Shaboozey Hits The Mark At Armory
Yeehaw and howdy to ya, time for a little country flavor in Minneapolis.
Seems like a resurgence of interesting fusion of genres lately in radio Top 40 flavors, Shaboozey rides that wave well. A mix of folk, country, and hip hop, his unique Americana blend really intrigued me, so knew I had to see him live in concert for the “Outlaws Never Die” tour. Luckily he was heading before Kashus Culpepper at the Armory. Excellent.
Kashus Culpepper was set for the opening act if the night before Shaboozey took the stage. Have heard a few of his songs via social media posts, so knew that we were in for a beautiful vocal performance. Releasing his debut album “Act I” in January of this year, packed with 18 tracks that I need to make sure I listen to. He is so easy to enjoy, even as a first timer new to his style and music.
The stage design was simple, like many supporting acts, but really worked. Love the giant cursive red letters spelling out ‘Kashus Culpepper’ behind the band, paying homage to old Hollywood Westerns. Clean and effective. The crowd was fairly full, plenty of slick cowboy hats nodding along in the audience to soothing guitar and emotive lyrics. Culpepper has a natural charisma about him, and the steam engine popularity ride seems to be set on solid tracks of legitimate talent versus fad and base virality. Seems like the internet hitched itself to a rising star with stores a-plenty of fuel. Fantastic performance.
Walked to the outdoor patio to catch a bit of the unseasonably warm evening weather. Seems like summer is staying plenty into October lately, might as well enjoy it. Not too long to do spend between sets, Shaboozey was set to start at 9:30pm. The crowd was pretty full, plenty of drinks lubricating conversations. I snagged a Summit Saga IPA tallboy to accompany my wait and people watching. More near cowboy boots and fashionable fits, even more Stedson-style hats peppering the venue floor as the minutes ticked down to start time.
The stage filling with smoke and ambient red light, band members already were on stage tuning their instruments for the show. Their bodies stood out against a giant screen. First just gradient colors, then as the first song intro started, morphed into depictions of western figures interacting and storytelling though movements. Shaboozey slowly walked out through the red light and fog to cheers from ample and happy fans. Fully fleshing out the “Outlaws Never Die” tour theme, there were really interesting cutouts of cacti and classic themed items to complete the look, my favorite being a giant wagon wheel. Of course with so many cowboy hats and boots in the audience, the folks on stage had to have some slick duds. Shaboozey was wearing a classic leather jacket and a monster smile. His mic had some killer accessories, brass knuckles as the handle and a shiny deputy star on the front. He is a tall guy, so being in the pit made him even more larger than life. Looking elated throughout his entire set, you could feel how much fun everyone was having on stage.
A few songs in, Shaboozey took a few squeaks from a bottle of Jack Daniels in-between stunningly serenading us. Seeing violins on stage typically is a sign I'll be hooked, one of my favorite instruments to hear live. Country is so wonderfully faceted, the band highlighted every satisfying motif extremely well. He saved his mega-supreme ultra hit for the last tune of the night, of course, but that makes complete sense. Love when artists highlight all their other amazing jams before giving the fair-weather folk their treat. Even though it is a crazy top 40 banger, it's earworm status is understandable and insanely valid.
Good Lord, he's a fun time.
