“Life that I live,” raps Angry Blackmen’s Brian Warren with laser precision: “Working a regiment schedule // Prepping and making some legend shit // Feeling the elegance, I’m in my element // Truth, I am telling it, days have been treacherous.” From the night’s opening song Stanley Kubrick, these lyrics epitomize Angry Blackmen’s Mission Creek Festival set this year. The rappers are in their element, making some legend shit, but are undermined by a treacherously fickle festival crowd.
Formed in 2017, the Chicago duo Angry Blackmen consists of rappers Quentin Branch and Brian Warren, who both brought their A-game to Gabe’s at 9pm on Friday. “Y’all fucking with that shit? We got some more shit!” they yell into the crowd after introducing their glitchy experimental rap. They fly through cuts from The Legend of ABM, their excellent 2024 album, the bass from their industrial beats pulsating throughout Gabe’s. It was fierce music, the type that grabs your attention from the start and won’t let it go. They included cuts from their earlier work as well, such as their 2020 record HEADSHOTS! For a sense of how their music translates live, check out Angry Blackmen on Audiotree Live, a nine track recording including the bangers “Vomit” and “Dead Men Tell No Lies.”
Beyond the heavy production and tight rhymes, Angry Blackmen’s most impressive attribute was the duo’s synergy and crowd interaction. Warren grabbing and rapping into both microphones, falling into his flow, while the duo threw out call and response statements, engaging the crowd. “Angry” they shout, “Blackmen!” replied the crowd. The same deal with different words later on: “Fuck!” // “Off!” Halfway through the set, the duo memorably split the crowd in half to form a de-facto catwalk, bringing all the chanting together as one. “Angry,” shouts Warren before waving the microphone at me, “Blackmen!” I dutifully respond.
The tragedy of this stellar crowd interaction was the dwindling number of people to recruit as the set progressed, the product of a brutal clash with Friday night’s headliner Mannequin Pussy across the street at The Englert Theatre. While the rappers were locked into their craft—“hit me with whatever Q,” Warren tells Branch without deliberation—the audience that should have stuck around to appreciate that high energy performance faded away. This is the way festivals go, like the music itself. People ebb and flow between the venues, but it certainly detracted from the incredible focus and passion Angry Blackmen were striving to cultivate at Gabe’s.
The duo saved one of their best songs, “HEADSHOTS!” until the end of the set, making it an intimately intense performance for the remaining fans. The chorus—“Fuck with me if you want to, bang bang that’s headshots // Stuntin like I’m supposed to, bang bang that’s headshots”—remained stuck in my head for days after the show. They concluded by reminding the crowd that “tomorrow isn’t promised,” urging everyone to make the most of today. This was a show that will certainly live long in my memory, I just wish more people had stuck around to celebrate it.
