zeale + awolnation

Last night, Taylor and I went to The Parish to see AWOLNATION.

Opening act was Zeale, and as usual I was skeptical because I didn't know who he/they were. Well, that's why you never assume. It was a rapper + DJ group, and they were pretty damn good. He had a longer set than I was expecting, too, which was impressive. I'm by no means a rap expert, but he reminded me of Lupe Fiasco. His lyrics were fresh, and he touched on many subjects aside from the typical crap you hear on radio. He closed with a "freestyle" rap, but I have a sneaking suspicion that he prepared most of it. Maybe not, though, in retrospect.

After Zeale, AWOLNATION came out and dropped a couple good songs on us. Then, believe it or not, the drummer broke his bass drum head. I wouldn't have expected the drummer to have another one just lying around, and he didn't. The highlight of the show was the intermission that followed.

While the band briefly dismissed while they figured out how to address the bass drum (they later acquired a whole new bass drum from somewhere, as a solution), they later came back out but with Zeale on the mic. What followed was pure awesomeness: the band started jamming a little funk groove, and Zeale just started freestyling while we waited. It was very good, too. Unfortunately I can't describe the awesome, but I'm sure somebody was recording some of it. It's bound to be on YouTube. They just jammed for 7 or 8 minutes, with Zeale freestyling the entire time. He definitely has talent, as I would have run out of words after the second or third line.

Once they found a new bass drum, the show continued to rock. They had a lot of energy and it all sounded great. That was the most bang for the buck concert I've been to in a while; tickets were only $8 a pop. Here are some samples of Zeale, and AWOLNATION, respectively:

Zeale - Monzter Hospital


AWOLNATION - Sail