Brooklyn, NY’s very own Public Assembly staged some great personalities on Tuesday night. It’s always nice to catch underground names like Gotham Green, Dopplegangaz and DC-native-turned-Brooklynite Oddisee at venues like this. Once garage space, Public Assembly’s less than professional sound system (no disrespect!) really demanded these guys to bring it.

Walked in to Dopplegangaz doin’ their thing. These two so obviously have a great time performing together, the flow just bounced off the other.

Tanya Morgan, damn these guys got ENERGY. Not gonna lie, graced this show whilst with a touch of the flu and watching them I could’ve been half a beer away from jumping on stage!

Now for the guy I came to see. Oddisee, who released album People Hear What They See over the summer, took the stage around 11:15pm. Took a couple minutes and adjusted technical things with the sound guys but hey, that’s what artists do when they care about their delivery. He & the band had an intimate setting packed together on the small stage and I took a stand in the back to see everything. Now I had a feeling on my way to the place that Oddisee was going to sound great – he not only sounded great but sounded exactly like he does on his studio recordings. He’s got that personable voice thats recognizable from a mile away, like Common. He knew exactly what to do with a mic; didn’t sound muffled, didn’t make you turn to someone next to you and say “wtf is he saying?”

I turned to my friend while we were watching and told him I felt like we were at a Roots show, on a smaller scale of course. Almost each of the band members took the spotlight for a few and gave us a little jam-band taste of how talented they all are. About half way through the show, Oddisee passed the mic to his guitarist, Olivier DaySoul, who sang some soulful sounds which probably made every lady in the place melt a little.  ;)

People Hear What They See was one of my favorite albums this year and for good reason. The quality of his production, the consistency of his sound (& message), one that’s been developing for years now. For me, it’s one of those albums that is just a true banger from start to finish. He performed a majority of that album including “Ready To Rock,” “Let It Go,” “American Greed”, and my favorite, “Another’s Grind,” during which he got a little playful with the audience, really engaged us during the chorus. Then, the cherry was put on top of the sundae when Oddisee spit over Premier’s beat “Mass Appeal”. MAAAGGGIIICC!

Overall, his and the band’s performance was on par, everything I expected with some energetic opening acts who really warmed everything up nicely. I’m excited to watch the attention Oddisee will deservingly gain over the coming years and can’t wait for his next project. Big ups (as always)! And if you’re still sleeping on him, you should probably take a listen to this new album here. Enjoy.