Noname performed alongside her backup band consisting of the keys, bass, drums, guitar, and two backup vocalists. The lights for the show were simple, consisting of two contrasting colors at a time. They worked very well with each individual song, creating a unique ambiance to each.

Being a hip hop influenced show, it was an interesting venue to see this type of performance since the theater is strictly seating. However, Noname had no problem working with the venue and crowd with her laid back approach to art.

The audience was filled with a diverse range of personalities, but all seemed to be very hipster and into the show. Most of the people there seemed to be a college student and more on the artsy, theatric persona.

Noname was lounging in a sweater and some sweatpants, adding more to the cozy vibe of the show. You can tell she was a little under the weather for the show, as she seemed a little low on energy and had to pause throughout the performance for cough breaks. Regardless, it didn’t prevent her from giving her heart and soul to the crowd.

Noname has a very unique style to her. I’d say her music is at the intersection of smooth jazz, hip hop, and soul. The expression in which she rhymes is very poetic and jumpy, sounding as if she was reading her lines out of a notebook.

She constantly had her hands moving with her flow, adding more to her expressive character. She was very interactive with the crowd on a collective and individual level, constantly getting us involved with clapping and cracking jokes throughout the show.

She has a contagious positive energy to her, constantly filling the theater with warm love. Every time she laughed you can feel it reverberate through the audience and heighten the mood of the crowd. She even called us cuties on multiple occasions, expressing her genuine appreciation for everyone who came out to perform. It was as if she and each individual fan were having a vent sesh on their own personal time.

The crowd was bobbing back and forth to the smooth set, trailing her lyrics with their faint input. The show was a bit on the short side, which I was a little thrown off by. As Noname and company left the stage, the buzzing was still so real from the delighted audience, chanting encore insistently but politely. After a minute or so of that, Noname showed up solo and ended the show with some accapella poetic beauty. It was a very intimate way to end the show, as she warmed the crowd with her genuine and authentic vibe through some heart-warming rhymes.

The Tiny Desk Concert post below is a good representation of this beautiful soul’s general character, and is where I got hooked to her art.

The post Concert Review: Noname at The Englert Theatre appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Who: Noname
Where: The Englert Theater
When: November 18 @ 8:00 pm
Price: $22 – $25 per ticket; General Admission
Genre: Hip-hop, poetry, Spoken Word

If I had to sum up the work of rising Chicago hip-hop star Noname in one word, that word would be “bittersweet.” Case in point: her stellar 2016 debut mixtape, Telefone.

Written after the deaths of her grandmother and mentor, poet Brother Mike, “Telefone” is a portrait of immense grief but it is also a showcase for Noname’s vibrant lyrical imagination. Filled with small details, character sketches and vignettes, each track on the record feels like a world unto itself.

Consider the child caught sneaking a $20 bill from his mom’s purse in “Diddy Bop,” the crowded coffee shop in “Reality Check,” or the “casanova with a catalog of dinner dates” in “All I Need.” These moments show off Noname’s eye for key details, with the effect of creating vividly real, tangible, and fleshed-out scenes for listeners to step into. Noname’s Chicago is nothing if not complicated, a city of carefree summers spent “eating ice cream on the front porch” but also of “badges and pistols rejoicing in the night” as well.

On display, too, is Noname’s ability to ground her personal experience in the larger world around her. In verse after verse, she ties her own anguish to the present political moment and to the broader history of the black experience in the United States.

One standout moment is the verse “Reality Check” where she imagines her grandmother’s ghost appearing to provide some blunt perspective on the anxiety and uncertainty that Noname endures as a young artist: “You know they whipped us n***** / Why you afraid to rap?” Incisive, plainspoken moments like these infuse the record. Noname’s prescient political and historical insight from the heartrending emotional core of her work.

Noname’s poignant verses are backed up by a lush, mellow production from Chicago peers Saba and Cam O’Bi. The pair is known for their work with Chance the Rapper. Like “Acid Rap” and “Coloring Book,” “Telefone’s” sound is steeped in IDM and Motown influences alike. Here, warm synths and skittering beats combine with jazz piano and sampled barbershop vocals to create a mood that manages to be nostalgic without ever feeling dated or derivative.

Her live band, which includes producer Phoelix on bass and vocalist/composer Akenya Seymour on the keyboard, tends to more strongly capture the soul and jazz elements of her sound. Shimmering Rhodes piano, call and response vocals, and ultra-clean electric guitar are all prominent. Their recent appearance on NPR Tiny Desk Concert, featuring a medley of “Reality Check”, “Casket Pretty”, and “Bye Bye Baby”, highlights the live band’s subtly improvisational interplay: you can watch it here.

Noname’s Englert performance will be her second in Iowa City following an appearance at the IMU Ballroom in support of the Black History Month Talent Show last February. Arima Ederra, a Los Angeles-based alternative singer-songwriter, will be the opening act.

Performance Preview is a new column spotlighting the best and most notable acts coming soon to Iowa City.

The post Performance Preview: Noname @ Englert Theater, November 18 appeared first on KRUI Radio.