Juniors Kristin Beese, Carrie Probst, and I attended the Macklemore and Ryan Lewis concert at First Avenue on November 30th. When I say that it was an amazing experience, I honestly mean it.
We got to First Ave around two p.m. and were second in line. Even though it was freezing outside, First Ave has outdoor heaters and it is always fun to make new friends in line and start a cuddle puddle with them. The frozen toes paid off with first row seats, right on the fence.
First Avenue was the perfect venue for a concert like this. I loved being able to look back and see hundreds of fans screaming lyrics and moshing, which would have been diluted in venues like Xcel and the Target Center. Although it was a tight fit, especially when everyone rushed to the fence and practically broke my ribs during “Thrift Shop,” it was nice to be able to share the experience with strangers. I got very close with the people around me, its hard not to when the idea of personal space is completely eradicated.
We hadn’t heard of the openers before, but that didn’t stop us from having a great time. Both of the openers were fantastic and were great at hyping up the crowd. The first opener was Xperience, also called XP, and the second was Dee-1. Both rapped about relevant issues and interacted well with the crowd. “They were great performers and it was cool to have a lot of crowd interaction with the openers,” said Beese. They definitely gained fans in us.
Now, the pièce de résistance, Macklemore himself. First of all, he is even more beautiful in person, even dripping sweat, he bleeds sex appeal. Both him and Ryan Lewis were fantastic at interacting with the crowd. Both crowd surfed and walked in the alley between the stage and the fence. As we were on the fence, we all touched both of them. I held hands with Macklemore and touched his butt. Jealous?
On stage at all times alongside Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, was an extremely energetic trumpet player, who also used a cymbal to hype up the crowd. He was in charge of providing the only live music, and highlighted Ryan Lewis’ beats perfectly.
Macklemore sang songs from his newly released album,“The Heist” as well as some of his older stuff. He performed two straight hours of high energy music, followed by an encore of the fan favorites, “And We Danced” and “Irish Celebration.” He brought out featured artists such as Mary Lambert in “Same Love,” and Ray Dalton in “Can’t Hold Us,” which created a more cohesive sound. I loved that in “Wingz,” the audience sang the chorus instead of the choir of children as on the album.
His connection to the crowd didn’t stop there, he wanted us feel all that he felt when writing some of the songs. Both he and Mary Lambert were close to tears during “Same Love,” and “Starting Over,” was especially emotional. “He told us some background of his drug and alcohol abuse and how much it has impacted him and his music,” said Probst. The impactful nature of the songs allowed the crowd to connect even more to the performance.
