Review & video from Big Boi show

Big Boi performs at SOBE Live in Miami Beach (Ustream screengrab)

 

By Adrian Ruhi8/19/2010

If you were silly enough to miss the free Big Boi performance at SOBE Live in Miami Beach on Wednesday night, fear not: The show, which was streamed live on MySpace, is archived for your viewing pleasure on Big Boi’s Ustream page.

The rapper, born Antwan Andre Patton, burst onto the cramped stage at 11 p.m. sharp to the tune of “Bust” from 2003’s Speakerboxxx. Wearing his trademark Dickies outfit and a powder blue Atlanta Braves fitted cap, he was flanked by DJ Cutmaster Swift, a guitarist, a bassist, two trumpet players, and Dungeon Family member C-Bone, who played hypeman.

He quickly barreled through a set of Outkast classics, including singles like “ATLiens” and “So Fresh, So Clean,” as well as deeper cuts like “Skew It On The Bar-B.” The crowd of about 400 gladly sang and danced along.

The set was also used to showcase material from Big Boi’s recently released Def Jam Records solo debut, Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son Of Chico Dusty. Members of Georgia-based fusion band Vonnegutt appeared onstage to help out with the chorus of  “Follow Us,” and current single “Shutterbugg” was preceded by a bizarre appearance by Scott Storch, the song’s producer, who declared “Storch is back” after suffering a dramatic fall from grace in the mid 2000s.

But Big Boi was at his best on songs where his band’s contributions were noticeable. “The Way You Move” was spectacular, with the deep basslines plucked perfectly, and the horn section coming through loud and funky. Similarly, vintage Outkast tracks “Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik” and “Player’s Ball” sounded better than ever.

It’s still a shame that Andre 3000 stopped touring years ago, but the audience didn’t seem to mind seeing half of Outkast for one hour in such an intimate setting.

Watch the entire performance below (explicit language):