Bay Area swag breaks at Cervante’s

UNDERGROUND AND LOCAL ACTS SHINE

Denver’s rap underground came together on a sleet-ridden Feb.1 to highlight up-and-coming talent. While the roads froze over outside, true Sage the Gemini fans couldn’t be dissuaded from showing up to throw down at Cervante’s Masterpiece Ballroom.

The opening acts riled the crowd while the liquor flowed from the bar, creating a vamped atmosphere for the concert-goers. The concert was intimate and untamable, making it the ideal hump-day treat.

For the beginning of the night, local acts took the stage to spit rhymes and left concert goers weak in the knees. One specific act that captivated the hearts of the attendees was Afrogriz. Made up of three middle-aged men, Afrogriz’s showed they had quite the following. Diehards chanted “Af-ro-griz” as the group went on. The lead singer donned an all-white suit and NASA-inspired space helmet with teddy bear ears fixed to the top. Rhythmically astute, their energy was a rap meets death metal vibe. The song “No Vacancy” was a big hit with the audience.

Along with local acts, fresh-faced touring artists tagging with Sage aroused the crowd to a point of no return. SOB RBE, made up of four young men, rapped as a quartet group. Their visual fashion choices matched with their sonic sexualized bars, and earned visible street credit with their audience. SOB RBE was solidified in the listeners’ minds as being anything but children. Other acts like Derek Pope, brought a recognizable Bay Area sound to Denver.

Derek Pope, outfitted in all black with metallic silver high-tops, brought a soulful voice to the rap show. He exuded a younger, more sultry version of G-Eazy—also a Bay Area veteran. Pope’s DJ provided backbeats that were summed up as lighthearted and fun vibrations that also provided a serious groove to Pope’s verses. The house lights beamed blue and purple and pulsated red over Pope’s silhouette, making the set aesthetically pleasing.

As Pope’s set finished, Sage the Gemini’s DJ spun a mix of old-school rap tracks including “Nuthin But a G Thang” by Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre along with “Juicy” by Notorious B.I.G., which evoked a hypnotic hip shake that oscillated each attended, priming them for the main attraction.

Sage the Gemini performed several of his hits off the album Remember Me including “Red Nose” and “Gas Pedal.” The audience cried every word at the top of their lungs, and girls screamed as Sage the Gemini grabbed their hands during his sensual rendition of “Gas Pedal.” Gemini provided an engaged, and ebullient show for his fans and jumped around the stage as he sang the crowd favorite “Now and Later,” filled with double entendres about hookups and candy.

The show was attended by roughly 75 people, all of whom validated extremely participatory acts for each performance, making it an intimate concert. The crowd sang every word and clapped for every local act. As the local acts were generally under the age of 21, this showed immense courage and showmanship to deliver the performances they did.

It was an exciting concert, and the true fans yearn for what Sage the Gemini will release next.