March 28, 2024
62 Guests and Online

Blaze Ya Dead Homie

Blaze Ya Dead Homie

Agora in Cleveland, Ohio

Our Rating
User Rating
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (2 votes, average: 4.50 out of 5)
Loading...

On September 7th, the Agora in Cleveland welcomed Colton Grundy, aka Blaze, along with his associates. Although promotion was lightweight, this latest mini tour seemed almost like an exclusive offering from Blaze and his openers. Joining him were 614 Villainz and Insane E. Although the place wasn’t jam packed as most Agora shows, this one still had an exclusive vibe to it, and halfway thru the show, more people crept their way into the venue.

During the show, I also had a chance to sit down with Insane E and Suitcase for an exclusive Faygoluvers interview. Topics ranged from influences, to the early days, to new material, and more. Check it out to hear about his influences, upcoming projects, and more.

Agora has become the new go-to spot for shows since Peabody’s shut down. Although the venue is a lot more accessible than the bigger shows (in which the entire place is opened up, instead of just the medium sized stage on the right), it seems to do the smaller concerts justice with just the one section opened up. Initially, attendance wasn’t as high as the other shows. As time went on, more people showed up, and the place was filled with energy with the quickness.

There were a few openers to start things off before the main acts came out. I didn’t get the chance to catch any of them, but they seemed to have a good time. I did notice that between each set, it only took 5 to 15 minutes to set up the next artist. I found this to be very impressive compared to other Agora show I’ve been to. Everyone easily had their shit together this night.

The first act was 614 Villainz. I was downstairs for most of their set, but the trio from Columbus had their fans in a vice. A decent amount of people were familiar with their set. Although I couldn’t catch too many words with them, I did remember that their mixtape oHIGHo is set to be released in the near future, consisting of only Ohio artists. I thought that was pretty unique. They’re also opening up for Twiztid next month, so they got some shit on their plate to work with for the remainder of the year.

Next up was Insane E. I’ve caught his set briefly a few times in the past, but this time I was there for the whole thing. He has consistent and nonstop energy, wasting no time to give it his all. The music in itself is quite unique, blending electronica dance beats with the hip-hop influence. The subgenres that he’s influenced by seems to drastically vary in style, and it works well with his act. To close out his set, he did the fan favorite “Let’s Go” which is a superb song to finish off his act.

I also was finally able to grab a Juggalo Colorin’ Book. If you haven’t picked up one of those yet, it’s a must have. Insane E does the entire thing, from start to finish. His artistic skills are unmatched. Also as previously mentioned, I got the chance to do an interview with him, alongside his hype man Suitcase.

The final act was none other than Blaze Ya Dead Homie. As I said, changing from artist to artist was super fast this time around, so he came out with the quickness. Supported only by a huge backdrop poster, props is not a crucial element in Blaze’s performances. He chops thru a plethora of songs, and easily continues the flow of his setlist.

He opened up with his debut EP classic, “Real G Shit.” I think every time I’ve seen Grundy, he opens up with that track. Not a bad thing at all though. He played numerous staples, including “Nasty” and “Escape Artist.” He mixed it up a little bit on this exclusive show though. As usual, he would cut out certain verses out of songs, thus giving the fans a large array of songs. He threw in his verse from the Dark Lotus song “Headache.” I thought that was extremely cool and unexpected. He also did his verse from the Twiztid staple “Bussyoheadopen.” Although I’ve seen the trio perform it before, it was still a treat to see him do his verse.

He also threw in other various songs. “Maggot Face” was a good surprise, along with his verse from “Shotgun.” I rarely see him perform songs from The Undying G, though. It’s strange; however, he did do a decent amount of songs from Gang Rags Reborn, aka The Last House on Dead Street. It’s being re-released on October 21st, with redone beats and remastered quality. He also performed one of the newer tracks which will be on that release as an encore, titled “Who Is It?” I’m uncertain if it’s the same track he played at the Gathering. From what I remember, the beat had a guitar line with electronic static or fuzz, and meshed well with his verses.

Regardless of the size, Blaze always puts on a good show for the fans. He without a doubt never loses energy, and for sure seemed to mix up the setlist this time around. After he was done, he settled in at the merch table for a solid 20 to 30 minutes, doing autographs and just chopping it up with people. I thought that was a good gesture. I talked with him for a few minutes, regarding the upcoming Faygoluvers interview, and I wanted to personally ask him about the Drive-By song “Saying Goodbye.” He discussed how it wouldn’t fit on any solo album, and that Anybody Killa clicked with the track right away, along with how influential the chain of events leading up to the song itself.

All in all, although the show seemed to go by with a flash and it took awhile for more people to show up, it was still a good time. The mini tour came at a perfect time for the Cleveland area, with a lack of good hatchet shows for a shortwhile. Ranging from kicking it with Insane E, to seeing Blaze do autographs, to witnessing the Gang Rags Reborn songs done live, to an up close and personal vibe at the Agora, everything seemed to fall in place just fine, and turned out to be a good night.

Gallery:

Location:

  • Agora
  • Ohio
  • United States

Guests:

  • Insane E, 614 Villainz

Tour:

  • Dismembered in September

Record Label:

  • Majik Ninja Ent./Independent

Websites:

Reviewer:

Review Date:

  • 09/07/2014

Share

Enjoy the article so far? Recommend it to your friends and peers.

Subscribe

Be the first to our articles and get the latest updates.

    Faygoluvers Comments

  1. Miklo Velka

    Miklo Velka

    Comment posted on Sunday, September 14th, 2014 01:08 am GMT -5 at 1:08 am

    FUCKIN AWESOME REVIEW HOMIE!!

  2. Xanarki

    Xanarki

    Comment posted on Sunday, September 14th, 2014 08:17 am GMT -5 at 8:17 am

    Thanks, appreciate it!

You must be logged in to post a comment.