As photographed and written for the Allston Pudding:
"Odd Future likes to keep us waiting. With Earl back in the States and The OF Tape Vol. 2 officially in stores there’s been very little to complain about, but it came as no surprise that Wednesday night’s gig at House of Blues showed no signs of commencing, even an hour after its scheduled start. And it didn’t occur to me until much later that the echoing chants of “This is bullshit!” that permeated the venue served as a grim foreshadowing of the night’s frustrating, ultimately unsurprising finish, but I certainly agreed with them.After standing around with security for what felt like hours (an experience in itself, really), the giant screen that had been positioned at the front of the stage turned on. Everyone cheered (Security: “I didn’t even see that screen there.”). Then, a five minute countdown popped up in the bottom right-hand corner. Seriously? What came next was a brief preview of Adult Swim’s highly-anticipated “Loiter Squad”, a show that will feature members of the gang engaging in a wide variety of blatantly ignorant-but-fitting nonsense (Security: “Why is he hitting that woman with a pancake?”).
The group trickled on stage amidst music and cheers, but it wasn’t until Tyler came crashing out that it felt like the show had started. Most of the collective possess a natural affinity for performing (Favorite Mellowhype moment: when Hodgy and Left Brain jumped on top of the amplifiers and started writhing and stomping like infuriated gargoyles), but anyone will tell you that Wolf Haley is at the forefront - something easily attributed to the uncompromising persona and boyish charm that encompass the very essence of “Tyler, the Creator.” But it’s more than that. For the fans that follow him on Twitter, read his Formspring, reblog his photos and watch his interviews, seeing Tyler and the rest of OF perform on stage is like seeing a small, screen-encapsulated world come bursting to life. We might never smoke blunts in the back of their tour bus or streak with them through Europe. We’ll probably never skate around with them in LA or meet Wolf by the lake (as much as we’d like to) but for a few brief hours at every show, Odd Future brings their world to us.
Maybe that’s why when the show came to an abrupt halt, Tyler felt he had some explaining to do. “So you guys don’t think we’re dicks, I was about to finish the song, but the promoter cut us off.” The crowd’s disdain ensued immediately. “So, before I go, i just wanted to say, we want to finish it but the owner of the club made us turn it off and the police are right there.” Moments later, his mic was cut and the lights went out, leaving the group to stand silently on stage as the crowd screamed in support. Just outside the venue, one of the group’s non-musical members, Lionel, was being arrested (the charges remain unannounced). If that wasn’t enough, police had to forcibly restrain Jasper Dolphin from drunkenly stage-diving off of the mezzanine balcony.
None of us were too surprised. Last summer Odd Future came to Boston to promote Tyler’s debut album, Goblin, and what started as a normal enough meet-and-greet quickly turned into a small riot police later blamed the OF frontman for inciting. The aftermath included a cop with a broken arm, an incarcerated 13-year-old fangirl, and a sea of angry, impatient fans. The thing is, run-ins like these are typical and - dare I say it - expected. We love OFWGKTA for exhibiting the flamboyant, aggressive charisma that makes almost everything they do look fun and worth experiencing, and there’s nothing more appealing to today’s youth than the flagrant “I don’t give a fuck” attitude of successful kids their age. Odd Future’s fanbase will forever shout “Kill people, burn shit, fuck school!” with gleeful enthusiasm. Heck - we’re almost as careless as they are, right? Well... we want to be. When I finally leave the barrier, put away my camera and retreat to the floor, I find myself wedged between four massive, sweaty Odd Future bros. They’re all going nuts, throwing up the finger and screaming the words to “Radicals” as Tyler and the rest of the crew do the same exact thing on stage. I can’t help but join them. Later a friend will tell me she elected to “punch the crowd in all directions” in order to maneuver across the pit. Needless to say, we both left with bruises. This is simply how it goes. We don’t complain. If anything, we brag about it, throw on some Earl, and start planning for the next time Odd Future hits the Bean. As I filter through the details of this week’s show, I’m reminded of something Tyler said in his first interaction with the crowd. “I like Boston. I really fucks with Boston.”
