Childish Gambino played to a sold out crowd at Ace of Spades in downtown Sacramento Wednesday night.
Donald Glover, who created the stage name of Childish Gambino from a Wu-Tang Clan generator, started as a writer for 30 Rock. He is also popularly known for his role as Troy Barnes on the TV show Community. While this definitely brought him a following, it is his lyrics that make him a artist to watch.
The line to get into Ace of Spades stretched out over 2 blocks away from the entrance. The thing that was really striking was how wide a demographic Gambino brought in. From teenagers to business men in their forties, there seemed to be something about his music that spoke to them.
Gambino’s show was opened by Michigan raised rapper, Danny Brown. While Danny has had a lot of success lately, being recognized by Metro times and MTV as Artist of the Year, the crowd was not impressed. His lyrics were hard to understand making them sound like random sounds rather than words. One concert goer said they enjoyed seeing the teamsters set up the stage equipment more than they enjoyed Danny Brown.
However this did not detract from the concert. Minutes before he came out, the crowd started to chant Gambino’s name. He started out strong with Freaks and Geeks and quickly moved into fan favorites Bonfire and Break AOTL.
The dedication of the fans was contagious. Normally in any concert, the artist invites the crowd to sing with him. Typically while this is fun, its not in sync with the song. Throughout every song played in his set, the crowd was singing word for word. When Gambino held out the mike to the crowd, they sang the next line without missing a beat.
Childish Gambino has a balance to his show that I think is so rare for most artists in his genre. He mixes performing to the crowd while still staying true to his lyrics. From the lights, to the violin playing onstage, to having his music video serve as a backdrop for his most popular songs, Gambino provides an experience that is memorable.
