With Governors Ball less than two weeks away, it is time we study some setlists, right? Let’s see what we can expect here. And the first one is the set that came a cropper at Coachella, Outkast’s eagerly awaited return. And a quick look at the setlist and one thing becomes clear. Just how many hits did Outkast have any way? “B.O.B.”, “Ms Jackson”, “Hey Ya”, “So Fresh, So Clean” … and then what. I figure Stankonia is the album everybody knows best so why five songs off Aquemini near the top, with only “Rosa Parks” approaching a hit? There is a another long stretch off Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik and you feel like reminding them that this is a festival and not solely their fans.
The lack of hits left Outkast to dole out the hits like gruel in a Dickens orphanage. One at the top, one in the middle, one in the end. Which means that the problem isn’t this is a problem for fanatics, it is that they don’t have the catalog to keep the attention of the casual fan. Lucky for me, I’m a fanatic.
B.O.B. – It’s not the beat, it’s the chorus and it is the complete lack of politics with the once in a life time pay: “Don’t even bang unless you plan to hit something”… though come to think of it, it is the beat as well – A
Gasoline Dreams – The whiney winding vocal makes it – B
ATLiens – This is one of their greatest creations, the verses tempo is stop start and white but very black in manner; the rap is a spitter and the chorus is huge… everybody uses it – A
Skew It on the Bar-B – Nobody doing hip hop didn’t owe something to Wu Tang, here Raekwon joins em and he instantly sounds tougher than the band ever has before. It jumps like kangaroos – -.
Rosa Parks – ” h ha, hush that fuss,everybody move to the back of the bus” -best use of Rosa Parks name ever – A
Da Art of Storytellin’, Part 1 – fast sharp rapping – B
Aquemini – This is a draggy mess, I bet it is nearly exactly when people started walking out – C-
SpottieOttieDopaliscious – Spacey shit, who put this setlist together? I may check out Damon Abarn after “Rosa Parks” and return for “Ms. Jackson” . This is a slow fuse, nice horns, deadly on stage no doubt – C
Ms. Jackson – Their greatest moment, a full out apology though the “I am for real” and “never meant to make your daughter” is less sincere than the “forever ever?” – A+
Kryptonite (I’m on It) – Big Boi sure, but is that Killer Mike??? – B+
GhettoMusick – Off their the White Album, it sounds a little better today than it did then – B+
The Way You Move – Another Big Boi song off Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, not bad neo soul before it existed – B
She Lives in My Lap – Still on Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, but this is an Andre 3000 track, sexy but not great – B-
Prototype – Song # 5 -maybe I will wait for this lot before hitting the road to Damon for 15 minutes – C-
Hey Ya! – Aaaaah, good. This should wake us up – A
Hootie Hoo – From 1994., sounds like proto Atlanta rap to me – B+
Crumblin’ Erb – Still on their first album, a little dark for my taste – B
Player’s Ball – Pimps at a coming out party -better than you think – A-
Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik – The guitar is live, the horns are live, second best song off their first album – A-
Elevators (Me & You) – ALTiens is their second best album, this is haunting and they sound older – B+
Roses – Back on track with Outkast very strong using a great little r&b track – B+
So Fresh, So Clean – Great drum pattern that the band ride for four minutes straight – A
Int’l Player’s Anthem (I Choose You) – A huge song, really big anthem, good closer – B+
The Whole World _God, I hope Killer Mike joins em for this – A-
