Day Three, Pt 2

Musicfest NW 2011
by Joshua Cooke

The merch table must have sold out of clothing articles before Macklemore and Ryan Lewis ever hit The Roseland stage; everyone was wearing their newly-bought attire. There were groups of high schoolers wearing the white jersey on top of the black t-shirt while holding the grey sweatshirt in their hands– it was a wild scene. Personifying a real hip hop show, Mack hit the stage powerful with more energy than his teenage fans combined. Leaving no part of the stage (and some parts of the first couple rows) untouched, Macklemore, Ryan Lewis and trumpet player Owour Arunga had hands waving every direction, fans reciting words and full-participation call and response. Producer Ryan Lewis took an active approach, hyping the crowd from the front of the stage as well as behind the boards. The token jersey-sporting Macklemore played hit songs from his whole catalogue, ranging from The Language of My World, the VS. EP and even some new material. At one point Macklemore said he felt proud to see that so many people had come to see their show, adding that last year around the same time they performed in Portland to about 75 people. This is strictly due to the growing hype around the Seattle rapper who is being set up to be the face of Northwest hip hop.

TxE is Portland’s hip hop group right now, hands down. Tope and Epp are two emcees with complementing styles which help drive up an already energetic show. By playing to a crowd that was there primarily to see Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, TxE definitely gained many new fans. Tope took his energy straight to the crowd, literally, by stage diving. Epp, and his highly impressive and ridiculous Pharaoh Monche-esque flow had the crowd loving the rapid fire. Not to be pushed aside is the third member of TxE, one of the West Coast’s premier producers, Calvin Valentine, who mixes in live keys and often danced more than some of the crowd members. The group finished their set by bringing up Portland hip hop heavy hitter and friend, Illmaculate, for a couple of songs including the animated, “The Basics.” TxE was MFNW’s proof that Portland hip hop is more than just alive.

Purple and Green is a newer Portland group consisting of producer Adam Forkner on and the charismatic Justin Leon Johnson with the microphone. Having seen them a month before, I was very happy to see another one their shows because I knew what I was in for. I think Justin is some sort of super positively charged, happiness-evoking, semi-nudist dancing machine sent here to make us come out of our shells and get down. He told the crowd to “forget about that masculinity” and to “get in touch with that feminine side.” Justin also possesses a great soulful voice, blending well with the production. Adam’s beats are often fast with very danceable long breaks, which is perfect for Justin to either disrobe a layer of clothing or bust a solo dance. Or both. It was clear that a lot of the crowd didn’t know what to expect, but after every song, more and more people were crowding around, loving the show. A couple of things become obvious watching Purple and Green: Their magic just makes you feel great, Justin likes to be topless, and the man can dance. Purple and Green are not to be slept on, they have the makings of something real funky.

With a tiny bit of biased involved, Glass Candy was my favorite show of MFNW. Before stepping on stage, about a hundred really large multicolored balloons were sent toward the crowd to create the beginnings of a dance party that would require recovery time. With a beautiful printed dress and bare feet, the gorgeous Ida No danced all over stage, which seemed too small to contain her energy. Johnny Jewel ran the production from behind the keys while simultaneously dancing a up a storm. The crowd reacted by dancing off every single ass in Branx that night. Large balloons were flying and popping, Ida’s voice was pulsating the crowd, and Johnny looked like he just got done swimming, given the amount of sweat falling onto the keys. There were no other venues I’d have rather been at that night. Everything post-the Shattered Theatre era was played. “Digital Versicolor” started it off, with “Rolling Down the Hill” and “Computer Love” peppered in the set as well; hearing the new songs, “Warm in the Winter” and “Beatuiful Object,” didn’t hurt either. This show proved the Glass Candy, modern Italo disco sound is more than unique, still powerful, and fun as hell.