REVIEW: Watsky @ House of Blues 10/12
By Jarrad Levy
Watsky is not a typical rapper. He’s not tough or bold or aggressive. He’s nice, approachable, and emotional. In fact, he does not even classify himself as a rapper, but instead as a slam poet. His music is about love and peace and insecurities, far from the subject matter found in majority of “radio rap.” I personally love this about Watsky. He produces rap music, but strays from the subject of drugs, crime, and casual misogyny, which is sadly all too common in modern rap music. However, ultimately I love Watsky because he makes damn good music. His lyrics are meaningful, his beats impactful, and his flow impeccable. With this being my first time seeing Watsky in concert, the question was “Does his skill and emotion carry over into his live show?” After all, having seen Logic live, his “syllability,” or flow, does not always resonate while live and having seen Kendrick Lamar live, his passion and emotion do not seem to punch you in the gut quite as hard as they do on his records. So, I did not fully expect Watsky to be able to do live what two other extremely talented and popular rappers could.
So was I right?
Nope. I was wrong. Dead wrong. Immediately when the show started, he ran out onto the stage screaming about how much he loves Boston. And yes, I know you are thinking that every artist says this about every town they play in, but Watsky went to school at Emerson College, his bandmates attended Berklee and Northeastern. He and his band bleed Boston.
He opened his set with his recent single and the tour’s titular song, “Welcome to the Family” as a way of telling his fans that everyone at the show is accepted, no matter who they are and where they are from. He then kept the energetic and excited emotions flowing with the crowd-pleasing “Moral of the Story” and politically charged “Pink Lemonade.” In the latter of the two, Watsky replaced a few words of the song to specifically target President Donald Trump in a verbal evisceration which resulted in one of the night’s most passionate cheers.
Watsky then continued through his setlist with excitement and vigor until reaching a song he promised was unreleased and would be featured on his upcoming winter album, “Feels Alright.” The song itself is a new sound for Watsky, with roaring guitar and little rapping. During the song he led the crowd to join him in a “primal scream,” where each member of the audience was to take all of their anxieties and frustrations out in their loudest scream possible–and then do it three more times, each increasing in volume. During the song, he really shattered the separation between him and the crowd by jumping into it and singing as he was passed overhead leading the crowd in the “primal scream.”
After the energetic explosion of “Feels Alright,” Watsky brought the mood down a bit by playing a string of mellow and emotional songs, beginning with a remix of his most popular song, “Sloppy Seconds.” This was a definite surprise, as typically the song is one of his most energetic. He continued his mellow set until the final song of his main set, “Woah Woah Woah.” The song immediately revived the crowd into a frenzy. In the song, Watsky has several verses that demonstrate a talent for rapping that rivals some of the best. This was it. Can he do it live? Oh yes he can. He could do it and then some. During one of the verses he went so fast that he accidentally outpaced the music playing behind him. It was impressive to say the least. At the end of the song, he separated the crowd into a right and left side, having one half sing the hook to the song, while the other half recited the hook to his song, “Bet Against Me.” As the two sides of the crowd battled to be louder, Watsky took charge and led the entire crowd to begin singing “Bet Against Me” along with him, once again jumping into the crowd.
When he finished the song and went off stage, he could not have been gone for more than two minutes before returning for his encore set to play the trilogy of “Tiny Glowing Screens” parts one, two, and three. Although these songs are excellent and some of Watsky’s best lyrically, this part of the set felt less like an encore than when he played “Woah Woah Woah” and “Bet Against Me.” If I were him, I would have ended my main set with the trilogy and return to play the other two.
Ultimately, this was not a massive issue, as the concert was spectacular. He was able to move the crowd through a wide variety of emotions throughout the night, let it be excitement, rage, sorrow, or complete joy. The passion that Watsky was able to portray at the House of Blues was so powerful that it really did make the crowd “welcomed to the family.” He announced at the end of the show that he would be touring again this winter with his new album, and after how much fun I had at this show, I know I’ll be catching him this winter as well.