There are very few music shows or venues that can bring artists and those that admire them together like a small, compact setting where the artists and fans can rage together — face to face. The artists can easily hop into the crowd and mosh with them, getting the fans absolutely rowdy.
Last Wednesday, Live Undiscovered Music (LUM) and Strange Oasis Entertainment teamed up to bring a great line-up of artists to The Frequency.
It was a fantastic show from start to finish, with all of the acts bringing their own unique flavor, flowing together to create a hype night of performances. Bravo headlined the night, along with another current University of Wisconsin student Willie Mac. Wisco Keys, Genesis Renji and Shon Mill rounded out the lineup — all of them performing sets that lasted around a half an hour.
Willie Mac opened the show, immediately bringing the crowd to their feet. It was clear from the start by just watching him that he was an experienced performer, dancing across the stage. His DJ was on point all night, amping the crowd at the right times with the calls to get loud and dance.
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Willie played one of his unreleased tracks, giving a good sneak preview of what is to come with his upcoming debut EP. A lot of his music had that Cali feel, living the happy life, smoking a little bud and hanging out in the sun. With the recent warm weather, it seemed fitting that he opened up the show. He previewed a lot and definitely got the night off to the right start.
Genesis Renji came on, more than ready to follow what was a hype opening. He did his thing, coming all the way from Milwaukee to perform. He brought a harder flow, speaking of growing up in Milwaukee and the struggles it came with. It transitioned very well, and the crowd responded positively to his slot.
One of the highlights was a “Mask Off” remix he decided to rip, going crazy over the Future banger. The next artist to come on was Keyz, a quick hairpin turn into a different area of hip-hop.
His beats went crazy, blaring bass throughout the entire venue as he and his boys whipped the front of the crowd into a frenzy. He had two of his boys on stage with him, and they did their part to start the crowd into a dance circle formed around the most hype person in the crowd.
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Shon Mill was the fourth artist on the card, bringing the crowd back to more relaxed beats and into a zone rather than a mob. It was the segue that the crowd needed before the main attraction came out, Bravo.
While the venue was mostly full before Bravo came out, people were sardined to the front by the time the opening notes of his set came popping out of the speakers. I knew many of the people in the crowd at this point, people I had met freshman year, and people who had known Bravo for as long — if not longer.
They were in it — heart and soul, watching their old friend have the time of his life on stage. From the moment he came in from a door in the back with a spotlight on him, picking his way through the crowd like a salmon going up a ladder. The crowd was hanging onto his every word, shouting each lyric back at him even harder than he was throwing it at them.
Brennan Haelig, the founder of SOE, brought a huge moment during the show when he announced Bravo would be signing on to work with their team, joining other rising stars in the Midwest, DJay Mando and Lucien Parker. This is sure to be a pairing that will bring new fantastic tracks from Bravo and collabs between them.
It didn’t matter that it wasn’t long ago Bravo released that EP — the crowd had every word of it down, getting more pumped up with every track. — it was a fantastic show for him. Although he is not continuing his studies at Madison, he will be remaining in the area. That means there are more of these to come, an event that any student should put on their calendar.
The show at the Frequency last Wednesday was great. All of the artists came through and did their thing, giving anyone in attendance a great midweek turn up. This is the second show that LUM x SOE put on this semester, and as LUM begins to take off nationwide with plans to release their beta platform this summer — more shows are sure to be in the offing.
Big things are coming to the music scene in Madison, make sure that you get out to the next show to be a part of it.
