Concert Review / K.Flay at Central (Santa Monica)

Intensity poured out over the crowd last Friday at Central Social Aid and Pleasure Club in Santa Monica. K.Flay was up on the stage repping the Bay Area and giving it her all. The only other person accompanying her was a drummer – meaning K.Flay was responsible for both vocals and mixing. She had to handle running back and forth and making sure that everything was queued up.

The fog-filled, flashing light-infested venue was set and ready for K.Flay’s vigorous performance.  Loud cheers and then immediate focus came over the crowd when K.Flay dropped her first song. Her blunt lyrics, fast flow, and fierce rap hand gestures allured the crowd. She would end a song, run to the MPC/laptop set-up, drop a beat, and just keep topping the last songs performance.

A highlight of the evening was when she had a section of a beat play over and over, each time getting a bit faster. She rapped over it flawlessly. Each time the BPM sped up the crowd got more and more amped. It came to a point when it was inconceivable that she could rap at that speed. When she was finished, she didn’t even sound winded; she just went straight into the next song and acted as if she hadn’t done anything unusual. It was perplexing to say the least.

Another momentous part of the show was when she live-mixed the song No Duh with her MPC. It started off with a sample of K.Flay’s voice saying “Lah” on the half note, but she quickly started echoing the “Lah” on quarter and eight notes. As the loop continued she layered it with more drum and bass hits, making an intricate final product. One could easily see the focus and passion that she was putting into the beat. She was bobbing and bouncing to intently keep the rhythm and she made every hit seem significant.

All in all, the Stanford graduate showcased her expertise of stage presence. The aspect of her show that was most engaging was her confidence. It was clear that she was completely comfortable spitting her lyrics and throwing up thuggish hand gestures without holding back at all. This show solidified the fact that she can go above and beyond during a performance and present something rare. The excitement level of the crowd could surely attest to this.

–@julianrome