Sasquatch 2013, Day 3: Killer Mike

So I might have been ranting about various shows this weekend being the best shows I saw - but here's the thing. Yes, they were amazing performances by talented musicians, but Killer Mike's set at the Yeti stage topped all of them. There is something about witnessing a brilliant musician finally receiving the full blown acknowledgement of a huge crowd of people who know all the lyrics to his songs after so many years of being featured, semi-popular, and at times downright obscure, that really just takes the cake. Two songs into his set Killer Mike, who had nothing on stage other than an MC ("I don't need a hypeman, they asked me where my hype man was and I pointed at you!"), basically broke down - at first it seemed like the man was just choking up, but he was actually shedding tears of pure and complete joy. He then launched in to "Never Scared" - before stopping less than halfway through. Though the audience was delighted at the throwback - he rightly pointed out that that's not what we came for. We didn't come to hear a track he was only featured on (The track was by Bonecrusher and also featured T.I.) we came to hear him. And that's all we would do for the rest of his amazing set - "Reagan" came next, and numerous call and responses followed. "I love you!" was a frequent phrase throughout the show - not only for the audience whose arms waved back and forth with the beats. El-P stopped by, the two bouncing on stage in a true demonstration of friendship. By the end Killer Mike was in the audience, calling on the forces of his childhood (his father was a preacher), to bring the show full circle - giving back the love he felt from the audience. Not only was the show possibly the best of the festival, but it might be one of the greatest shows I've ever seen. The sincerity of the brilliant artist - who isn't afraid to love his fans as much as they love him - is a sight for sore eyes these days, and Killer Mike never skimps on gratitude. For fans - look for his upcoming free album with El-P, Run the Jewels, in June.