REVIEW: Oliver Tree, Abhi the Nomad @ Great Scott, 2/28
By Aathil Chaturvedi
Crammed in the back of a sweaty bar in Allston is far from the ideal way to spend your Thursday night, but Abhi the Nomad and Oliver Tree’s performance at the Great Scott was far from a disappointment.
After seeing Abhi the Nomad’s sold out show at the Middle East in Cambridge this past October, I was curious to see how he would fare as an opening act. The Tommy Boy Music rapper nervously walked onto the stage and promptly thanked the audience for arriving early to watch him perform (apparently few did this for his openers during his headlining tour). He addressed the elephant in the room within his first few words, proudly claiming his status as an Indian rapper. The audience took kindly to this, and soon after Abhi began performing they were bobbing along to his groovy melodies and smooth production.
Soon Abhi was comfortable, cracking jokes in between songs and making playful cultural jabs at the predominantly white audience. His 25 minute performance was full of infectious energy that visibly won over the crowd. Abhi even performed an unreleased track and people were singing along to the hook in no time.
Between the two sets the crowd gradually filled up to the point of max capacity. Mid 2000s rock hits blasted throughout the bar as the crowd danced along and sang every word. For a half hour one could have easily forgot they were at a concert and felt as if they had stepped into a 2006 time capsule. Oliver Tree attracted a diverse audience ranging from artsy teenage girls to bikers in their 30s.
Oliver Tree put on an unforgettable performance full of theatrical gestations and countless wardrobe changes. He first entered the stage wearing humungous bellbottom jeans and a Patagonia quarter zip leaving the crowd wondering how he wasn’t sweating to death. The first few tracks he performed included a great deal of pelvic thrusts and odd old school dance moves. He then unzipped his fly, turned his back to the audience, and, in one swift motion, ripped off his pants and put on a fedora. From then on, the dance moves got even wilder as did his the wardrobe changes, which included ski masks, hazard vests, and full body dixie cup sweat suits. The audience could not get enough of him. One woman even got up on stage and started dancing with him, but Oliver pushed her back into the crowd. By the end of his set, Oliver Tree simply set down the microphone and raised his arms and the crowd went crazy, cheering at the top of their lungs and reaching for him like their lives depended on it. Like most successful oddball artists today, Oliver Tree has a clear cult following, and they were present at the Great Scott.
Oliver Tree’s music cannot be categorized; he blends elements of rock, indie-pop, electronic, and hip-hop, but despite how one may feel about his developing musical style one thing is for sure: the man knows how to perform. With Abhi the Nomad’s eccentric grooves serving as an apt introduction, Oliver Tree’s “Ugly is Beautiful” tour is a worthwhile experience for those looking to observe the up-and-coming genre-bending style that is becoming more common in the modern music landscape.