A few weeks ago, I attended a Slayr concert at the Rave/Eagles Club in Milwaukee with a few of my friends. No, not Slayyyter with a bunch of Ys. No, not the metal band Slayer. Slayr, with no E at the end of his name. As a person who doesn’t go to concerts much, I was very surprised with how much I enjoyed the show, even if I thought I was going to get crushed at the beginning. But more on that later.
Evan McDonald, who goes by the stage name “Slayr,” is an underground artist whose music is a blend of rap, hyperpop, and a whole bunch of different other things. He’s best known for his most popular song “Sloppy Joe,” which currently sits at almost 18 million streams on Spotify. I’ve been a fan of his music for a while, so when one of my friends asked if I wanted to see Slayr in concert, I said “sure.” The Halfblood Tour was Slayr’s first tour, and Milwaukee was the final stop.
Like I said, I don’t go to concerts much. Before I saw Kanye West at Soldier Field earlier this month, the last concert I went to was in 2017, at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center. Needless to say, I walked into the Rave/Eagles Club not knowing what to expect. You can imagine my surprise when the first words Slayr’s DJ said were, “Open it up.” “It,” in this case, referred to the giant mosh pit in the center of the room, which was now rapidly forming in front of me. Everybody kept moving backward, myself included, until I felt the wall behind me. Despite hitting the wall, I could still feel myself getting pushed back, and after a brief second of thinking I was about to get crushed, I managed to wriggle my way out and find a pocket of space. Keep in mind, Slayr himself wasn’t even there yet. This was just his DJ warming up the crowd. And warm was right. This room was HOT. It almost mimicked a TKE basement party. It also didn’t help that one of my earplugs got knocked out during the opening of the first mosh pit, but the music wasn’t so loud that I felt uncomfortable.
The mosh pit dynamic was intense and almost cyclical. The cycle went as follows: in the lead-up to a beat drop, the pit would start to open, and people would start to enter and mosh. When the beat dropped, the pit would close, and the people on the outside would rush in. The cycle would repeat a few minutes later. In my opinion, the pits were the best part of the concert. It was so high energy, and you could tell people were really excited to be there. Every pit rush made the song hit a little harder each time.
After Slayr’s DJ had spent 45 minutes warming up the crowd, Slayr himself came on. My friends and I saw Slayr walking into the venue before the show, and it wasn’t what I was expecting. If the random guy standing behind us hadn’t said anything, we probably wouldn’t have known he was Slayr. He was short, wearing all black, and had his hood up. He wasn’t even walking with a large entourage, just two people. He said something to the guy behind me, and then threw up a peace sign over his shoulder behind his head at me when I yelled, “HI SLAYR!!!”
His performance was amazing. His energy was high, and he would hype up the crowd by counting down to a beat drop. And the energy was infectious. The crowd was popping off, chanting “ay” at any chance they got. There were also a ton of people dressed up in different costumes. I saw a few Teletubbies, Omni-Man, Ghostface, Dr. Doom, hot dogs, burgers, and even Velma from Scooby-Doo. Slayr even invited a few of them onto the stage at the very end.
Once the show was over, Slayr thanked the crowd for coming out and said that he was done with his first ever tour. He said there was more to come and then left, and sadly didn’t come back out, despite the “one more song” chants from the crowd.
If I had to compare Slayr’s concert and Kanye’s concert, I would say that I enjoyed both. Soldier Field had a vibe that only Kanye in Chicago can create, but I liked the closer community that Slayr brought together. Ultimately, it’s reflected in their popularity, but the crowd and mosh pits at Slayr were top tier.
Overall rating: 10/10. This concert was amazing. The energy from both Slayr and the crowd was incredible. The mosh pits were awesome. The songs were awesome. The room was boiling, but that comes with the territory of mosh pits. And 40 dollars too — what’s not to love? Thank you, Slayr.
Leave a Reply