LETTING FLY: Alias at the anniversary. |
Sure, Ray LaMontagne is huge and the Rustic Overtones saw their national time, but there is something to be said for a record label co-founded by Mainers that is more than a decade old and can still sell out the Knitting Factory in New York City.
Anticon's 10th-anniversary lineup featured Alias (of Hollis), Sole (of Portland), and non-Maine artists Buck 65, Themselves, Jel, Yoni Wolf of Why, Odd Nosdam, and Pedestrian, who has been rumored to have spent some time living in someone's closet in Portland.
The crowd was packed like sardines and quietly content. Pedestrian's entire 20 minutes was spent preaching sermon-style over a scarce beat. Alias did a rap set. Sole played a mix of new and classics. Yoni played Why songs with just a Rhodes organ (a highlight of the evening as the crowd sang along). Buck 65 broke out the classic tune "The Centaur." Jel became a new personal favorite. Dose and Yoni united for some Cloudead material. The finale had nearly everyone on stage for a mini freestyle session.
As Sole recapped it on his online forum (soleone.org), "Straight up, in all humility, this show was legendary. Not to mention the fact, that I used to be afraid to go to NY for fear of being killed. Here it is ten years later and we sell out the Knitting Factory, that's a coup, a special event."
