showbox was the perfect venue for the collective offering a spacious yet intimate setting for the debauchery that was to occur on that night. I saw them for their second night half-expecting it to be a bit more watered down than their debut the previous day and I’m glad to say they tore the place down regardless.
Opening up with an instrumental version of “TEAM”, their most recent album’s closer, was a fantastic way to warm up the crowd. With Bearface’s luscious chords ringing through the air, a sonic aroma of nostalgia filled the venue. Then “BOOGIE” came on, my personal anthem for doing donuts in the Pigott/Murphy parking lots. Brockhampton performed this song in Times Square last month and god damn is it a banger.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbBhfqM7Mzo&t=
What makes Brockhampton so great is that 95% of their discography, particularly in the Saturation trilogy, is catchy and memorable, practically every song being perfect for performing live and singing along to. This made every song a highlight for me especially “QUEER”, “GOLD”, and “SWEET”, with the audience knowing almost all the words. Unfortunately, with white people making up such a large majority of their fan base, I was disconcerted but not surprised to hear a lot of non-POC’s singing the n-word in almost every song as if it wasn’t used to oppress black folks for over 200 years. Even more irritating was finding out that a white girl actually asked, “When are you gonna stop calling out white people for saying the n-word at your shows?” during the Q and A section at the show the day before I went.
Here was Ameer Vann’s response:
A week later Kevin Abstract tweeted:
Whatever you’re passionate about or wanting to get into you should probably study the history and learn about all of the people who came before you and who paved the way you have a smart phone the world is in ur hands mate
— Kevin Abstract (@kevinabstract) March 7, 2018
And I really thought for a minute that kids from Seattle would know better. So embarrassing.
On another note, towards the end of the show Bearface closed out with “SUMMER” and “WASTE”, Saturation I and II outros. Taking over stage with just his guitar and his tenor pipes… I’m not saying I was crying but there was definitely some saturation in my eyes.
After 5 minutes of encore requests the boys came back out with “HOTTIE”, a guilty pleasure of mine and “HEAT” for the final closer, ironically the opener for Saturation I. Am I the only one that noticed that little transposition of the first and last song? Are these guys wizards?
Overall, Brockhampton put on an exceptionally rambunctious and touching performance for Seattle. Just next time you come to a hip-hop show, don’t say the n-word if you’re white. Ever. Even if you have black friends.
If you like Brockhampton check out Pitchfork’s review of the new PNTHN track “chumbucket”
These guys are also from San Marcos, Texas and I interviewed their producer Por Vida last month
Here’s the set-list for the 2/28 show:
TEAM
BOOGIE
QUEER
STAR
GUMMY
FACE
ZIPPER
SWAMP
GOLD
JELLO
STUPID
JUNKY
SWEET
BUMP
JOHNNY
BLEACH
SUMMER
WASTE
Encore:
HOTTIE
HEAT
SEVA GALITSKIY | Love Your Parents | KXSU Music Reporter