This photo isn’t from yesterday, because yesterday there was only one rapper…

Yo Majesty @ Rotture, May 5, 2008.

Fresh off Coachella, brimming with hype, Yo Majesty figured to be a wild party. Add Portland’s best DJ, Beyonda, and the floor at Rotture figured to split open and pour us down into the big open room below. And well, downstairs is where we ended up, but it wasn’t because of all the dancing.

Something went awry last night for Yo Majesty’s Portland performance*, and honestly I’m not quite sure why. Just two weeks ago at Rotture the French pop sensation, Yelle put on a bouncing show with the integral warm up assistance of Beyonda. Certainly Yo Majesty’s music is different — queer-crunk as opposed to shiny pop — but both are popular party acts. But for whatever reason, the people didn’t show for the ladies from Tampa like they did for the girl from Paris.

Now, a packed crowd isn’t always necessary for a successful performance, but for hip-hop with a celebratory bent, it surely helps. So why was the room so sparse? I don’t know. Strangely enough though, Rotture’s print and internet ads said “tickets were going fast”.*

But I maybe I shouldn’t even say Rotture, because although they are basically housemates, the show took place downstairs in the larger room at Hippodrone. It was an all ages affair, which is great, but it didn’t help fill the place. Drinks were available in the back room, but you couldn’t get anywhere near the performance with them—just peer through the two doors. Not exactly a great crossover venue. Even had the show taken place upstairs at Rotture, it likely wouldn’t have gained that sense of packed, communal intimacy. But downstairs at Hippodrone, the room was all empty space.

To their credit the contigent of diehard fans did their butt shaking in an effort to shake off the room and the night’s strange vibe.

Perhaps strangest of all were the missing band members. In all the photos I’ve seen of seen of YM, I saw two rappers. Heard them in the songs too. But last night, there was one pacing the stage—Shunda K. I’m sure there was some explanation, but arriving shortly after the set began, I must have missed it.

Shunda is indeed a solid rapper although without the interplay the sound was somewhat thin. Really though, this comes back to the missing member. In a playful group with songs like “Cryptonite Pussy” and the fantastic hipster-skewering “Leather Jacket,” with out a cohort to double lines and joke around with, well, what can you do?

But really, for whatever reason—and there seem to be a great number of them—this was a show that missed it’s mark. It’s too bad, because if chance and word of mouth and venue selection and what the fuck other magic things a good show takes would’ve aligned, Yo Majesty probably would’ve brought the house down… A time and a place, they say.

*Now, it is also certainly possible that loads of people came to see Beyonda and Does It Offend You, Yeah? then just peaced the fuck out before. I came to see Yo Majesty.