Run The Jewels set off a proverbial hip hop fire at The Regent in Downtown L.A.

You know you’re in for a good show when the headliner starts out by saying that they’re gonna burn this motherfucker down. And thus began my first Run The Jewels live experience, although Grimy Goods has been covering the unstoppable hip hop duo since their 2013 Los Angeles debut at The Echoplex.

This past Wednesday night at The Regent Theater in downtown, Run The Jewels (RTJ) set off a proverbial hip hop fire. With Run The Jewels 2, topping just about everybody’s Best Album of 2014 lists, there’s been a ton of hype around Killer Mike and El-P. I had high expectations as I’m generally skeptical when so much hype is around an artist but RTJ is all that and then some.

El-P and Killer Mike took to the stage to Queen’s “We Are The Champions” and soon traded verses as they worked the stage with the energy of a punk rock show. Having being trapped at the front of the stage, I had my share of elbows to the head, punches to my back, AND being spit on(!!!). El-P apologized in advance to everybody in the front as they kicked in to “Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)” at which point, the entire Regent went ape shit. I’m sure most people were expecting a guest appearance from Zack De La Rocha but that was at the last RTJ show and they don’t seem like the type of group to repeat themselves often. Run The Jewels did bring out songwriter/producer/singer Boots to join in on “Early” and rapper GangstaBoo for “Love Again”.

Opening the night was the lat minute addition, Low End Theory founder and resident DJ, Daddy Kev. Setting the mood, Kev alternated between the decks and an iPad controller as he seamlessly mixed a classic head-nodding LET set.

Following up Daddy Kev was the UK based band, Until The Ribbon Breaks. I had seen UTRB last year opening up for White Sea and the Bootleg, and to be honest, I wasn’t terribly impressed. To my surprise, the three-piece stepped up their game and played a mesmerizing and soulful downtempo set reminiscent of Massive Attack. While Run The Jewels didn’t make a physical appearance during the performance of UTRB’s new single, “Revolution Indifference”, El-P and Killer Mike’s verse was projected on the screen behind the band. I wasn’t sure how well the band would be received as they are quite different than Run The Jewels but the crowd was very receptive.

Until The Ribbon Breaks are performing at this year’s Coachella. If you’re headed to the desert, be sure to put these budding newbies on your list.

Photography & Words: Ceethreedom

Run The Jewels