Considering that he thrives in paranoia-soaked lyrics, Aesop Rock‘s live performance felt surprisingly comfortable. He evaded the biting urgency of a Sage Francis or a GZA as he delivered his verbose rhymes with a laid back lope across the stage and frequently distributed high fives. He didn’t remind us who he was every ten minutes, nor did he rely on excessive call and response with the audience. Aesop Rock had not come to start a revolution or to throw a party that burned the place down. He didn’t need to. Armed with a fresh batch of new tracks, Aesop Rock’s taut flow coupled with DJ Big Wiz’s dance-inducing beats served as a reminder as to just why he is one of the biggest names in underground hip-hop.

The fact that his new LP, None Shall Pass, has barely been out for two weeks hardly mattered. When he started his set with the album’s first two songs, “Keep Off the Lawn” and the title track, a loud and sizable chunk of the audience already knew the chorus and by the end of each song, those who originally hadn’t heard the songs also knew what to say. These set the tone for the introduction of his new tracks.

Photo by Laura Foltz