Date: 3/21/08
Place:  Slim's, San Francisco
Show:  Saul Williams – the Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust

Ever since I heard Amethyst Rock Star for this first time, I've been an extremist Saul Williams fan.  I played Saul Williams in my headphones, in my room, and in my car, (on the LA freeways, good music is a necessary as air – otherwise, you are asking for suicide of the soul).  Saul Williams quotes and phrases began to find their way into my everyday conversation with such regularity that close friends could guess the originator of the quote without ever having heard the album. The one place I had not heard Saul Williams, however, was live.

 It's not that I didn't have a chance – there were ample times when I could have seen him perform - yet, I could not bring myself to attend a show.  When you love an artist and every aesthetic and conceptual choice that has been made, there can be a fear of disappointment in seeing them perform live.  Such was the case with me, and although I had viewed plenty shaky recordings of live performances on YouTube, I never summoned the gumption to attend a live performance – that is, until last week when the tour for Saul William’s new album, The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust, (produced by Trent Reznor - another plus!) came to San Francisco.

 Surrounding myself with my closest music buddies, I arrived at 9 o'clock only to find a line that nearly wrapped around the corner of Slim's.  Music was already heard escaping out the entrance and by the time we entered the doors, the sold out venue was jam-packed.  Dragons Of Zynth were onstage rocking the crowd with their "audio-physio-psychic" sound (this is now a new favorite of mine and is most certainly worth checking out - in fact, I'll most likely be doing a write up on their 2007 album Coronation Thieves as it is one that certainly deserves a deeper discussion).

 Surprisingly close to 10 o'clock, Saul Williams took the stage accompanied by his guitar player, keyboardist, CX Kidtronik djing (as well as providing beat support and vocals), and a painting of Niggy Tardust, Saul Williams' alter ego.  What came next was a 2 hour infusion of hiphop, raw beats, singing, rocking, sampling, spoken word, poetry, and performance art followed by a half hour encore.  A seamless mix of old and new - but what impressed me most was the rendition of Coded Language.  It started out with the familiar intro but melted into something entirely different.  Nearing the end, Saul Williams let the mic drop down, finishing acappella.  The excitement in the crowd had me wondering if his voice would be drowned out, but somehow, each final word was heard clearly throughout the room - invoking the invocation, so to speak.  The content and delivery became the focus as opposed to the structure of a song – hearing his voice sans electronic assistance was electrifying in it's own right.

 Another element of the show that stood out to me was his and his fellow performers’ ability to captivate the audience so thoroughly for such a long time.  Granted, this was partially due to the fact that the audience was mostly made up of avid Saul Williams fans who, for the most part, already knew every single lyric to both Amethyst and Niggy Tardust.  Yet to say that this man was not entirely captivating in his own right, would be a complete and utter lie.  What was witnessed was more performance art than a hiphop show.

 Saul Williams has a profound way of preserving and even improving upon the medium in which his message is carried.  Heavily political and socially charged, Saul challenges pop and mass culture references, icons and modes of thought without ever once coming across as preachy. The balance between the message and delivery is one that I have yet to find in another artist and it was more than a thrill to discover that this balance transferred to the, winning this tour the highest level of ILL one can achieve. 

 *   You can scope out the next tour dates in your area on Saul Williams' myspace: www.myspace.com/saulwilliams
**  One more important thing to mention is CX Kidtronik rocking a track from his album Krak Attack (available now).  Definitely sick as hell, and is said to feature artists such as Zion from Zion I and High Priest to name two of many.  (www.cxkidtronik.com/)