To end their InLovingMemory tour, the metal-inspired rap trio of BONES, Xavier Wulf and Eddy Baker’s show on Thursday, June 22 at the Van Buren was body-to-body.
The anticipation was palpable at this sold-out show, with BONES returning to Phoenix for the first time in four years. The intense vibe was matched with the live loops of TeamSESH affiliate Cat Soup who showed off his skills of rapping, singing and sampling.
All three rappers hit the stage shortly after, to overwhelming screams, moshing and overall noise. The diehard nature of the crowd has caused some fans to be injured in the mosh pit and even pass out. Despite the wildness of the show, security was able to create a safe environment at the venue, and the artists even asking fans to take a few steps back when it started to get unsafe.
The trio showed chemistry that is very rare for rappers today. The ability to play off one another was easy to see right from the start as they performed both solo and collaborative tracks such as “80sMontage” and “Chaos Castle.” Even if two of the artists were not on a song such as BONES’ certified gold track “HDMI”, the supporting artists would still help add vocals and adlibs to the track.
Even though the three rappers showed great chemistry they were still able to shine individually during the performance.
BONES showed an unmatched stage presence throughout the whole show. From cutting the lights for some of his biggest hits to pouring out a whole water bottle on his head in the crowd, BONES did not miss an opportunity to bring a great visual presence to the show.
Xavier Wulf brought his SoundCloud rap roots out by performing major hits such as “Psycho Pass”. Wulf is known for iconic collaborations with rappers Lil Peep, XXXTentacion and Smokepurpp.
Eddy Baker showed off his consistent rapping ability with consistent bars and intense vocals. Baker was interacting with the crowd through various interactions with the crowd from creating a Soul Train style runway to forming industrial rap mosh pits.
The show closed out with the artists’ bringing out all the members of their crew to celebrate with a group hug and one last mosh pit to Rage Against the Machine’s “Testify”.
The InLivingMemory tour is named after BONES’ 2021 release of the same name. However, he has dropped over ten projects since the beginning of 2021 including the release of BONES and Baker’s collaborative mixtape ‘Jones Peak’ which mixed soft acoustic guitars with BONES’ trademark heavy, distorted vocals.
The energy from the show highlighted the evolution of rap-metal niche and brought back the intense energy that exemplified the SoundCloud era. With new metal-rap artists emerging everyday it safe to say that this genre isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.