Cage @ The Urban Lounge

Cage
July 11, 2009
The Urban Lounge
with Yak Ballz, Blue Collar Theory
Photos by Conor Dow

I’ve always been picky with hip hop. Testosterone-fueled lyrics boasting about how awesome someone is will usually disinterest me right away. I am, however, always drawn to creative lyrics, humor, and honesty from hip hop artists. Despite my unfamiliarity with much of his material, Cage has always intrigued me due to his traumatic life experiences, D.I.Y. attitude and generally anti-hip hop approach to things. When I saw he was coming to town, I knew it was a show I didn’t want to miss. Cage was performing at Urban Lounge, a venue I am all too familiar with—I’ve seen many of my favorite artists here, and have grown to really enjoy the place despite a lot of interesting situations that have occurred during my attendance. This night was no exception.

As I was ordering my first drink during the first performance by a local group of dudes called Blue Collar Theory, one of the bouncers approached me with a California driver’s license in hand. Now, I’ve already had some pre-game drinks before even setting foot into the show, so I’m in that comfortably buzzed state of enjoying the surroundings while remaining aloof to the many possible distractions. He caught me by surprise and asked me if the license he had in his possession was mine. The photo was of a man who had a surfer mullet, and was easily 50 pounds heavier than I am. In fact the photo looked more like the very bouncer talking to me than it did me, and I genuinely thought he was fucking with me. I told him it was not mine, to which he started vibing me and demanded to see my own driver’s license. This was confusing since I was already in the bar yet this not-very-nice fellow was harassing me over a photo that didn’t even resemble me. After some discussion with him that resembled banging my head against a wall, I finally coughed up my license for him to see how wrong he was.

Figuring that this was the kind of weird shit that was in store for me tonight, I ordered a second drink right away.

Coming straight from the colon our wholesome, strip malls and green jell-o culture, Blue Collar Theory was surprisingly decent. They had a really infectious chemistry on stage, and the crowd was really enjoying them. It was pretty apparent that they have their own little following here, and I can see why. We caught only the tail end of their set, but I’m glad I was able to see some of it. Local Utah music once again surprises me.
Up next was Yak Ballz. Yes, that’s right Yak Ballz from Queens, New York. These guys shared a DJ with Cage, and put on a pretty damn good show. His Persian descent results in a memorable look, with long curly hair and glasses with black frames. It was a lot like watching “Weird Al” flowing some nasty rhymes to some pretty great beats. Musically, Yak was especially interesting because it is very much like electro-indie pop, yet with hip hop beats. The crowd enjoyed him but didn’t seem too familiar with what he had to offer. Regardless, it was very fitting to pair him with Cage on the bill.
Because it was cooler outside, we sat on the new back patio between sets. Before Cage came on, I was treated to a beat box performance by a circle of friends who were very into it. Some were good and others were just boldly giving it a shot. It was a great deal of fun watching this because hey, I grew up in Sandy where the most rap I experienced for a long time was the “Dangerous Minds” soundtrack.

Photos:

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