Live And In The Flesh
Doomtree - November 30, 2010 & December 2, 2015
By the time 2010 came around, we were getting pretty heavy into the Doomtree catalogue that they had been working steadily away on throughout the past decade or so. The hip-hop collective based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota were a force to be reckoned with. The group is comprised of P.O.S, Dessa, Sims, Cecil Otter, Mike Mictlan with Paper Tiger and Lazerbeak holding down the beats, all of whom have their own outstanding respective solo material as well. With releases spanning the dozens, there was certainly no shortage of their music to delve into and enjoy. Each member has their own unique approach, which ends up creating something out of this world once they all join forces on stage. We were lucky enough to catch P.O.S accompanied by Dessa and Astronautalis out on his Every Never is Now Tour earlier that spring in 2010. They played a small venue in Montréal known as the Il Motore, which seemed to be a space more fitting for a garage than a venue, but ended up working perfectly for their show.
The winter of 2010 rolled in and we heard that Doomtree were planning to swing through that very same venue in Montréal in late November. The P.O.S tour was amazing to catch live, and we knew we couldn't pass up our first opportunity to catch the entire collective out on the road together at last, and their first show in Montréal ever! Unfortunately Mike Mictlan had some trouble making it over the border for the tour which forced him to skip the Canadian dates. Still, having the chance to finally see Cecil Otter and Sims paired up with P.O.S and Dessa was not to be missed, along with the incredible support coming from Paper Tiger and Lazerbeak throughout the night.
We made our way to Montréal to catch the show full of excitement. The two hour trek seemed to go by in a blink of an eye and we were settled in at a nearby restaurant for some dinner before we hit the lineup. There didn't seem to be too many people waiting around to get in early so we took our time making our way to the venue. Having been there once before earlier that same year, we knew exactly what to expect inside. The doors opened and we headed straight to the bar to grab ourselves some drinks before the show began, situating ourselves up close by the speakers to the left of the stage. It wasn't long before the lights went out and Doomtree stormed the stage with their Wings and Teeth Tour.
Having a few collective albums under their belts, along with a solo album or two each, there was plenty of songs for them to choose from. They dove right into some of their tracks off of their first official self-titled album to get things fired up right away. It seemed like we were being hammered by one amazing song after the next and they weren't slowing down at all. Each of them would have the opportunity to showcase a few of their solo tracks before treating us all to songs involving the entire crew. Cecil Otter broke out with Rebel Yellow, Sufficiently Breathless, and A Rickety Bridge, with Dessa blowing us all away with her talented voice throughout her tracks The Chaconne, Mineshaft, Seamstress and Dixon's Girl. Without a doubt though, the tracks that had them all involved were tearing the roof off of that club! Sims' Sink or Syncopate was awesome to see. I would love to catch an entire solo Sims set. His flow has improved exponentially throughout the years with Doomtree and I can only imagine the great things he has yet to accomplish. The Montréal crowd was loving every minute of it! Everyone was enjoying themselves, and you could tell the band was getting right into it. P.O.S brought it all together in the end with some of his solo tracks; Goodbye, Drumroll (We're All Thirsty), which was definitely my favourite track of the evening, and wrapping the show up with Purexed and Low Light Low Life.
Hip hop shows tend to lend themselves to quite a bit of crowd participation, and P.O.S knew exactly how to get everyone chanting along to the music. We were at arm's length of them all throughout the entire evening and we could feel the energy being shared between the musicians and those in attendance. Doomtree have been by far one of the best hip hop acts I've ever seen live. After they wrapped up their collective mind-blowing setlist, they decided to stick around the venue to chat it up with whoever was interested so we made sure to share our appreciation with them before taking off for the night. Simply an amazing group of talented individuals who have been blazing the independent trail.
Almost five years to the date of our first Doomtree collective show, we managed to catch them out on the road yet again, but this time down in Toronto at Tattoo Queen West! We had yet to see the group in Toronto, as the only other two times we were able to catch them were in Montréal. This was also my first show at Tattoo Queen West as well, so there were plenty of firsts this time around, which was rare after fifteen years of concert going. It was nice to be able to get out to see them in another city, even though we knew the Montréal Doomtree shows were going to be tough to top. The crowds at each of those shows have probably been some of the best throughout my years. I'm not sure if it was the city, or that Doomtree just brings out the best in people, but after our Toronto experience, we knew it was Doomtree!
A few of us managed to make it out to the Doomtree Off In The Deep Tour. This was the final leg of them being out on the road promoting their latest 2015 release All Hands. This was also the last full crew tour for quite some time as they were all planning to buckle down on some new solo endeavours. We hadn't seen them since 2012 so we definitely had a Doomtree itch to scratch. After experiencing such an amazing performance once, it's tough to pass up any future opportunities. Doomtree has become one of my must-see live shows whenever they make their way through Canada. For this tour, Doomtree brought along two pretty amazing openers, Bleubird and Mixed Blood Majority. We were familiar with Bleubird through his past collaborations with Astronautalis, so it was nice to see him on the bill. Mixed Blood Majority on the other hand were relatively new in the scene, with Doomtree's own Lazerbeak backing them up on the beats. I don't think they could have brought along better openers for the tour! Bleubird was great at getting the crowd warmed up, where Mixed Blood Majority simply took us all to that next level and really pumped us full of energy.
It wasn't long before the Doomtree collective stormed the stage to take their positions. Right away they dove into some of their latest material off of All Hands. The sheer energy on the stage was phenomenal and they were just getting started! It was obvious why we were so hooked on seeing this group of talent live. Each and every one of them bring such a unique element to their sound, and you could tell how much more they had honed in on each of their crafts since seeing them last. Doomtree was a well-oiled machine up there now, and they were blowing us away with every track they were busting out. They managed to play most of their latest album throughout their set, while tossing in a few No Kings tracks for good measure. There wasn't too much focus on their solo material as much as they had at past shows we had seen, although each of them did manage to squeeze one or two of their solo tracks in which were nice bonuses. Hearing Cecil Otter's Sufficiently Breathless and Rebel Yellow together live never gets old! I can't really pick out a favourite track of the evening though, as they were all incredible to experience. These new Doomtree tracks showcased each of their members so well, it wasn't really necessary to throw much of their solo stuff into the mix.
They must have played well over twenty incredible lavabangers throughout the course of the night. We couldn't believe how fast the show went by. Their energy levels were through the roof throughout their entire show and they just made it that much harder to pass up seeing them out on the road again. Toronto had actually surprised us with undoubtedly one of the most energetic crowds at a show I've seen in the big city. The Doomtree effect seemed to be making its mark throughout a few major Canadian cities, which was a delight to see. Needless to say that without a doubt, whenever they come back up through Canada, we will be there!