Yelawolf w/ Bubba Sparxxx, Jelly Roll, Struggle Jennings, and Doobie Bvndit
Showbox, Seattle, WA
11.12.16
Alabama rapper Yelawolf has gone from lauded underground outsider to selling out classic venues nationwide. For his current “Trial By Fire” tour he stopped by the Showbox in Seattle for a sold out night featuring a heavy lineup of country-tinged hip hop.
First up for the lineup was Ohio rapper Doobie Bvndit, who has a single out, “Day One,” with fellow lineup member Jelly Roll. The young gun lit up a joint and kept it chill on this first tour of his, making sure to capture the requisite crowd selfie before leaving the stage.
Short changeovers were the routine for the night, and Doobie was followed by Struggle Jennings. The Mississippi rapper released his Yelawolf-produced EP, Return of the Outlaw, the day before the show and was in a jovial mood. Struggle’s banter went from motivational to referencing the music video he somehow managed to shoot in jail. His matching snakeskin boots and belt with black tank perfectly dressed up his outlaw country-rap sound.
Next up was Jelly Roll. The Tennessee rapper welcomed the crowd to the “we don’t give a fuck” club. He brought along a live drummer and guitar player who added extra oomph to his hick-hop set. Then he noticed a young girl in the all-ages crowd wearing his “Train Tracks” t-shirt and pulled her up on stage. The track also features Jennings, who joined him on stage as they sang and let the young girl admire the crowd from her new vantage point before giving a shout out to her dad for bringing her along.
This all led up to Bubba Sparxxx, and the crowd was plenty rowdy by then. The set began with a “Bubba madness” chant. The redneck rapper has taken multiple turns since his 2001 debut, going from drawling country to his latest single “Ghost” from the Yelawolf-produced 2016 The Bubba Mathis EP.
As it was throughout the night, the stage remained low-maintenance for headliner Yelawolf’s set. A piano dressed with skulls, a guitar player, a DJ. Yelawolf is an amalgam of genres impossible to peg. There is rock and rap, with significant country flair. There’s southern drawl with city slickness and Detroit soul. By the second track, Yelawolf was taking his shirt off and leaning over the barricade singing into the crowd.
The artist, who has worked with a plethora of others – from Eminem to Travis Barker – bore clear storytelling abilities and passion throughout his delivery. And the fans ate it up. The floor of the Showbox shook, lyrics were yelled right back to the stage, arms waved back and forth. One guy with crutches, in the middle of the mosh pit, waved them in the air, safety be damned.
Yelawolf’s raps go from shockingly fast, think Twista with a drawl to the slower, deep-rooted, “Devil in My Veins.” There was a long dedication to his recently-passed friend Shawty Fatt, and a killer delivery of hit, “Pop the Trunk” off his acclaimed Trunk Muzik mixtape. Sure, a handful of fans were kicked out early for drunken debauchery, but everyone else received a show well worth the sweaty mess.
Review by Stephanie Dore
Photos by Alex Crick
Yelawolf
Bubba Sparxxx
Jelly Roll
