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Music

35 Denton Day 3 Recap, Part II: RTB2 Unofficial 35D Keynote, Rap in the Rain, and Best Coast

Saturday was a rough one for 35Denton. News came in that Jesus and Mary Chain were unable to play their headlining spot due to issues with work visas. To compliment the news, the weather decided to take a turn for the dreary, dumping a steady, chilling rainfall on main stage crowds for the entire day.
By Dick Sullivan |
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Saturday was a rough one for 35 Denton. News came in that Jesus and Mary Chain were unable to play their headlining spot due to issues with work visas. To compliment the news, the weather decided to take a turn for the dreary, dumping a steady, chilling rainfall on main stage crowds for the entire day. It is a credit to the day’s performers that no one seemed rattled by the downpour, and a testimony to the festival’s music lovers that crowds showed up.

All week, Denton rapper AV has been handing out free copies of his album, Live from the Struggle, which bears a cover that looks like it was pieced together in Microsoft Paint. I nabbed my own free copy. It is a collection of sincere, if somewhat hackneyed rhymes. On stage, AV is decidedly more entertaining. I am caught the tail-end of his afternoon set in the rain on the main stage. Wearing a Texas Flag-emblazoned t-shirt and double-fisting Dos XXs, the highlight came when AV poured the contents of the two cans on his face, beer waterfalling off his chin. A perturbed stagehand looks on.

It baffles me how Dallas hip hop group Sore Losers ever escaped my attention. They open their set with the riff from Foo Fighter’s late ‘90s hit “Everlong,” which morphs into a palate for their rhymes as the beat drops. The Sore Losers are both hip hop crew and live band, a union that never should have been undone. The rhymes sometimes lagged behind the beat, but Sore Losers’ reconciliation of rock, roll, and rap is a compelling possibility.

The rain persisted through the dusk hours and the temperature sank, but undaunted hundreds still huddle together for L.A.’s Best Coast, whose name makes a comical juxtaposition with the cold, rainy environs. And yet, Best Coast’s recumbent, beach vibe seems to actually compliment the weather, like a brightened beam of dust motes in a darkened room. The band copes by sharing what looks to be a large bottle of vodka. I cope by forgoing Bun B for the shelter and a beer at Dan’s Silverleaf.

I make the decision to camp at Dan’s because capacity limits have created one-in, one-out situations at every 35 Denton venue, a reality of the conference’s growth that organizers will no doubt have to wrestle with next year.  I choose Dan’s Silverleaf because that is where RTB2 is scheduled to play at 11:30. From the time the schedule was released, I considered it the keynote performance: the best band at the best venue in front of a hometown crowd.

RTB2 absolutely dominate their set, finishing with a cover of Rolling Stones’ “Street Fighting Man,” a request that one patron scribbled on a five-dollar bill and handed to Ryan. Except for that, and fan favorite “When Hammer Hits Stone,” the set consisted of material from their unreleased, Stuart Sikes’ produced album. I’ll leave my description there, because, in articles past, I’ve already applied every superlative I can imagine to RTB2. Their flawless set at 35 Denton 2012 is just another exhibit for my case.

All Photos: RTB2 (Credit: Erin Rambo)

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