Rae Sremmurd @ House of Blues

Rae Sremmurd
October 17th, 2016 at House of Blues Boston

By: Kyle Rossini and Jacob Dennis

On Monday, October 17, Rae Sremmurd made their stop in Boston on the Sremmlife II Tour. This concert was not for the faint of heart, which my friends and I learned early on from a fight that occurred only five feet away from us while we waited in line for the doors of the Boston House of Blues to open.

Upon entering the venue, there was a typical hip hop concert vibe, denoted by excitement and minor hostility as everyone rushed in to get the best spot and eyed each other with a suspicion of losing their place.

The crowd was immediately flipped on its head when the first opener started. Rapper Impxct came flying out onto the stage backed by a thunderous bass and got everyone jumping right from the beginning. I had never heard of Impxct before the show, but I can safely consider myself a fan now. The next two opening acts, Bobo Swae and Earz, maintained the energy level with their energetic songs and crowd command.

Next up was Lil Yachty, who left something to be desired. “Lil Boat,” as he is often called, ran through his songs with his much-needed hype-men by his side before ending the set with his hits “Minnesota”, “Broccoli”, and “One Night”. Overall, Lil Yachty did the bare minimum for his set, but nevertheless, he was was still energetic and fun, bringing a form of entertainment that is all his own, marked by his eccentric look and colorful vocals.

After about an hour and a half, Rae Sremmurd finally took the stage. The first two songs seemed to miss the mark in terms of riling up the crowd, with the fans seeming to have been worn out by the openers. However, when Rae Sremmurd performed their classic, “No Flex Zone,” the entire venue was ready to party. From that point on, they were in complete control of the crowd, as well as freely interacting with it; both Slim Jimmy and Swae Lee, the members of Rae Sremmurd, took phones from people in the crowd and filmed themselves performing multiple times. At one point, Swae Lee brought a pineapple onto the stage, broke it, drank the juice, and threw the remains into the stands. They performed jams such as “Throw Some Mo”, “No Type”, and “Up Like Trump” (where they had an image of Donald Trump with devil horns on the screen behind them) that had everyone jumping around and screaming like crazy, closing their set with the hit “Black Beatles” off of their new album StremmLife 2.

The vibe of the venue was unlike any I have ever witnessed. Nearly all the performers ensured that everyone in the House of Blues, from the floor, to the mezzanine, to the balcony, was on their feet and jumping around. Whenever fans became fatigued or disinterested, all eyes were turned back to the stage by the energy exuded from the performers.

This concert was fantastic, lit beyond belief. From the first song by the opening act Impxct all the way to the end of Rae Sremmurd’s set, the beats were hot, the performers were hyped, and the crowd was feeling it the whole time. When it was all said and done, Rae Sremmurd and their gang left Boston marveling at the power of loud bass, trap lyrics, and broken pineapples.