Gucci Mane
The Observatory
Feb. 8, 2013
First things first: It's a bit odd that Gucci Mane just played The Observatory, right? I mean, he's not currently on tour, and he decided to play in Santa Ana even though he is from Alabama? Okay, we're down with that.
However, what we OC-ers are not down with are short sets, and unfortunately, that's what Mr. Mane gave us Friday night. After sitting through some openers and DJ sets, the crowd was more than ready for Gucci to come out, and when he finally did (15 minutes later than scheduled), the sold-out venue went insane.
]
The hefty southern rapper strutted onstage without addressing his audience, instead going straight into “Trapback,” the title track off his 2012 mixtape. Before finishing the song, he switched to “Trap House,” off Gucci's first independent album, in 2005. Since then, the rapper has had a few run-ins with the law, which has landed him in jail a few times in the past decade. But no matter his legal troubles, he always seems to pull in a crowd.
He continued his shorter-than-usual set with “Plain Jane,” then rolled straight into “Guwop Nigga,” a track that originally featured Trinidad James, but unfortunately didn't last night. For such a special, unconventional show, Gucci Mane did not surprise his fans with any surprise guests, instead just rapping his parts over a recorded track that was played by a DJ at the back of the stage. And though this might bother some fans, most were devoted–singing and dancing along, extending hands out as the rapper ran from one side of the stage to the other, skimming the hands of his fans along the way.
He rapped pieces of 2009's “I'm a Dog,” and “I Think I Love Her” before ending his set with “Wasted.” He then strutted offstage without anyone in the crowd realizing. “He can't be done, can he?” someone asked. He never greeted his audience, and he never bid them goodnight when he left the stage. But even after Mane stepped off the stage, everyone continued to dance as though nothing had changed. Gotta give 'em props for that.
Critical Bias: Come on, man. If you're only going to play a 30-minute set, you should at least have someone playing live instrumentation for you. . . .
The Crowd: Ho's 'n' tricks
Overheard In the Crowd: “Man, I'm about to bounce just like Gucci.”
Random Notebook Dump: I almost feel like the rapper doesn't even really need to show up at a hip-hop show. Fans are perfectly content with bumpin' and grindin' to a DJ
Follow us on Twitter @OCWeeklyMusic and @KatrinaNattress. Like us on Facebook at Heard Mentality and Katrina Nattress
