Live And In The Flesh
Doomtree - February 18, 2012
Early 2012 marked our second opportunity to catch one of my most favourite hip hop acts going these days, Doomtree! November 2011 saw the release of the Doomtree collective's second official full crew album, No Kings. Upon the release, the powerhouse based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota announced a tour that would help get their latest efforts into the hands of the masses. The No Kings Tour was scheduled to make its way through Montréal on a Saturday night in February, at the exact same venue we had seen them previously in 2010, Il Motore.
A bunch of us decided to make our way down to the show and get rooms for the night. Some of us had seen them before, and some of us hadn't. Regardless, everyone was excited once the date crept closer. Having a Doomtree show land on a weekend, let alone a Saturday night, was golden, especially given the unpredictable weather during that time of year. Another reason we couldn't miss out on catching Doomtree in Montréal for their second time ever, was that Mike Mictlan was lucky enough to pass through customs and join the entire crew this time around! We had yet to see Mike live with the rest of them, and we weren't going to miss this opportunity. Since we were pretty familiar with the venue by now, we headed over shortly before showtime after grabbing a bite to eat along with our traditional Scotch in Montréal to help get things warmed up.
We were all pretty excited to hear some of their latest material from No Kings live. After making it down to wait in line outside of Il Motore, it wasn't long before the band's tour van, Mountain, rolled up. Apparently the customs were brutal and it had taken them hours to get cleared to make their way up to Canada. Looking exhausted and thankful to be out of the vehicle at long last, the least I could do was hold the door for them as they unloaded their equipment. Clearly there wasn't much time for any sort of sound check so we thought we better help them get moving. The wait didn't seem to take long at all before they let us in to the small club atmosphere. With plenty of decent beer to choose from, along with settling in to our usual place up by the corner of the stage, we seemed right at home.
Lazerbeak and Paper Tiger helped get the crowd fired up for the set, and it wasn't long before the rest of the Doomtree crew made their way up onto the tiny little stage. I was surprised that it was able to hold all seven of them up there at once. You could feel the energy increase in the room as their presence helped fill it. Throughout most of the set we had Mike Mictlan in front of us tearing the verses up. It was incredible to finally see the entire crew as a complete unit as they were meant to be experienced. By the time they wrapped up P.O.S' Low Light Low Life the crowd was loving every minute of it and we couldn't wait to hear what else they had up their sleeves. The Grand Experiment, one of my favourite tracks from No Kings followed that up before they blasted through a good majority of that album. The new songs were on point and we couldn't get enough of these guys!
What would a Doomtree show be without them highlighting each of their own talents by playing some of their solo material. Honing in on their craftsmanship, you could tell that each member of the crew had been hard at it for years on end by this point in time. Cecil Otter especially always blows me away every time I see him. It was nice to hear some new material that he'd been working away on when he decided to bust out Grime. As if the energy wasn't through the roof already, String Theory, another new track from No Kings helped turn the dial up a few notches more. Next up to bat was Mictlan. Since it was his first time hitting Montréal with the entire crew, he was hitting it hard! He was everything I had expected him to be, and certainly an element within the crew that feels absent without him present. I was surprised when he came out and played OMG! from Doomtree's False Hopes XV, and he was flawless! They weren't finished with their surprises yet either, as P.O.S busted out Weird Friends, a track from his latest solo effort We Don't Even Live Here, which was the track's first appearance live throughout the entire tour. Sims and Dessa were as equally mind-blowing throughout the Doomtree set that lasted well over an hour. The force that this group is able to bring up on stage night after night is incredible. Something that I know that I will never be able to resist making my way out to enjoy each and every time they come near. By the end of the show, the group was hanging out with the crowd in Il Motore continuing to make as many connections as they could. Mike Mictlan was manning the merch booth with their main merch man Ander Other. I headed over and picked up as many of their albums that I could (and that I didn't already own), and walked away with a pile of new cd's to help show my support. Mictlan was blown away with the amount of stuff we were buying that night. Nothing better to help support an independent group like this, than to show them as much love and support as possible over at their merch table. We chatted it up with the rest of the crew, Sims, Cecil Otter, P.O.S, and wrapped the evening up with a great big hug from Dessa. You couldn't ask for a better ending to a night out with Doomtree!