By Jason Marecki (of the Corduroy Boyz)
This was probably the first and only time I’ll ever get to see one of the most influential industrial rap bands to ever exist. Death Grips is one of the few bands that makes my skin crawl (in a good way). MC Ride’s haunting screams paired with Zach Hill and Andy Morin’s pounding production creates an experience that is rivaled by few. Seeing them live would be a once-in-a lifetime experience, doubly so because it was in the city I live. Too bad it was cut short by a few bad apples.
We arrived right after doors opened at 7. My friends and I weren’t interested in getting barricade, nor were we interested in moshing, so getting there early wasn’t really of any interest to us. The line wasn’t too long, and was moving rather quickly. It helped that people that bought separate pit tickets were being brought out of line to go to their own line. After a quick metal detector scan and ticket check, we were in.
JJ’s wasn’t too packed, but the lines for both the concessions and the bathroom were LONG. I’d decided to hold it and find a spot near some people I was meeting up with. Even though we’d arrived right around doors opening, it was still going to be a long wait for the show. They weren’t supposed to start until 8:30.
I know this seems like a weird point to stick on, but the pre-show music was really good. Like, unusually good. Usually it’s just the band’s biggest hits or whatever. These were brand new Death Grips tracks, not heard anywhere else but their other shows. Looking around, you could see people bobbing their heads and dancing. It really alleviated the hour and a half wait.
Another weird point, the bathrooms. I couldn’t hold it forever, so I went to the bathroom before the show started. Just to get it all out of my system so I could enjoy Death Grips, TO THE MAX! Anyways, the bathrooms were disgusting. After a relatively long wait to even get in there, the floors were covered in unidentified liquids. Maybe it was just water dropping off peoples’ hands because there were no paper towels? Maybe it was something more gross and heinous? Either way, I got out of there quick.
After an hour and a half, the lights turned off and the screen on the stage turned a blinding red. The earplugs went in and the show began. Starting off with “System Blower” was a perfect choice. MC Ride screaming “WE CAME TO BLOW YOUR SYSTEM” at the beginning of the show really set the tone for the rest of the night.
A note on the red background: It gave a pretty cool visual, but speaking to my compatriots after the show, it made it hard to focus on the band. It was the only real light illuminating the band, and all we could see from our position were the silhouettes of MC Ride, Zach Hill, and Nick Reinhart (who was filling in for Andy Morin on guitar). A lot of the band’s energy comes through their physical performance. The way they contort their faces, their movements, how they hold themselves, and it was kind of disappointing to not be able to see any of that. Maybe it was just because we were kind of far away, but it was still a bit of a downer.
Anyways, the hits kept rolling out. “Spread Eagle Cross the Block” into “I Break Mirrors With My Face In The United States” into “Takyon (Death Yon)” was a religious experience. However, the crowd was beginning to get rowdy. The first real mosh pit opened up a yard or two away from where I was standing, and people were going hard. People were generally respectful from where I was, letting people that didn’t want to mosh get out and helping those that fell up. However, from posts I’ve read online of other areas in the crowd, this was not the case everywhere.
I think somewhere during either “Takyon (Death Yon)” or “Get Got”. Something happened in one of the pits that caused everyone in the pit to stop and signal security with their phone flashlights. Reading reports from others online, someone may have had a seizure, others say it was an overdose (take these with a very large grain of salt, both were just what I saw on the Death Grips subreddit). Either way, they were taken away by security and everyone went back to the music. Keep in mind, during all this, Death Grips has not paused their performance. They can very obviously see all the flashlights and the large hole in the crowd, and chose to continue.
One of my favorite moments in all of the show came right after this though. During “You Might Think He Loves You for Your Money but I Know What He Really Loves You for It’s Your Brand New Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat” (now being shortened to just “You Might Think He Loves You”), there are multiple super visceral screams coming from MC Ride. It’s an incredibly intense song, and one of their best in my opinion. Believe me, during the live performance, these screams CAME THROUGH. MC Ride’s wailing pierced my ear plugs and was so unbelievably awesome. The crowd was crazy at this point, but I was here for it. I adore this song, and will cherish the memory and one video I took of it.
Things continue pretty normally after this. At some point, maybe during “You Might Think He Loves You”, I’m not sure, MC Ride threw down the mic. I believed this one just to be out of the emotion and energy of the song. We get through 10 whole songs, including some of their all time greats, “Hustle Bones”, “Guillotine”, “Death Grips Is Online”, and “Giving Bad People Good Ideas”.
Side note, the setlist for this show was STACKED. There were nearly 30 songs planned for the show, each one flowing into the next. Playing stuff from all over their discography, even off of Steroids (Crouching Tiger Hidden Gabber Megamix) and Fashion Week, or some of the hidden gems off of The Money Store or The Powers That B really added to the enjoyment of the show in general.
The mood of the show kind of changed around “The Fever (Aye Aye)”. MC Ride throws the mic down once more in the middle of his performance. This one, I believe, was out of frustration. The cause of this frustration is people throwing things (mostly glow sticks) on stage and at the band members themselves. People had been throwing them around the crowd and venue, along with a few people deciding to fling their drinks around, getting the surrounding crowd wet with maybe alcohol? Maybe water? (This is foreshadowing)
The show continues on, with a noticeably more rowdy crowd. Larger pits are opening more frequently. A few people within said crowds are taking their shirts off. One of the shirtless moshers approaches me during “Come Up And Get Me” and very politely asks if I’m interested in moshing. I shake my head, and he is super understanding. Thanks for asking shirtless mosher guy.
Things finally come to a head during “Black Paint”. Oh man. Stuff gets bad here. There is so much speculation about this but halfway through the song, someone outright hits MC Ride with a glowstick (some say he and other members of the band get hit with water bottles, others say the glow stick hits Zach Hill, the people nearest me subscribed to the theory of it hitting MC Ride, either way it is 100% a fact that the people on stage were hit with SOMETHING). MC Ride throws down the mic for a third time and just stands there looking at us. This was different than other times he’d done this. He had his hands on his hips, and looked EXACTLY like a disappointed mom after you came home from getting in trouble. After a minute or two of this. MC Ride, Zach Hill, and Nick Reinhart all grab their things and just walk off stage. Straight up. I can’t remember if the music stopped before they walked off or not, but everyone was stunned.
The house lights stay off for a while, so everyone is anticipating if they will come back or not. Security is crowding the area where the projectile came from. People are theorizing and talking to everyone around them, others are shouting obscenities at the “glow stick guy”. After a while, maybe like 15 to 20 minutes, the house lights come on and we know it’s over. We stick around for another 10 minutes just chatting with each other about the show and venting frustrations. We eventually say our goodbyes and walk out.
On the way out, we hear one guy yelling about how stupid it was that they walked out because of a “stupid glowstick”. One guy begins singing a Bladee song to me because I was wearing a shirt with the cover of the Bladee album EXETER. He sings “Obedient”, which is off a different album, Red Light. I tell him as such and he gets mad at me, insisting he was singing “Lovenote” (which is off an even DIFFERENT album Eversince), obviously very intoxicated. We walk off to our car and drive home.
This glow stick debacle raises a question about how Death Grips will handle their unruly fan base going forward. See, this wasn’t an isolated incident. Sexual assault, violent, crowdkilling pits, and people literally urinating in the middle of the venue have been real ACTUAL issues seen at their other shows on the tour. However, this was the first time they’ve outright walked in the middle of a show. How will a band that thrives off mystery, intrigue, and general confusion surrounding their existence handle something like this? Considering they didn’t even stop the show for someone seriously hurt in the crowd, do they care? Will they tour again, maybe when the more unruly and idiotic side of their fan base grows up a bit? Who knows. At times, their fanbase makes me downright embarrassed to be a Death Grips fan, and I’ve read the Warrior Cats books in public!
Overall, super incredible performances sullied by a few bad apples. Getting to hear so many of the songs I listen to almost religiously will be a memory I cherish forever, and videos on my
phone I will rewatch every now and again. It wouldn’t have been the same without my two dope co-hosts, DJ JDubs and DJ Vitamin G from our show The Corduroy Boyz.
And to the Glow Stick Guy: you made me miss “Hacker”.
Rated 7/10
Editor’s Note: Projectiles have become an ongoing problem for touring artists of all genres and following sizes, particularly post-covid. If an artist went through the effort of coming to perform in your area, don’t repay them by throwing stuff at them. Touring is hard enough as is. Don’t take the fun out of it. -ald