Doomtree Blowout V

by: Joe Toeben

 

 

More often than not if you are a music lover and you are surrounded by a great local scene, you will be proud of it.  Thus is the case with myself and Doomtree.  Doomtree is a hip hop collective that has been active in the Twin Cities community for over 5 years. Started by P.O.S. (Pissed Off Stef, Stefan Alexander) and Cecil Otter, Doomtree has taken underground hip hop to another level.  With 5 emcees and 4 producers, Doomtree is one talented group that is still climbing the ranks but doing it in a musical fashion.

For the past five years, Doomtree has made it a yearly event to have a Blowout concert at First Ave (a venue in Minneapolis) a couple weeks before Christmas.  While it is one of few chances to see all 5 emcees perform together, it is also a chance to see some of the best hip hop artists of today perform. Being this was my first Blowout I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect until I got there. I arrived quite early for my interview with the group that was scheduled for 5:30.  Well after some sound check by Sims, Dessa and P.O.S. and some running around to find the other emcees, Dessa was able to shut the door to the backroom for our interview around 6:15.

After I finished with the interview (for all you fans reading this – it will be up by this coming weekend so make sure to check back), I went back into the main room and patiently waited for 7:00 to arrive.  Once the Blowout got started it was pretty energetic in the crowd and (not surprisingly) on stage.  The group performed the first 5 songs together; they played some of the major songs off their self-titled debut album along with their various previous False Hopes EPs.  Then each member performed some of their solo songs, starting with Mike Mictlan and ending with P.O.S.; after that then they performed some of the new songs off their new False Hopes EP that was released the day of the show.

Overall the concert was one of the best I have ever attended, not only because it was one of my favorite artists just because it was an experience that nothing else could replicate.  There was so much energy and semblance in the room.  As said by another Doomtree fan “it is one of the best hip hop experiences you will ever have.”  You can see how much work and coordination went into putting this show on.  At the merch table you could get the new False Hopes, Paper Tigers limited 7” EP (only 200 copies pressed) along with almost every Doomtree related release known to man. If you are a fan of Doomtree and missed this concert you have every right in the world to be disappointed because it was awesome. If you are a fan of hip hop just do yourself a favor and go to next year’s Blowout if you want to experience some great, homegrown talent.

Main site: http://www.doomtree.net/

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/doomtree