Concert Review: The Coup’s “Not Your Soldiers” Tour Stop In Reno

Posted by Myrna the Minx on July 2, 2006 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

I had to wait a day to absorb the strange, but wonderful Coup show Friday night at Club Underground. First, let me say that Club Underground is not the seedy nightspot I suspected it was. Its actually modeled after a barn inside of all things, and there is lots of space for those who want to sit, stand, or dance. Unfortunately, I think it was the wrong venue for The Coup. Club Underground normally features metal and punkish bands so a progressive, genre crossing band like The Coup just isn’t going to get the walk-up that it might at a place like The Greenroon.

The Coup’s Not Your Soldier tour also didn’t benefit from promotion among local activists groups like it did in other cities. If I’m correct, their partnership with this group was never mentioned in the RGJ articles on the upcoming show, and it certainly wasn’t mentioned on the promotional information distributed by LateNiteProductions.com (website is not accessible at the moment). Too bad, because I think its a cause The Coup really care about and would have drawn some more people to the show. These shortcomings, combined to Reno’s lack of musical diversity in general, resulted in a sparsely attended show, which is a terrible shame because it narrows Reno’s chances of drawing groups like The Coup in the future.

The show was also not helped out by the local opening act, O.C.T. out of South Lake Tahoe, who seem to have modeled themselves after every rap stereotype I can think of–baggy ass pants worn halfway down their asses, black baseball caps worn slightly sideways, and lots of frantic b-boy gesturing. I’m not sure anyone’s told them the nineties are over. I do have to say that O.C.T. was very well rehearsed, after they finally got over their technical difficulties that is. One day, maybe the boys of O.C.T. well get over their ideas of what rappers are supposed to look and act like, and become themselves. Iselyfe, a popular spoken word artist from the Bay Area, was the second opening act and thankfully kept things short since the show was running over an hour late.

For those who attended, I think The Coup lived up to our expectations even if the show was a little short. The lateness of the hour was undoubtably the reason for no encores. Boots Riley brought a full band (bass, guitar, and drums) which reflects “Pick A Bigger Weapon’s” multidimensional approach and helped compensate for the missing DJ Pam Funkstress who normally contributes the free-wheeling beats and samples that make The Coup, The Coup. Eric McFadden played on “Pick A Bigger Weapon” and you can hear that in the live show–even though McFadden didn’t make this Reno date.

Although The Coup is known for its controversial marxist lyrics, the beauty of The Coup is that they can deliver their fire power and mix it up with humor and sex and a portrait of everyday living for a more complete approach to social change. The liquid of Riley’s stage movements brought the sensuality of the songs out even more and his facial expressions clued the audience in on the more humorous moments. Silk-E was a show-stopper. Her dancing and vocal performances throughout the show upped the anti in general, and I watched one male audience member appear up front and fall completely in love with Silk-E during her sultry performance of “BabyLet’sHaveABabyBeforeBushDoSomethin’Crazy” before he receded back into the crowd. The humor and sensuality of The Coup’s lyrics may seem to mitigate the at times confrontational approach to make the songs seem more tame than people expect, but they aren’t. The Coup doesn’t need all that gangster rapper braggadacio to get their message across–its in the words and the spirit of the music. Much like Sly and The Family Stone, the message and the music combine to form a people’s approach to revolution–and what could be more revolutionary?

After the show Riley mingled with the crowd to meet his fans, sign autographs, etc. The minx shamelessly jumped on the chance to find out about the Joe Strummer shirt Riley was wearing in one his publicity photos. Riley reported that Joe Strummer gave it to Bill Graham as a gift, and Graham gave it to Riley. Damn. The minx couldn’t be more jealous and at the same time feel like the right person is helping to carry on Joe Strummer’s legacy.