“Pajamas and Mosh Pits: How I Survived The Odd Future show”

Our own Slaughterhouse (@LiviSlaughter) gives us a first person account of OF’s stay in Boston. See what happens when one of our young guns gets throw in the pit of one of the year’s most raucous shows.

I love concerts, I am a concert junkie. I love the way the bass shakes my chest and I especially love high energy shows. So when I heard that Earl and Frank Ocean were at the New York show the night before Odd Future’s Boston stop, I made it a point to buy tickets. I had been waiting for an opportunity to see them and when it was available I jumped at it.

Before hitting the show I stopped at the pop up shop. As the very big tour bus with blacked out windows pulled up, the huge line of people that wrapped around the block became a large crowd, and began to encircle the bus. Taco was the first to come out and talk to the crowd. Very tiredly and still in his pajamas, he explained how he did not really want to talk to us his manager made him, but he was very glad we all came. Next Left Brain, in zebra pajama pants and a black cast, stumbled out of the bus. He was brushing his teeth and playfully taunting the crowd. Jasper stuck his head out of the bus with a tooth brush in his mouth and waved. They were a hot mess, but it was expected and the crowd loved it. Everyone was waiting for Tyler and when he emerged he left the crowd confused and somewhat disappointed. He had on sunglasses, a green hat and a hoodie, and when his name was called he just looked up and waved “hi” with his left arm in a pink cast. Hodgy later followed running into the back door of the store with a mask on his face, completely ignoring the crowd. The store was originally supposed to open at 11 am, did not open until 4:30, and Tyler, Left Brain, Taco, and Hodgy, and only stayed in store for maybe thirty minutes. Their body guard was not allowing pictures to be taken with them or even in the store itself. The crowd began to dwindle and rush towards the venue to wait in line there instead.

After standing in line for two hours to even get into the venue, the crowd had to wait two and a half hours till anyone even came on stage. Lionel ran up the stairs and told everyone to shut the fuck up and listen while he explained to everyone what was happening. Apparently Tyler and Taco did not have any more clean underwear and had to run to Target to get some. After bullshitting the crowd Lionel put on the Loiter Squad commercial, which didn’t grab as many laughs as I would have thought.

You can say a lot of things about Odd Future, positive and negative, but one thing is for certain. Their fans are die hard. Never has there ever been a more devoted fan base. There were girls with OFWGKTA written on their chests and upside down crosses on their faces. There were boys dressed identically to Tyler, complete with green face masks. Now before I explain to you how the crowd was, I will admit that I expected to get beat up a little but not like this. The show opened with Left Brain and Hodgy Beats , also known as Mellow Hype. As soon as they stepped on stage the crowd went nuts. The crowd became almost like a wave and everyone pushed as forward as far as they could, pushing everyone into each other, so much so that at one point I was sandwiched between two men and my feet were completely off the ground. I was champing it though and enjoying myself until security pulled me out and placed me more towards the side of the stage. People began passing out left and right from the heat and dehydration.

The energy that the group exerts as a whole is unreal. They get you as hype as they are. You can tell that they love what they do and they definitely appreciate their fans. After being pulled out by security I dropped one of the t- shirts I bought. In an emotional fury I ran to the merch booth and talked to Lionel about how I dropped my t-shirt and was really upset about it. He was chill about it and just handed me a new one. Odd Future as a whole along with their crew was really down to earth and personal. They talked to anyone who grabbed their attention and put on one hell of a show that was worth waiting two hours for. Tyler, the Creator and Jasper were by far the most entertaining to watch. Jasper was clearly intoxicated and had to be stopped from jumping off of the balcony at least three times by his body guard. He ran through the crowd and shared blunts with anyone that was willing and crowd surfed countless times. Tyler got close to the audience and jumped down into the press pit singing with fans and giving high fives to hands that were reached out to touch him.

By the end of the night I was soaked with sweat and water and looked like I had been thrown in a pool. I have bruises on my ribs and arms, but they were totally worth it. In the middle of the chorus of a song the house lights came on and Tyler’s mic was cut off. The music stopped and everyone looked around confused. You could tell there was definitely something weird going on. When Tyler’s mic was turned back on he apologized and said that he wanted to continue the show but management would not let him. Someone from the OF crew had been arrested and Tyler said “beat up”. The cops had the show shut down and wanted the venue cleared out as soon as possible.The crowd got angry and began to chant “Fuck the Police”. Out of nowhere there were cops outside in force. It was unreal. My only complaint about the show would be that the music was definitely louder than the vocals for a large part of the show which annoyed me, and that a lot of the show was them sticking the mic into the crowd and letting the fans finishing the lyrics instead of them rapping. I mean, I paid to see them rap, not to hear a bunch of kids sing along. This show was not for the faint of heart, but for anyone looking for an adrenaline rush, a party, and a few bumps and bruises to remember the night, I suggest you go. You will wake up in the morning feeling only the best kind of tired and sore, the kind that comes from a night well worth it.