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Commentary
Open eyes required for a "scene"
By John Behling
Published:
Monday, April 28, 2003
John Behling -- Staff Essay
Friday night the downtown bar scene stirred predictably; the weather brought people together on porches and as expected, close to 50 high school teens stood menacingly outside the Java Joint, sitting on planters, on benches, or huddled in groups passing time like... well.. passing time.
I may never understand why the "in" place to be for a St. Cloud high school youth is standing "in" front of St. Cloud's best venue and coffee shop, but I do know something about the acts the modest stage has played host to.
Friday, billed as "the best hip-hop show in St. Cloud of the millennium," and not wrongly so (at least thus far), brought veteran Twin Cities hip-hop act Heiruspecs and Brooklyn, NY-based Oddjobs to share the stage with St. Cloud's own Hydrophonics.
That St. Cloud can boast a show of this caliber proves that those depressed "If I lived in the cities my life would be so much more interesting" recluses should pay attention to the Java Joint and the ambitious event organizer D.E.E.P. (Diversity Events Entertaining People)
The night boasted a steady attendance from openers Hydrophonics at 8p.m. all the way through midnight when Heiruspecs finally left the stage.
If you haven't seen Hydrophonics, you really aren't paying attention of the music scene in St. Cloud and love them or leave them, there's no one like them in St. Cloud or elsewhere.
This ambitious 8-piece took the stage three times in two days, performing at the Atwood Brickyard Thursday afternoon and again that night at the Rox leading up to the show on Friday.
Combining a three emcee revolving delivery with a jam band ensemble, hydrophonics hold up a wall of sound for their entire set, belting the audience with free-flowing jams, guitar-solos, layered vocals, drum breaks and of course, the rhymes.
Following on their coattails, POS snuck in an apologetically brief set, and set the tone for the evening with his fierce style and accelerated delivery.
Oddjobs took the stage next and brought the energy with them. DJs Anatomy, Deetalx and MCs Nomi, Crescent Moon and Advizer brought their energy to St. Cloud in a tight fisted assault on complacence, forcing crowd reactions and deserving every bobbing head and pumping fist. To me it was almost surreal, standing in the java joint, leaning, craning and twisting to get a better view of the stage and sweating profusely. It felt like a crowded main room performance at 1st Ave. sans the $7 parking, 140 mile round trip and dripping ceiling.
From here the night could only get better. Heiruspecs, straight from their St. Cloud debut on UTVS's Monday Night Live (another greatly underappreciated draw for quality music) brought their strategic blend of the right instruments: bass, drums, keys with the right MCs Felix and Muad'Dib. To contrast the sometimes overbearing Hydrophonics backing music, Heiruspecs strikes with a minimum of backup, perfectly sculpting a sonic plane for Felix's razor wit and Muad'Dib's effusive facilitation and mind-bending beat-boxing.
The evening ended on a highnote with Advizor, Crecent, POS and Q (from Hydrophonics) taking the stage and passing mics around and around in a freestyle until everyone's last words were spent.
But what else is to be said about the St. Cloud music scene? It exists, for starters. Bands care, for a second course, and if the clientele will start to get their head up and out of their dorms, house parties and the bars and into the Java Joint, the G.R.E.A.T. playhouse, Playplace and wherever else I'm forgetting.
All things take time, but really, to some extent, the time is already here (just please don't stand outside the door).
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