The groove that Gramatik lays down is his defining characteristic. Funk, jazz, blues, and soul are all ingredients in his recipe of a bass-heavy blend of hip-hop and electronic beats. And on a Saturday night a week back at San Francisco’s legendary Fillmore, the groove was business as usual for Gramatik who played to a sold-out crowd of ravers and hip-hoppers alike.
The show opened with the support of EXMAG, a four piece electronic/live instrument hybrid that uses Gramatik’s guitar player, that have been dropping some seriously funky stuff on Gramatik’s new record label Lowtemp. Their set was downtempo and groovy with a hint of heaviness, the perfect appetizer for the crowd to start moving. They were joined on stage by Lowtemp’s resident MC and artist, Gibbz, who brought a fun R&B type atmosphere with some serious energy, enthusiasm, and Michael Jackson-esque dance moves. By the time their set had finished the floor was nearly full and the crowd was ready for the second course.
heRobust took the stage and slathered in his mix of originals and trending tunes to fill out some heavy trap, dubstep, and bass time. His new single “She Know She Bad,” absolutely ripped the roof off along with a great setlist of both bangers and unknowns on the trill side of things.
https://soundcloud.com/nickraymondg/herobust-sheknowshebad-trap
Once the audience had been sufficiently buttered up by both the funky side of electronic and the step-y side, the main course was served. Gramatik took the stage and held up a one-finger salute to his fans as the crowd’s loud anticipatory roar settles to an anxious whisper. In a moment of silence, he grabbed the mic for the last thing the crowd needs to hear before they dance the night away, “San Francisco let’s do this.” The bass hit and the crowd starts to bob and jump. He played through his slightly mellower catalog of earlier work such as “So Much for Love,” and most of his stuff Street Bangers and Beats and Pieces tracks for the first hour or so before getting heavier with his stuff from #digitalfreedom and recently like “Talkbox Intended” and “23 flavors.” Gibbz also came on stage and joined Gramatik for EXMAG’s track “Tilt Mode” that once again got the crowd involved in his wild jerking and dance moves.
All in all, the show was a total success for lovers of Gramatik old and new, and I can’t wait to see what the next big thing to come out of Lowtemp is.
Be sure to check out Gramatik on the rest of his Age of Reason tour with the dates here.
