2 High 2 Die

On Tuesday, Sept. 24, two of the strongest underground rappers in the country stopped by the Bluebird Nightclub for a tour that stayed true to its name. All the acts on the bill endorsed lighting up, with lots of smoke lifting above the audience as the evening progressed.

Hardcore Los Angeles punk band Trash Talk started the show. While it may seem like an oddly chosen opener for a hip-hop show, Trash Talk’s set went well, perhaps due to its newly forged ties with Odd Future.

From the first song on, the set was littered with mosh pits, stage diving and the type of rebellious energy that has started to become the norm at hip-hop shows.

The band’s technical abilities were undeniable, but it was its antics that will be remembered by most. The constant stage diving led to multiple bloody noses amongst the crowd and clearly disturbed the more casual fans in attendance.

One man actually got knocked out following a hard dive, causing the show to momentarily halt while he received assistance.

Both Danny Brown and Action Bronson used warm-up DJs prior to their sets, with each DJ reflecting the styles and tones of his respective rapper.

Bronson’s DJ chose to play tongue-in-cheek 1980s pop songs, echoing Bronson’s humorous rap persona. Bronson sounded great live, bringing out some of the bigger sing-along choruses of the evening, especially on the single “The Rockers.” Bronson kept his set more laid-back, focusing on his complex rhymes and punch lines rather than getting the crowd rowdy.

However, Bronson’s set still had its fair share of shenanigans. At one point, a man in the crowd threw a cigarette onstage.

Bronson then cut off the music and asked the man to come on stage and fess up. He made the man sit behind the stage facing a corner, putting him in “timeout” for the remainder of the performance.

Brown’s personal DJ, SKYWLKR, kicked off Brown’s portion of the show with a wild mix of hit dubstep songs and trap beats.

It’s rare to see a crowd go wild for an opening set by a DJ, but as soon as SKYWLKR dropped the beat to Waka Flocka Flame’s “Hard in Da Paint,” the entire room exploded with energy.

Brown’s set kept the energy high, even as he focused on unreleased material from his upcoming album “Old.”

If the new songs are any indication of what “Old” will sound like, Brown is going for the wild, electronically driven sound of singles like “Dip” and “Molly Ringwald.”

It was Brown’s hits from his 2011 album “XXX” that got the crowd moving the most, though, with standout “Blunt After Blunt” receiving the biggest reception.

While Brown and Bronson may not be well known by the mainstream yet, the large turnout for their show proves how far they’ve come in only a year’s time. They may be too high to die, but they’re also too talented to remain unknown for long.