Are you a Millennial? Are the cartoons of Adult Swim a cultural touchstone for you? Did you spend an inordinate amount of time in college binge watching DVDs of the surreal and bizarre humor of Sealab 2021 or Aquateen Hunger Force? No? I mean.. m...me... neither?... is it hot in here? Just me? Anyhow... if you had (not that I did...) then you already know MC Chris. In addition to other contributions, he was the voice of several characters including the diaper wearing spider MC Pee Pants and reactor operator Hesh Hepplewhite. I must not have been the only one who had heard of him, because Funk 'n Waffles was full for the special Tuesday show, and a solid portion of the crowd arrived already wearing his shirts. The crowd showed up early, and were rewarded with being able to meet all the artists at their merch tables while we waited for the show to begin. When local rapper Zak G took the stage the room was just as full as when MC Chris took his final bow.
Zak G
I didn't know what to expect from a Syracuse based rap artist, but I had nothing to worry about. Aside from some technical difficulties when he first took the stage, Zak G delivered a solid set, mixing fully original songs, with rapping over familiar beats, and even a cover of Bone Thugs N Harmony's "No Diggity" that he performed as a duet with someone he pulled from the crowd to help with the vocals. Zak was a confident performer and did a good job exuding energy and getting the crowd warmed up for the acts to follow, making full use of the stage and riling the crowd up with calls and responses.
Crunk Witch
Next up was husband and wife duo Crunk Witch, who brought a set of energetic 80's synth pop and their own lighting setup. They brought the most energy the stage saw that night and the crowd responded in kind. Singer Brandon bounced and danced around the stage like a bouncy string bean. The crowd seemed to love singing along to their covers of "Take On Me" and "Say It Ain't So." The covers were extra fun because they weren't just carbon copies of the original but were in fact rearranged into unique creations reflecting their sound as a group. But no one was as unique as MC Chris.
The Man himself: MC Chris
MC Chris's show had something for every millennial to identify with: wry humor, nerdiness, a love of snacks, feelings and a splash of horniness, and his songs range from Star Wars bounty hunters to cheap pizza, emo parties, and being a peeping tom a la Animal House. His deep experience working in comedy was evident throughout the show, from his anecdotes about meeting fans, how many people only knew him from being a diaper wearing cartoon spider, and calling out the drunk birthday party right at the front, to how he handled the wall of shouted requests for encore songs "I heard everyone of those individually!"
Yyyyyyaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy!
While there were the usual exhortations to buy merch, he also was raising money at the merch table for cystic fibrosis research, a cause for which he's raised $125,000! What's not to like? The crowd loved him. Many sang along to favorites like "Fettes Vette", and "I Want Candy." Google may call his songs nerdcore, but that would be reductive. Yes he has songs about nerdy things like Star Wars, but he also has songs about feeling emo, pizza, and life in general. Most have a humorous twist to them, so he's more Weird Al than Warren G, but his delivery is speedy, more Busta than Lil Baby. The sheer quantity of lyrics he has to keep in his head for a show is impressive. There are no slow songs at an MC Chris show. Every song was delivered with energy and each is a high speed, tongue twisting waterslide. It was a great time. While I came to this show because of cartoons, I'll be going to the next because of the tunes.
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