The rapper performed the second show of his current trek to an enthusiastic crowd
The ceiling, in fact, felt like it wouldn’t hold Macklemore’s sold out crowd at DC’s Anthem on Tuesday night (Sept 19th). If Macklemore said jump, the audience jumped. If he brought out the super soaker, they received their drenching enthusiastically.
Rare is the entertainer who can hold a crowd in their hand like Macklemore. The crowd fed off his energy, and he ate up theirs. Early on, the rapper expressed astonishment that six thousand people showed up. “They showed me the routing and I said, ‘Six thousand people in DC ain’t us.’ Thank you for showing up.”
Musically, Macklemore did a great job of overcoming the biggest challenge for a rapper-songwriter. In the moments when the vocal track of a collaborator had to take over, he kept the crowd engaged by traversing the stage and not losing eye contact. And, unlike some who let the singer do the work, Macklemore often had the most lyrically and rhythmically complex moments of the songs.
Case in point, the rapid-fire sermon on “Same Love,” and the childhood reminiscence on “Wing$”. Both take a mastery of the rhyme that compliments the more melodic vocals. And the faithful in the crowd sang along and kept up with Macklemore’s BPMs.
Talented horn players accented what the DJ was spinning. Some numbers, like “Otherside”—a solo Macklemore number—had church-like keys overtop. And of course, there were the requisite female dancers.
Still, the purist in this reviewer would love to see the talented women and men in his backing troupe incorporate more live elements. Perhaps his talented female backing dancers could sub in as a female duet partner on some of those collaborations. The band was used sparingly on some songs and could be leaned on more to round out the live sound.
But these are matters of subjective taste. Perhaps artistically, it’s important to Macklemore—real name Ben Haggerty—that these songs be presented as close to the record as possible because that’s what the fans want. There’s no denying that Macklemore is one of the most engaging live performers.
This was the second night for the Ben Tour, which launched in Nashville at the historic Ryman Auditorium. It was clear that Macklemore was thrilled to be back among his people, performing and spreading joy.
He is touring in support of his latest album, Ben, titled after his real name. The songs fit nicely in his catalog. “I Need” is an especially powerful commentary on materialism as an empty substitute for real human connection. Macklemore is and always has been a writer of raps of substance.
It was an observation about the connection that gave the crowd their greatest insight into what Macklemore believes heals the soul: “No YouTube, no Facebook, no Twitter, no Twitch can bring us together in the way live music can.” Six thousand of Macklemore’s fans—indeed, under one ceiling—loudly agreed.
