Wrapping around the corner of First Avenue North and Second Street North were hundreds of fans, eagerly awaiting the sold out Run The Jewels show. Jannus Live was the 11th stop on the North American leg of their Run The World tour and fans were certain not to miss it.
The show featured hip-hop producer and DJ The Gaslamp Killer, who opened for the group. Sporting long, curly hair and a beard to match, the DJ remixed popular songs, such as “A Milli” by Lil Wayne, as well as performing his own psychedelic instrumentals while he ad-libbed about his distaste for Donald Trump.
The feeling of protest ran through the crowd throughout the rest of The Gaslamp Killer’s set and into the 75 minute performance from RTJ.
With the well-known fist logo lit behind them, MCs Killer Mike and El-P took the stage. The crowd exploded.
On Christmas Day, the group released their third studio album “Run The Jewels 3” and the album has reached number one on the Billboard’s top U.S. R&B/Hip Hop albums after being on the charts for four weeks.
Killer Mike and El-P seemed lighthearted throughout the night, often high-fiving each other, dancing around the stage and bear-hugging one another. A smile never left their faces and it was obvious they wanted everyone there to feel the same way.
Towards the middle of the set, El-P noticed a girl in the front of the crowd that seemed bored or depressed and happily invited her and her friend to watch side-stage. Interactions like these along with the playful nature of the two created a friendly environment where it felt as though you were bonding with everyone around you, whether you knew them or not.
El-P also commented on how it might have been a weird week, year or couple days but that everybody deserved to have a good time that night. The duo never directly commented on politics, but they did dedicate a song to the St. Petersburg Women’s March.
Plenty of people danced as the duo went back and forth performing songs from all three albums like “Hey Kids (Bumaye),” “Kill Your Masters,” “Early,” “Run the Jewels,” “Down,” “Legend Has It,” and “Lie Cheat Steal.”
The best songs throughout the night had to be the most popular songs off the three albums including “Lie Cheat Steal,” “Oh My Darling Don’t Cry” and “Blockbuster Night Part 1.” Each time the beat dropped on any of these songs it was guaranteed the crowd’s energy would ignite in a fever of passion and excitement for the group.
When the set ended and Run The Jewels walked off stage the crowd demanded an encore. Two whole minutes of chanting brought the duo back onstage with an electrifying performance of “Close Your Eyes and Count to F—”. The crowd was alive, and the entire venue turned into a moshpit for the entire song.
Afterwards, Killer Mike jumped off the stage to break up a fight that had started during the song, yelling into the mic for the two to make amends and apologize, ending the night on a positive note. The actions of Killer Mike really emphasized the group’s focus on togetherness and camaraderie in the face of strong political divisions and protests.
The show was terrific and Run The Jewels truly knows how to put on a good show and how to interact with the crowd to pull them into the moment. It was worth every penny and it’s exciting to see two older artists who thrived in the underground finally break into the mainstream as, Complex said, “the sound of the resistance.”
