The first time I heard the eccentric whirlwind of words that defines San Fransisco native George Watsky’s flow, I was a sophomore in high school and his YouTube video “Pale kid raps fast” had just gone viral. As millions of views rolled in, I strayed to the related videos and became enamored with a few singles from his first EP. Followed by his collaborative EP with Kush Mody and full-length albums Cardboard Castles and All You Can Do, this odd sampling of homemade music videos and novelty fast raps was more than enough to keep me hooked.
Over the last four years, Watsky has grown from humble bedroom recordings to an artist with a monumentally wide appeal, spanning from spoken-word poetry slams to the 2014 Vans Warped Tour. On Sunday the Barrymore Theatre was home to his All You Can Do Tour, named for his most recent album and biggest release.
KYLE, a rapper from Ventura, California who lets his bubbly personality and sense of showmanship shine onstage just as brightly as his lyricism and technical skill, supported Watsky on the bill. The music behind his vocals catered to the eclectic crowd, alternating between laid-back funky hip-hop instrumentals to heavy trap beats and everything in between. A few of his songs even had some melodic, driving electronic breaks that catered to the eager audience’s ever-present urge to jump up and down with their fists in the air for a few minutes at a time.
To me, KYLE was a very fitting artist to serve as direct support to Watsky on his biggest headlining tour yet. He shared Watsky’s poetic style, his affinity for clever word play and above all, his unbridled stage presence. KYLE kept the stage dives coming, culminating with a ride across the crowd while standing up on a boogie board during his final song.
Almost immediately after KYLE left the stage, the crowd began chanting Watsky’s name in anticipation, continuing to do so periodically for about 20 minutes until the lights dimmed and his band took the stage. The band that backs Watsky features Kush Mody, who has been a frequent contributor on Watsky’s releases since his early days, as well as extremely talented singer Anderson Paak, among others. The band ripped into the intro of “Bet Against Me,” a rowdy anthem from All You Can Do, as Watsky stormed onto the stage to join them, showing off his bright red “Drink Wisconsinibly” hoodie. The opening song was followed by “Moral of the Story” from 2013’s Cardboard Castles, and then “Seizure Boy,” an old song written about Watsky’s stuggle with Epilepsy from his 2009 self-titled EP.
Watsky continued to play a set that highlighted songs from his new album, including “Never Let It Die,” while also drawing from his earlier work. After Watsky and most of his band took a break while their drummer played a long, impressive solo, Watsky took down the tempo to perform a powerful spoken-word delivery of the main verse from “Stupidass,” a single from his days as a young YouTube sensation. Watsky took a moment to note his love for Wisconsin, mentioning that he had a long history with many UW schools he visited to perform slam poetry before his rap career took off.
The set, along with the crowd, really took off when Watsky played another crowd favorite, “Ninjas in Paris” (which he aptly renamed “Ninjas in Wisconsin”). The band played a face-melting rendition of the classic Kanye West/Jay Z instrumental, and the Barrymore Theatre was alive. The live instrumentals are a crucial element of what makes his show so energetic, and the tight wall of sound they put out reminded me of the groovy sounds that Chance The Rapper and The Social Experiment have been bringing over the last couple months. “Ninjas in Wisconsin” drove right into “Sloppy Seconds,” arguably the most popular song off of Cardboard Castles. This was followed by an awesome medley that pulled hooks, verses and melodies from throughout Watsky’s discography, including “Strong As an Oak,” “Hey, Asshole,” “Cardboard Castles” and my personal favorite, “4AM Monday.”
The deadly medley was followed by “Sarajevo” and “Cannonball,” two of the most emotionally and melodically deep songs on All You Can Do. “Cannonball” showcased Watsky’s talent as a spoken word poet as well as the talent of his band vocalist Paak. Watsky’s delivery sent chills down my spine that hung around into the next song, “Whoa Whoa Whoa,” the final song of his set and possibly biggest single to date. When Watsky returned to the stage for his inevitable encore, he left Madison with an electrifying performance of “All You Can Do,” the title track of his most recent album.
The crowd sang along to every word and Watsky did some swan dives off of the stage. Seeing him bounce and roll across the sea of fans reminded me of his set at Freakfest in 2013. I was a little bit upset that he hadn’t played “I.D.G.A.F.,” because it was during this song at his Freakfest performance that he crowd surfed his way to a house on Gilman Street, climbed onto the roof and jumped off into the crowd as the song’s last chorus kicked in. Of course, he needed to make room for a lot of great new material that he didn’t have at this time last year, and the absence of one song from the setlist is a small price to pay for one of the most unique albums, and one of the most memorable live shows I have seen all year.
