CHICD: Nnamdi Ogbonnaya, Sen Morimoto, and Glitter Moneyyy at Empty Bottle – 11/9

My goal is to see one show per week. Yes, I might be that annoying friend that just has to tell you about the thing you missed, but I’m also catching every great show in the city of Chicago–with plenty more ahead of me. Welcome to the Chicago Concert Dispatch.

At the time of this show, it is 45 weeks into the year and I have seen 109 shows.

Glitter Moneyyy strutted onto the stage with glitter covered blow horns and champagne bottles. There were some fans in the audience, but most were newbs. I could feel the shock from the audience as these strong, gorgeous, scantily clad ladies started spitting, “This year I’m going to fuck, flirt, and thrive. 2018 is the year of the slut, year of the slut, year of the slut.” Glitter Moneyyy def had everyone’s attention all the way to the bar. Queen TrAshley and TayyySlayyy rapped over pre-recorded tracks with the house sound engineer acting as DJ. I loved how they called him out by name, bringing him into the show. These two ladies put so much out there I didn’t miss a band. They were in our faces with their spit, rhymes, bodies, sex, and activism. The biggest hit with the crowd was “MOUF”, when they chanted “you can only hit this if you an activist, you can get this erection if you vote every election” the crowd went nuts. Wherever they go, the party is sure to kick off. It was truly a perfect way to start the Friday night show.

Sen Morimoto oozed emotions as he sang, as he danced, as he played the sax. hen he bumped his hips and sang “I love you for who you are” there is a feeling of support and love running through the whole room. He used his whole body to grind his heels in emphasis of the lyrics, and music. The bass player, Dejon Crockran, gently bounced through the music. The drummer, Ryan Person, seemed to be the perfect undercurrent for Sen’s music. He took the percussive elements firmly into the arena of jazz. His style was noisy, it crashed and rolled over us like waves. It submerged us into the music. At the mercy to where Sen was taking us. The lyrics pulled me into the specificity of Sen Morimoto’s experience “I wrote songs in Japan on my Grandma’s baby grand,” but also connected to the universal “Love, what’s that mean to you? Money, what’s that mean to you? Do you need it too? I need it too.” It was the physically compelling power of his performance and stellar musicianship that drove the crowd nuts. His extended sax solo during “Picture of a Painting” literally made the kids scream in worship.

If you listened to Nnamdi Ogbonnaya‘s top hits, you might think you know what to expect from one of his performances. But he hit us with the full undefinable range of his music. The performance brought rap and hip-hop into the avant garde, into art rock, with the rage of heavy metal. It was experimental in the best possible way; it sounds only and exactly like Nnamdi. The thing that really drew me to Nnamdi is the way he experiments with his vocals–he screams, he cracks it between octaves, but also takes it soft and gentle. He is literally dynamic with is voice, literally unique. But unfortunately, the amps and drums were so loud that being so close to the stage meant his vocals were often drowned out for me. It was too bad. Luckily, the music was tight and dynamic. Six string bass, anyone? Michael Cantella has you covered with cool efficiency. Johnny Wilson threw himself into his guitar, while holding down keys, backup vocals, and samples. But those drums had me rapt. They were so angry. Heavy metal with a bit of jazz chaos. Seth Engel played with a pained expression and so much force the whole kit was moving with his blows. Nnamdi was also in full force, so even if I couldn’t always hear his voice, I could watch his face. Watched the way he moved around the stage, which was well worth it.

Glitter Moneyyy Facebook | Soundcloud | Instagram
Sen Morimoto Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram
Nnamdi Ogbonnaya Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram