06/07/10

Who said the underground rap scene was dead? On Monday night, a sold-out Belly Up Tavern welcomed Strange Famous Records’ revolutionary-bearded duo Sage Francis and B. Dolan to town with open arms and some of the most enthusiastic call-and-response I’ve heard in years. As B. Dolan relayed the opening line from “Joan of Arcadia,” (”Joan of Arc had a dildo named Jesus made of wood from the cross of its namesake”) audible gasps arose from the uninitiated which quickly gave way to knowing laughter. With a voice like a jackhammer and stage presence to spare, Dolan is a prime example of art imitating life. Having founded the consumer awareness site Knowmore.org in 2005, Dolan uses witty spoken word pieces and boom-bap anthems to illuminate social ills ranging from the fallout from the Bhopal disaster to the political career of Sarah Palin. Obviously this style of art can be off-putting when done wrong, but Dolan knows how to use his sense of humor and the earth-shattering beats of Alias to his advantage.

Dolan’s all-too-brief set was primarily a showcase of the impressive Fallen House Sunken City record, which dropped earlier this year. His juxtaposition of “Fifty Ways To Bleed Your Customer” with M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” got feet moving to tales of corporate greed and his powerful tribute to Marvin Gaye resonated through the jaw-dropped walls of the tavern. Lest things get too heavy, Dolan had a couple tricks up his sleeve such as the Evel Knievel-inspired stunt jump over a fan which has become a trademark of his performance. With momentum at its crescendo, Dolan closed things out with a brilliant, take-no-prisoner rendition of “One Breath Left” to heavy applause from more than a few new fans.

For each tour of the past decade or so, Sage Francis has enlisted a different backing band to bring his music to life. Each ensemble finds a unique angle of his work to build on which results in a constantly-evolving live set. Like Bob Dylan before him, Sage has mastered the art of subtle improvisation to keep his music fresh and interesting on the road. With the help of Long Beach-based Free Moral Agents this time around, who played a stellar psychedelic prog-rock opening set, Sage transformed his catalog yet again with manic takes on past hits such as “Specialist” and recent favorites like “I Was Zero” and “The Best Of Times.”

Sage’s new album Li(f)e was not surprisingly the focal point of the set. Starting things off with “Three Sheets To The Wind” got the engine running and crowd psyched for Sage’s first major tour to hit San Diego in three years. The splicing of “Hell Of A Year” with “16 Years” worked beautifully as a case study in theme continuity. Sage kept spoken word pieces to a minimum for the evening, but thankfully included a rare performance of the extended version of the love poem to end all love poems, “Hopeless.” As a drunken b-boy made his way to the stage craving his god-given fifteen minutes, Sage managed to sway with his aura and effortlessly incorporate his out-of-place 6-step into “Slow Man” before ushering him off stage.

A touching tribute came when Sage pulled a photo from his shirt pocket of a local fan who had recently passed away and had some friends in attendance. It was a poignant gesture from an artist performing with a heavy heart himself after the recent loss of a family member. Sage Francis brings unparalleled energy and professionalism to the stage year after year and his strained vocal cords will tell you the same. He hinted this could be his last major tour for some time, and if this was the last time Solana Beach got to see Sage live, the set-closing medley featuring “The Cure” and “Crack Pipes” served as the perfect punctuation mark.

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