Tech N9ne

Tech N9ne‘s December 28 performance at the Uptown was everything a hip-hop show — especially a local one — should be. The first act, Vertigo, warmed the audience with tremulous dance beats and easy-to-chant anthemic choruses. Next came the quick-firing Yung Gunz, who lived up to the potential promised by their high-caliber cameo on Tech’s “Gunz Will Bust.” Then, after only a minimal wait, Tecca Nina and his crew emerged on fire, and their flames could not be contained. All the evening’s entertainers returned to the stage for the grand finale, “Fuck the Industry,” a posse cut that drops a whale of a bass line into a placid, oceanic beat and lets lyricists take turns riding the waves. That tune, which doubles as the thematic statement for Tech’s current advertising campaign, is one of three new additions to Tech’s recently rereleased classic AngHellic. All of those tracks debuted live at the Uptown concert, breathing another gale into a setlist that, based mostly on an album that’s just a few months old, wasn’t even in need of fresh air. This Granada gig offers a chance to repeat one of the best rap shows in recent memory, but it might better its predecessor. Tech was sick that night, but he still stormed through his songs like a flu-ridden Michael Jordan carrying his team to victory. With its star player in full health, this show could improve on near-perfection.