Esdeekid @ The Fillmore
My friend and I, fresh from the trolley, arrived at The Fillmore in Fishtown with wide-open eyes and wearing mostly black, blending in right away with the crowd. We approached the stage and waited in anticipation for Esdeekid’s shrouded silhouette to emerge.
The fever of his music spread instantaneously when he burst through the door of the stage-set building with “Century,” a crowd-pleaser, and continued to build as he moved onto “Phantom,” an all-around favorite. He called to us, “Youse is crazy motherfuckers!” and everybody whooped and cheered. The concert passed by in a flash of electrifying lyrics and exciting sound. Elbows and shoulders bounced in time with the bass-heavy music, and the whole scene was dramatized by flashing lights which streaked across the stage and crowd and illuminated the red-hot energy of everyone there. Each song inoculated the crowd against fatigue as we scream-shouted the words, made pseudo-mosh pits and abandoned them to refocus on rapping alongside the striking, black-clad figure of the mysterious Esdeekid.
Hailing from Liverpool, England, Esdeekid became known internationally for his anonymous persona and enigmatic stage presence which enhances his live performances. Wearing a balaclava (“bally”) and accompanying what The Guardian’s “Add to playlist” column described as “entertainingly debauched lyrics” is his standout Scouse accent. Highly enjoyable to listeners, it is a defining characteristic of his image—he self-describes in “Mist,” “Young Scouse kid, make it sound like I’m from Texas.”
Although his musical style is drill rap about the usual subject matter of alluringly illicit activities, the atmosphere of the concert and the energy of his songs made a dreamy impression on me. His use of fuzzy synths and melodic mesh of heavy bass with deep, blurred vocals put listeners under a high-energy sort of charm, a headbanging hypnosis.
I had special appreciation for some of his lyrics while hearing them live, noting his emphasis on certain words—for example, the strong imagery in “Phantom” in the line “Me phone keeps having a tantrum.” In “Tartan,” the line “Come 300 up like a Spartan,” a reference to Spartan warriors connecting their strength and success to that of donning designer clothing. Esdeekid employs a double entendre in the song “LV Sandals,” saying “I’m mink on mink, catch him doubling the fur.” Altogether I found the experience as soothing as it was energizing.
To finish the set, Esdeekid rallied the crowd with a command to “put your gun fingers in the air,” which I saw no one disobey. We all bellowed the classic “bahhh!” and pumped our gun-shaped hands before the venue quieted and the concert ended. His Council House Rat Tour is set to run through December, when it will conclude in Esdee’s hometown.
Photographs courtesy of @shotbydani3l.
