REVIEW: P.O.S. “We Don’t Even Live Here” Sold Out Release Party At First Avenue 10/26/12

Photo by Briana Patnode

The music community in Minneapolis is so cohesive on a daily basis that it is hard not to take it for granted. Every once in a while there will be an event, a moment, or a conversation that slaps you in the face and broadens the understanding of true support among one another. The P.O.S. We Don’t Even Live Here release party on Friday enveloped that concept perfectly. Fresh off the announcement that he must cancel his tour due to the need for a kidney transplant, P.O.S. found allegiance in his fans and an array of local talent that kept the night exciting from beginning to end.

The satisfyingly long evening started out with duo (and MFR favorites) The Tribe and Big Cats! Chris Hooks is an engaging emcee and beatmaster/producer Spencer Wirth-Davis is arguably one of the best in the city. They threw down a set roughly twenty minutes long to an excited and near-full Mainroom made up of their fans, friends, and hip hop enthusiasts. The respectfully rowdy collective Audio Perm then took a turn to exude energy into the venue; a successful venture made possible by as many as ten emcees on stage at one time.

P.O.S.’ fellow Doomtree member Mike Mictlan put up a feisty set composed of his freshly released mixtape, SNAXXX, and a handful of the friends that helped him create it. He kicked it all off with “Creeper Status” before the badass Lizzo (The Chalice) joined him for “Give It To Mikey”; together they blew minds. Mictlan continued to attack the stage; switching between solo-style with DJ Ander Other or collaborations with friends like Spyderbabie and Freez.

At the close of Mictlan’s set the crowd braced themselves for the moment they had been waiting for. Man of the hour P.O.S. (a.k.a. Stef Alexander) appeared accompanied by his cohorts of Marijuana Deathsquads to entertain the audience with a ten minute long familial gathering; or so it seems when MD gets together.


Photo by Briana Patnode

Then a hip hop revolution took place. P.O.S. jumped in vocals blazing with “Bumper”, and with the help of DJ Ander Other in place of long-time partner-in-crime Plain Ole Bill, he continued to perform We Don’t Even Live Here in its entirety just three days after its release (except for “Fire In The Hole/Arrow To The Action”, where he hit just his verse acapella style). Hundreds of fans chimed in with every word— an astounding moment of true dedication. Mictlan returned to the stage for a spirited delivery of the album’s single “Fuck Your Stuff” and together they made sweet rap love to the sold out Mainroom.

After announcing that Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) could not appear because he was in Poland and Astronautalis was also out on tour, P.O.S. performed “How We Land” and “Wanted/Wasted” flying solo. If those gentlemen had joined the fun it would have been absolutely incredible, but both tracks were respectfully pleasing in their absence.

Before jumping into “They Can’t Come” with help from Sims, P.O.S. gratefully addressed the audience with “Thank you for the insane amount of support the last few days. I was falling apart and you guys put me back together.” In a bold and honest gesture he also claimed that “Lock-picks, Knives, Bricks, and Bats” was probably his favorite song that he ever wrote.

Following a moment that sent chills through every attendee with a soul, P.O.S. turned up the energy levels (if that were possible) with a shout of “Ready to act like fucking ninja turtles!?”; bringing Mictlan back to the stage to introduce the dancetastic “Get Down”. I have never seen an audience dance like I did in this moment. Only made stronger by the amount of pals that jumped on stage to hoof it (Dessa, Lizzo, Sims, Spyderbabie, etc.), this portion of the night was a definite highlight (if you were not at the show check out this video by Brian Moen).

Nearing the close of WDELH, P.O.S. and the entire venue took equal parts to “Weird Friends” exclaiming together ‘This world’s got a whole lot of locked doors/We decided not to live here any more/Picked through the norm didn’t fit didn’t stick to the script didn’t care/We Don’t Even Live Here!’. P.O.S. was so charismatic and carefree that for a brief period of time it was easy to forget his pending health situation. I cannot stress enough how much support poured out of the crowd to help him through every minute of it.

Inevitably, fellow Doomtree pals Dessa, Sims, Cecil Otter, and Mike Mictlan busted out to perform No Kings’ favorites “Bolt Cutter” and “Bangarang” with the grooving audience before P.O.S. closed out the sans-encore near 80-minute set with “Purexed”. Moments before breaking a special connection with the room by leaving stage he proclaimed in one heartfelt gesture, “This is some beautiful shit, thank you so fucking much, I love you.”


Photo by Briana Patnode

Set:
Bumper
Fuck Your Stuff
How We Land
Wanted/Wasted
They Can’t Come
Lock-picks, Knives, Bricks, and Bats
Fire In The Hole/ Arrow To The Action | *well, part of it
Get Down
All Of It
Weird Friends (We Don’t Even Live Here)
Piano Hits
Music For Shoplifting
Optimist (We Are Not For Them)
Drumroll (We’re All Thirsty)
Bolt Cutter (Doomtree)
Low Light Low Life
Bangarang (Doomtree)
Purexed


Photo by Briana Patnode


Photo by Briana Patnode


Mike Mictlan & Lizzo | Photo by Briana Patnode


Audio Perm | Photo by Briana Patnode


The Tribe & Big Cats! | Photo by Briana Patnode

By Laura Yurich
w/Marijuana Deathsquads, Mike Mictlan, Audio Perm, Tribe and Big Cats! and many friends
Friday, October 26 2012
First Avenue Mainroom

Posted 6 months ago