Thursday, November 19th. It is about 8:15 PM. The Fairmount Theatre is slowly filling itself. The smoke machines give a hazy atmosphere to the auditorium. I take a first sip of my 7$ citrus-perfumed French pale ale, when Mathieu taps my shoulder: "Hey, that's him, right there!"
I turn and I recognize him, even from behind. With his windbreaker bearing the XL Recordings logo and his singular dreads, I see Shamir crossing the room, as if nothing had happened, and leaving a moment to buy food at the grocery store downstairs, just before his show.
A North Vegas native, Shamir Bailey just turned 21. It’s without his last name that he started making the rounds in the blogosphere stating last year, first with the Northtown EP and then through the underground hit of On the Regular. With tons of cowbells and dancing synthesizers, Shamir managed to create a bomb of a track, halfway between hip-hop and house music. A first full album was released last spring and harvested praise from everyone from Spin and Pitchfork and major newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune. And, of course, Sound of Awesome was in the train to Shamir station as well.
Upon …show more content…
Hips wander from left to right, feet leave the ground constantly and arms wriggle in the air, when they are not busy holding a smart phone for a photo. There is just enough space so that you can dance freely without stepping on someone else’s foot. Most likely in a daze, a group of friends on my left seems to have lots of fun. While some songs in the middle of the set, like his cover of A Christmas Card, seem to cool off the crowd, others like Hot Mess and Call It Off place the crowd in a very festive mood. During the encore, the six women, probably on the edge of reaching their thirties, shake in their arms in a big circle of love (their words, not mine) and sway from one side to the other, more or less on time. At this point, I think it is perhaps time that the show
I turn and I recognize him, even from behind. With his windbreaker bearing the XL Recordings logo and his singular dreads, I see Shamir crossing the room, as if nothing had happened, and leaving a moment to buy food at the grocery store downstairs, just before his show.
A North Vegas native, Shamir Bailey just turned 21. It’s without his last name that he started making the rounds in the blogosphere stating last year, first with the Northtown EP and then through the underground hit of On the Regular. With tons of cowbells and dancing synthesizers, Shamir managed to create a bomb of a track, halfway between hip-hop and house music. A first full album was released last spring and harvested praise from everyone from Spin and Pitchfork and major newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune. And, of course, Sound of Awesome was in the train to Shamir station as well.
Upon …show more content…
Hips wander from left to right, feet leave the ground constantly and arms wriggle in the air, when they are not busy holding a smart phone for a photo. There is just enough space so that you can dance freely without stepping on someone else’s foot. Most likely in a daze, a group of friends on my left seems to have lots of fun. While some songs in the middle of the set, like his cover of A Christmas Card, seem to cool off the crowd, others like Hot Mess and Call It Off place the crowd in a very festive mood. During the encore, the six women, probably on the edge of reaching their thirties, shake in their arms in a big circle of love (their words, not mine) and sway from one side to the other, more or less on time. At this point, I think it is perhaps time that the show