Curren$y and Starlito Hold Court at Eastside Bowl

Despite the night feeling like it ran quite long, New Orleans rap champion Curren$y still managed to put on a master class of a career-spanning set during Thursday’s show at Eastside Bowl.

While the veteran MC’s high energy and charisma kept the crowd rapt through his performance, the long hours leading up to it seemed to take their toll. Early on, a DJ spun an assortment of songs that seemed to bounce between hip-hop hits of 2017 and Lil Wayne’s mixtape era, a combo that was appreciated if unexpected.

At 9 p.m., Diego Fresh took the stage. He wasn’t listed on the bill for the show, and much of the audience seemed surprised to see him run through a set of country-rap songs. Singles like his “Fast Car” can be fun, but the crowd wasn’t in the mood. He tried to get the room on his side, saying, “If y’all feel this, let me see y’all’s phones in the air,” and not a single phone went up that I could see. Following Fresh was another unlisted MC, Maine SFSG (short for “So Fly, So Gone”), whose recent track “Jet Lag” includes a feature from Curren$y. He didn’t fare much better; for the most part, the audience seemed to ignore his short performance.

The energy in the room was starting to feel restless, but hometown hero Starlito — once upon a time, Curren$y’s labelmate on Cash Money — reeled the crowd back in with a thoughtful set. He was rapping in his deepest register, and thanks to a mix that could have been balanced a lot better, too many of his bars got obscured amid the roar of 808s. Several times, however, he got to really shine when the beat fell away and he fired off a capella verses.

To end his set, Lito brought out fellow Nashvillian Robin Raynelle for a couple of songs. Raynelle’s vocal performance was stunning, piercing through the beat and contrasting beautifully with Starlito’s low voice. Before leaving the stage, Raynelle led the crowd in a touching sing-along of “Happy Birthday” to Starlito.

Starlito and Robin Raynelle at Eastside Bowl
Photo: Claire Steele

It only took till 11:15 for Curren$y to go on, but it felt like it had been much longer, and salvaging the tired crowd might have been impossible. Yet with the backing of a live band, the Crescent City master managed to do just that, putting on an electrifying performance that showcased the sheer depth of his discography.

When I first saw the band, I was worried. In my experience, live-band hip-hop shows end up backfiring: No matter how talented the musicians are, fans are looking for heavy, hard-hitting programmed beats, and it can be hard for a band to fill that space. But right from the first song, it was obvious that Curren$y’s band, a nimble and funky ensemble dubbed 747, knows how to pull it off. Their chemistry with the MC drove the set forward, even despite the mix again faltering with a persistent unpleasant distortion in the bass.

Curren$y and the band worked especially well together on “Half Moon Mornings,” the song that opens Continuance, his recent collab album with legendary producer The Alchemist. The way the sound washed over us during this one was warm and beautiful, and rather than rap his bars back at him, the crowd took a moment to sway in place and let Curren$y do his thing.

Curren$y bounced all over his catalog, from new to old and back again, and impressively, the audience knew every single tune. It’s not exactly a surprise when an artist is as consistently awesome as Curren$y has been through his 20-plus-year career. He reminded us of his lengthy tenure, punctuating “High!” from last year’s Still Stoned on Ocean by saying: “Y’all know it’s time for me to hang this shit up, I been rapping for 20 years. Those is retirement bars.”

At almost exactly the 40-minute mark, Curren$y’s set came to an abrupt end. Following a performance of “Sixty-Seven Turbo Jet” that felt almost spiritual, the band started packing up. This seemed to surprise even Curren$y, who said, “Y’all don’t got anymore songs, I’m-a kick it with the crowd!” Then he jumped off the stage among the fans, bringing a strange night to a strange conclusion.