Komedia, 19th June

Eleven years after their first album, Minnesota’s Atmosphere still shun major records labels yet their latest offering ‘When life gives you lemons you paint that shit gold’ debuted in the Billboard Top 10.

Fellow US rappers Kidz in the Hall did a good job of warming up the steadily growing crowd, especially considering, as they put it, “its obvious you don’t know who the fuck we are!” This wasn’t helped by the fact that they didn’t appear on any promotional material either.

Without the backing of a major label, Atmosphere couldn’t afford to bring their band over so tonight saw just the bare essentials: rapper Slug and producer/DJ Ant were joined onstage only by fellow Rhymesayers Records rapper Brother Ali. Though the set featured predominantly Atmosphere tunes, Ant switched constantly while Slug and Ali traded lines and provided backing vocals on each other’s tracks. What started out as ‘Puppets’ spun into ‘Shoulda Known’ then into Ali’s standout tune ‘Blah, blah, blah’ before finally finishing with ‘Guns & Cigarettes’.

Midway through, Slug observed how young the audience looked, briefly questioned whether they would recognise the next tune then launched into ‘Scapegoat’ from 1997’s ‘Overcast’. Those unfamiliar soon joined in with the chorus.

A few songs later Slug disappeared to allow Ali to take centre stage for a few of his own tunes. Back on stage Atmosphere tore through a ‘God Loves Ugly/Lovelife/Shrapnel’ medley; these songs were especially welcome as before the show Slug admitted to me that he dislikes a lot of his early material. Ali once again took centre stage for an acapella freestyle before leaving Slug to rap over the solo guitar part that makes up ‘Guarantees’. Drenched in sweat, and with an obvious enjoyment, Atmosphere and Brother Ali took a final wicked stomp through ‘Always coming back home to you’ that marked the end of the show.

Although initially a disappointment not to be a full band show, it was definitely for the best. Having Ant DJing meant the tunes switched a lot quicker allowing them to cover a wide range of their extensive back catalogue meaning that fans old and new heard the tunes they wanted to and probably discovered a few more as well.

Words by Chris Leggett
Photograph by Rachel Watson