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Words by Robyn Rubinstein
Atmosphere Crowd :: Vegoose 2005
By Josh Miller |
I grew up on the East Coast and currently reside on the West, but the college years in Chicago gave me a deep appreciation for the frank honesty of the Midwest. Atmosphere hails from Minneapolis, MN and delivers a genuine mix of indie, hip-hop, and punk rock. Slug (Sean Daley) and Ant (Anthony Davis) are known for their raw lyricism and powerfully stoic beats. I think this is where rap meets Mike Watt; then they get together and jam econo. The Clubs Tent was completely packed (to the great concern of the Las Vegas Police Department, who threatened to shut the festival down if crowd controls weren't implemented), and the eager anticipation was palpable. Joined by a keyboardist, drummer, and DJ, Slug and Ant were starkly compelling, stripped down to the emotional base. The delivery was bigger than spitting. Rhymes were erupting like scalding fervid lava, and it was consuming the Clubs Tent. The volume was deafening, and I knew I should step back from the front of the stage and away from the speaker, but it was analogous to a grisly car accident that you should look away from but you just can't. My head was pounding and I struggled to discern each lyric through the ringing in my ears, but the actual words mattered little at that point. This was hip-hop punk poetry, and it was loud, angry, passionate art. That day Atmosphere sounded "bigger than guns, bigger than cigarettes."
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