Police Shut Down Odd Future Show in Boston

by | Mar 23, 2012 | Concerts & Festivals, Reviews

BOSTON , MA
House of Blues
March 21, 2012

If there is any reason to see Odd Future live, it would to be because, quite frankly, they’re geniuses. The controversial group played to a packed crowd this past Wednesday night and their cult following proved to be epic. Fans of all ages stood in line for hours, wrapping around Lansdowne Street—a scene that was comparable to when Tyler, The Creator caused a Beatles-like frenzy when he made an appearance at Newbury Comics last year. The wait didn’t phase those who possessed the most loyalty, though. Those who made their way in got to watch a trailer for OF’s new show Loiter Squad, which was more a more-than-welcomed distraction. It provided cutting—and ridiculous—commentary into some of pop culture’s most mind-numbing trademarks (with spoofs of shows like Cops, The Maury Show, and Jackass).

As Wolf Gang stormed the stage, their electrifying energy poured into the audience effortlessly as moshing and crowd surfing transpired mere moments into their first song. Members quickly remarked on how wild it was to attract such a large and passionate audience. In such a large sea of white people, OF had no problem tossing out the N-word like candy and taunting the audience with epithets if they didn’t like a certain song or music video. And while member Earl Sweatshirt was MIA for this performance (which was only slightly more upsetting than them being sans Frank Ocean as well), the band dedicated songs to him and prompted concert-goers to fill in the missing verses. As girls frantically screamed, “I love you, Tyler!” or chanted other proclamations of allegiance, he glided through some of his own hits like “French” and “Yonkers.” Promoters shut down the show before the last song, but that didn’t deter fans from bombarding the merch table in search of overpriced t-shirts, which in retrospect, was a another small price to pay for such a memorable evening.