With the doors having already opened at seven I walked into the Roseland Theater on August 5th, 2015 close to eight not knowing how big of a crowd to expect. Perks of being media is not having to worry about being in the front of the line for the best spot to turn up at. Father, still an upcoming rapper and one of the lead artists for awful records, I was hoping for a good turnout here in Portland.
Everyone who had showed up was also expecting popular Atlanta rapper, Playboi Carti, another great artist who’s quickly making his way to the top of the charts with hits like “Broke Boi”, “Fetti”, and my personal favorite “Heavy”. But sadly he had a bigger opportunity arise in Arizona and did not make an appearance in Portland. Word quickly spread around the crowd about the let down, but everyone was still optimistic and ready for a good time.
Patiently waiting for the tours openers to come out, I stood with local PNW rapper Dior worthy and Chris Williams, the owner of “LXRD KNOWS” clothing company. It was great to see familiar faces at the event and talk about future events while watching chapters alumni Dj Lord Rockwell get the constantly growing crowd more and more pumped for the openers playing hits from Futures new album Dirty Sprite 2 and classic Waka Flaka Flame that everyone knew the words to.
The crowd was made up of teenage kids who most likely are into aesthetic social media profiles and high fashion clothing. I even saw a kid in the front wearing suede Balenciagas as if they were just another shoe from a skate shop. I also saw the occasional stereotypical Portland hipster girls walking by with large Gauge’s and drinking a craft brew in the 21 and over section.
Finally, after about an hour, Awful Record’s artist, Archibald Slim, came out. He put on a cool show and had people vibing right along to it. His stage presence was good and his energy was there; I hope to see him perform again one day.
Following up Archibald Slim was recently signed artist Keith Charles Space Bar. He was definitely here to turn up one last time. When he came out on stage he immediately had everyone in there jumping. His performance was lit and a perfect taste of what to expect next.
The lights then dimmed and the oh so familiar “look at gahdamn” came through the speakers. Father came out from backstage right when the beat dropped. I don’t think a single person in that audience wasn’t singing along in between swirling their wrist in the air and jumping up and down when the chorus of “wrist” was blasting through the speakers.
Not only did Father bring the crowd to another level I swear he also turned up the heat in there, literally. You could even see accumulation on the ceiling dripping onto the front row, and it definitely wasn’t a leak because it hasn’t rained in who knows how long in this usually grey city. Since there was no photo pit/security bar in front of the stage, at this part of the venue it was open invitation for kids to start stage diving and even for two girls, who knows how old, to get up there and twerk on father for a whole song.
After close to an hour of craziness, sweat, and hardcore rap lyrics about sex, drugs, and asking people to please stop rocking fake Versace, father ended the concert with one of his popular singles “everybody in the club get shot”. Keep an eye out for the music video for that one too, as they just completed filming down in LA directed by none other than Pretty Puke. Father then shook the front row up one last time, wiped the sweat from his brow and glasses and exited stage. Since Slugg Christ didn’t come along on the west coast part of the tour they played a couple tribute songs. Which basically consisted of everyone backstage, including myself, turning the fuck up for the last 5-8 minutes of stage time and ending the concert on an exciting note.
– Adin Penner
All photos shot by Its Fine Photography
Follow
