Concert Review: Inertia steals the show at Southern Alliance Concert

by Alan Cohen

The Southern Alliance Concert at the Vista Ridge Amphitheater promised to be a fantastic showcase for many up and coming local hip-hop acts to share the stage with more established artists like Money Waters and Mr. Pookie. Unfortunately, despite plenty of potential, the earlier acts of the night did little to get the crowd engaged. In fact, the crowd seemed completely apathetic until a rapper named Inertia hit the stage. No one sitting around me knew who he was, yet within a matter of seconds, Inertia had the whole amphitheater buzzing from his dynamic entrance that featured a toddler leading a straight line of nearly twenty grown-ups in matching t-shirts onto the stage. Once the music hit, the whole crowd began moving and nodding in approval. Inertia forced even more audience participation by adding call and response verses to some of his songs, which turned the crowd into a vital part of the performance that was happening in front of them. More impressive than the stage antics was how Inertia backed up his showmanship with his mic skills. Throughout the set, Inertia used his ability to effortlessly rhyme in double-time over already up-tempo beats – a skill that gives him the ability to break through rhythmic limitations that many other rappers must work around. There is no question in my mind that with performances like this, Inertia is ready to be a prime time performer in the DFW scene for many years to come.

Other notes:

- I wish more acts would use their own sound man. It makes a huge difference when you have someone that knows exactly how every word and every note is supposed to blend together. Keep in mind that different tracks are mixed and mastered differently, so the mic levels could be perfect for one tune and then way too soft for the next. Having someone who is actively making adjustments can greatly help an act improve their stage performance by leaps and bounds.

-Money Waters looks as laid back on stage as any local artist I’ve seen in the last year. The crowd seemed to feed off of the chill attitude he brought to the music.

-One of the real joys of local music is being able to watch performers early on as they struggle to find their sound. Christene Dino is working hard to improve herself as an R&B singer. This was only her second performance ever, so its no surprise that there is plenty of room left for improvement. But I can already say with certainty that Christene is a not afraid to put in the effort needed to succeed. That combined with her natural confidence onstage will be a huge help as she continues to grow as an artist.

-Prime is at his best when he uses singers.

-I’m on record for criticizing problems that I felt that Rakoo Nation had with their mix in a previous performance. Well, this performance was certainly much improved. The levels were set correctly, and the whole group was in sync with one another. I honestly wasn’t expecting it, but credit where credit is due.

-The toddler on stage during Inertia’s performance was on a mission to show that his dance moves were on par with the big boys.

-Mr. Pookie and Mr. Lucci have a big SMU following. An hour or two into the show, I had a group of SMU students with confused looks on their faces walk up to me. One of them asked, “Dude, has Mr. Pookie gone yet?” I responded, “Dude, I don’t think so.” The whole group seemed relieved by my response.

-There seems to be a whole lot of respect from the performers at this show for Young Bleed. Personally, I hadn't heard much about him until this weekend, but I’m looking forward to having him up to the TexasGigs studio for an interview sometime soon and learning about what I’ve been missing.