Rubox is a local beatboxer and supporter of local hip hop culture. After checking out Sage Francis at the Death Dance tour, he shot us this quick review: Within the past couple of months the city beautiful has had a couple of good indie hip-hop acts come in to perform, including El-P, Kid Koala, Souls of Mischief, and AZ. By bringing such acts to town, The Social has been doing a great service for underground hip hop heads. From flyers that I have received, I knew Sage Francis was scheduled to play at Firestone for his Death Dance Tour on June 4th. Sage has been known to sell out venues, and on the day of the show I got word that the show had been moved from Firestone to the Social. Mr. Francis brought with him great set of artists, including Buddy Wakefield, who is a famous slam poet; Alias, who is co-founder of Anticon and producer for Sage; and Buck 65, who is a Canadian hip-hop MC and turntablist. Buddy Wakefield opened up with an already packed crowd. It was amazing to see the attention he got from everyone once he spit his acapella pieces. I swear, you could hear a pin drop. His energy was that compelling and the crowd loved him. He did a piece called "Pretend," on which he was accompanied by myself on the beatbox and local poet/ vocalist, Amy Steinberg. Alias came on the stage and did some straight on hip-hop which he performed on point with tracks. It was Buck 65 who gave an eclectic performance fusing together different genres of mash ups that gave new meaning to melting pot. He had one track on which he combined blue grass banjos with heavy drums and live scratching. His show really got the crowd moving and was a perfect catalyst to set the stage for Sage Francis. Sage Francis came on stage with a band of musicians including a bass player, a guitarist and Alias on the turntables and drum machine. The guitarist also was a multi-musician who played a saw-violin and a keyboard. The live band did his material justice and in true hip hop form he rocked the crowd, even getting them involved with call and response. From his records it's easy to see why he has such a true following, but the man know that he puts on a great show as well. Story by special guest Rubox