Lyrics Born + DJ WD4D + Marv+Ellis + Gabriel Teodros - Neumos (Seattle, WA; Apr. 27, 2008)

“DJ WD4D, Down-tempo/ Experimental/Electronica, how does that make you feel?” This was all the preparation that I had for this DJ, gleaned from a variety of internet and human sources. He played a wide selection of music and did a good job of putting it all together. As a guy that grew up playing Final Fantasy, I swear I heard a couple of sounds that were from one of the games. When we walked in, he was playing Gabriel Teodoros, but made great transitions to electronic tracks and then back to hip hop, mixing one of my favorite artists, Lupe Fiasco. He also made sure our waiting for Lyrics Born was filled with good beats. DJ WD4D works with Gabriel Teodros, and they host a couple of radio shows in the Seattle area.

Marv+Ellis, a self-described “gentleman,” performed quite a show with his imaginary friends, (who are real, by the way, if tardy). I would have to say that this was one funky hip hop show, complete with a fully packed stage, at least once the backup singers were let in the building. As he began his tribute to Seattle—“Rain” (he’s from Portland) Marv+Ellis noticed his backup singers (previously caught in traffic) had finally arrived at the back door. Despite his plea to let them in immediately, security made them enter the through the side. They quickly got on stage and really wailed on the track. He beat boxes during the instrumental parts of his tunes, which he does well. “Live with my Band” is definitely the first time I have heard snake charming music with hip hop bass and lyrics, plus an antiwar theme to the song. Some might find this off-putting, but they remind me a bit of Limp Bizkit, in an “I haven’t sold out or made really poppy songs” kind of way. Marv Ellis and his (non)imaginary friends played another tribute with the keys sounding a lot like “Smells like Teen Spirit” that really rocked. One of the things that bothers me with rap and hip hop is constantly being ordered to put my hands up. I was actually in the process of writing that I had not had to put my hands up for this guy when he asked us to do it. Oh well, he definitely deserved it after putting on such a good opening set.

Gabriel Teodros loves coffee. In fact, he quietly refers to it as his “sexy beast”—so sexy but beastly to your body! Apparently, he doesn’t drink alcohol. Am I well read? No! Just lucky to have been in the crowd and am now part of a circle that knows these details about him. That’s the kind of intimate show that Gabe puts on. This is the third time I have seen him, and he definitely feeds off of the crowd. When he came on stage, the crowd was spread out about the room, so his first request was to bring it closer, promising, “I won’t bite.” His next direction was to put our hands up [picture my eyes rolling]. Teodros brought energy to the stage while he performed multiple tracks off of his release Lovework, shyly smiling and gesturing along with some of his deepest lyrics: “Even though I don’t speak in my native tongue, let there be no mistake where I come from.” Being pretty familiar with Lovework, I was happy to dig some of the stuff that wasn’t on the album, enjoying the sound that’s pretty much all his own.

“Seattle in the house, Lyrics Born on the mic, if you like what you hear let me hear you make some noise!” If you have seen Lyrics Born before, you will remember that line (insert your city name to make it sound more familiar). This is the fourth(?) time I have seen him, and this time he is promoting a new album, Everywhere Once. Joyo Velarde and LB put on a good show, especially during “Stop Complaining”. LB has a steady rhythm to his voice and the ability to flow so fast that it will blow you away. The whole show is designed to get us going, and, as he was the headliner, we had to keep our hands in the air for most of the show. In fact, LB has two quirks that can be trying in every show. The first one being that it doesn’t matter how fast the stage is set up, it always seems to be in the area of half an hour for him to make it to the stage. I would say the strangest thing about a LB show is that he will stop a show until he gets the sound out of the crowd he wants. It’s not just the typical once is not enough, twice is closer, and three times is perfect. No sir, LB wants you to make some noise. He’s lucky enough that every track is worth it. While LB and Joy introduce “Differences” (which, incidentally, has been stuck in my head for over a day now), they go through a skit where LB complains guys are sick of waiting for the girls to get ready and Joy retorts “it takes time to look this good,” drawing plenty of crowd, er, interaction. Finally, when LB came out for his encore, he played the “Hello” song, followed by a track off the new album called “Top Shelf,” featuring a Latin rhythm which was very good.

I would recommend that any fan of hip hop should be in the crowd to cheer along with LB’s hits, especially “Callin’ Out,” “I Changed my Mind,“ and “Bad Dreams,” and should make sure to see him any time he comes to town.

Set List:

01—Intro
02—Don’t Change
03—I’m a Phreak
04—Differences
05—Rules Were Meant to Be Broken
06—Hott 2 Deff
07—Stop Complaining
08—Let’s Dance
09—Do That There
10—Callin Out
11—I Changed My Mind
12—Encore
13—Hello
14—Top Shelf
15—Love Me So Bad
16—I’m Raw
17—Bad Dreams

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