130 – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – Saturday, June 1, 2013 – Penn’s Landing / Festival Pier – Philadelphia, PA

Macklemore changed the way I look at rap.  I had always thought that rap’s intense focus on language would make it a perfect genre for me, and I had heard flashes of brilliance before: “Jesus Walks,” “The Prayer,” “Lose Yourself,” etc.  All too often, though, I found myself bogged down by overused curses, minority-bashing slurs, and topics I could not quite relate to.  (Hard as it may be to believe, I do not regularly encounter blood-crip drive-bys on my way to work.  I’d admit to having at least 99 problems, but a habitual need to trash women is not one of them.)   

Macklemore changed all that by offering songs of conscience (“Wings,” “Other Side”), songs of compassion (“Same Love,” “Starting Over”), and songs that made me start dancing...and not feel gross at the end (“Thrift Shop,” “B Boy”).  His attention to detail in the lyrics and Ryan Lewis’ attention to detail in the videos enhanced the style and substance of each song.  As with Bruce Springsteen, the songs felt not just exciting, but urgent – these were about real people and real issues.  Three tracks on his first album, “I Said Hey,” “Contradiction,” and “White Privilege” even address all of my prior rap issues!  (I.E. Overused curses, minority-bashing slurs, and socioeconomic rifts.)  If you’ve only heard The Heist, I strongly recommend these off Language of My World.

One thing I would not recommend is going to a show in THOUSAND DEGREE HEAT.  The temperature at the venue, the fact that I had to walk three miles down this godforsaken pier to get there, and the fact that the acoustics were not very good when I got there did not make this the best Macklemore show. 

Despite these challenges, Macklemore (AKA Ben Haggerty) did everything he possibly could to pump the crowd up.  He bounced up and down on the stage, crowd surfed off the stage, enunciated every syllable to make up for the acoustics, checked section by section how ready the crowd was for “Can’t Hold Us,” and covered his hot Sean Kemp jersey with an even hotter fur coat! 

He also had enough memorable lines to make Dave Grohl jealous: “Wow, we’re excited to be here.  Just flew in directly from Egypt!  [Shocked applause]  Nah, we just came from Seattle.  Philadelphia, welcome to my Heist…This is the biggest civil rights issue of our generation.  Finally we're starting to have a conversation.  No one can choose who they love, but we can all choose to accept the love everyone’s given… Nothing better than seeing thousands of people come out in 90-degree weather with this humidity…Your boy just got heat stroke!...[As an intro to ‘White Walls’]: Philly, we like you so much that after the show, we’re inviting you to our 1990 Cadillac Deville.  It’s got full A/C, loads of Capri Sun, and a TAPE DECK.” 

Quotes like those make me count the days till I can hear him, as a headliner, at the 9:30 Club.  Even if I only have twenty dollars in my pocket, I’ll be there.

Grade: B+