Anderson .Paak and The Free Nationals danced their way through a crowded room in the second show of University Union’s Bandersnatch Concert Series Wednesday night in Schine Underground.

While .Paak himself is multitalented — he flipped easily between fast rhymes and intense choruses — the power of his accompaniment, The Free Nationals, took the show to a whole new level. Although he starting off slow with gentle synth beats, once The Free Nationals came on, .Paak’s sound up kicked up a notch with pounding guitar and drums, creating a noise that left many audiences members’ ears ringing.

Liam Sheehan | Asst. Photo Editor

The purple lights, the synth machine dropping fat beats and the amazing rock n’ roll edge of The Free Nationals created an incredible sound explosion that left the whole room writhing. Paak noticed the energy too.

“Damn, this was like the number one party school and sh*t,” he said, commenting on the movement. “This is our first college show.” Later on in the performance, he joined the audience’s dancing by actually walking into the crowd.

But .Paak wasn’t the only artist to join the audience off stage.

The opener, Smino, also brought the show down to the floor by creating a dance circle that had the whole entire audience jumping.

“If you love yo’ mama, take one step forward,” Smino said, and everyone happily obliged.

Liam Sheehan | Asst. Photo Editor

Smino had a much smaller setup than .Paak — it was just him and his beat maker — but his infectious singing and fast rhymes created a quick rhythm. His song “Kolors” had everyone raising the figurative roof.

Other Paak songs included “Drugs,” “Luh You” and “Am I Wrong?” He performed songs from both his new album “Malibu,” as well as “Venice.” Although Paak chose not to do an encore, in one song he let the audience know his true feelings.

“Syracuse, I think I love you,” Paak said. “F*ck, I know I do.”

Published on March 23, 2016 at 11:51 pm