The cold, blustery weekend came to the perfect end last evening, with Atmosphere and his crew closing the last chapter of the Paint the Nation Tour at the Vic Theatre. It wasn’t even summer when Slug and Ant last rocked the Metro, back in April upon When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold just dropped—and here it was, Chicago’s first snow fall and we were all back for some more. The sold-out show boasted a full house, thriving off one another’s energy to all of Atmosphere’s best back catalogue hits. I made the mistake of arriving at 8:25 or so, thinking that a 7:30 PM (at least as advertised on the Vic’s site) show could not have the headliner onstage so early—to find out Slug had already been rocking it out since 8:00. As a result, I had to camp out in the back, but to my luck, had a clear view of the stage, surrounded by fellow die-hard fans.

As soon as I walked in, I didn’t realize the Paint the Nation tour would be showcasing more classic numbers, since “Puppets” was the first track I heard. Right away, I noticed something was different from the last time I caught this duo, and it wasn’t just Slug’s haircut or missing ‘stache. It seemed like Mr. Daley wasn’t up on stage performing as this untouchable rap god; but rather, he was just having a super good time. Instead of me being so awestruck this time, I gathered the vibe that it was like he was just another one of us—hanging with a large group of his closest friends, up on stage to shoot the shit and belt out some beats—which is just what the crowd ate up. I’m not saying his performance wasn’t what it was last April, which by the way was PHENOMENAL, or any weaker/stronger, but Slug just managed to keep it so real it was natural. Like, I didn’t count down the days for the show of a lifetime, I just kind of KNEW, in the back of my head, that this would be raw.

In fact, I’ve seen Atmosphere four times now, and this is the first time Slug’s belted out nearly every one of my favorite older tracks. The super fan who stood by me, graciously allowing my Puma bag to pelt him in the arm as I swayed to the beat and scribbled my notes, is supposedly going to email me the exact track-by-track set list in exchange for my blurred out Kodak pics later on this evening—if this indeed is the case, I promise to tack on the set list in the comments section later on. At that point I can give you an exact play-by-play, but my knowledge of Atmosphere pre-God Loves Ugly/Lucy Ford is not what it should be so I can only mention my highlights of last night.

Click here to read our Top 5 highlights from the show

Highlight #1: “God Loves Ugly”—after Slug professes his undying appreciation for Chicago the umpteenth time, “I’ve always had a crush on this fucking city,” he contemplates—“I don’t understand it, this unconditional love—why this city as beautiful as you would give a fuck about some ugly kid in Minneapolis. . .” (Perfect transition into the crowd chanting title track to Atmosphere’s second record)–Slug concludes the track with what else? “Make some noise you ugly Midwestern motherfuckers!” We love you too, Sean.

Highlight #2: “Shoulda Known”—not only will that opening sexy bass line kill me every time I hear it, but I couldn’t help but smirk when Slug hyped up the crowd to mimic the chant, “Make Dinner—Make Dinner, Dinner, Dinner. . .,” just to see if the crowd would follow his lead. . .which they did. Later on after the track Sean apologizes, explaining he’s “Sorry about all that shit I ask you to do—but I’m not gonna lie, I just do it to see if you’ll follow—I’m not a prick, but seriously—when you got your hands up—you don’t know either of the people to your left or your right, but they got their hands up too? That’s as close to church as some of us ever get. That’s unity—make some noise for the person standing next to you.” Awwwww.

Highlight #3: “Sunshine”—Outside of the Vic, the Chicago snow is falling for the first time. Slug, with a cheesy grin on his face, tells the crowd of how he pulled in to Chi earlier today, when it was bright outside only a few hours ago—then as the snow fell, he pondered, “Why is it that I bring the snow to you, but you all just bring me sunshine?” Following this, possibly, one of my favorite top 3 Atmosphere tracks, I noted several tongue in cheek T.I. slams (from seemingly out of nowhere)—Slug is definitely not a fan—good for you, man.

Highlight #4: “Guarantees”/“Trying to Find a Balance”—the first track of the fake-out encore, Slug asks the crowd if it’s ok if he skips out on the hockey chant bullshit where we call and shout when they leave the stage—he’s been choking on his cough drops and just wants to keep this thing going—and as he starts into the track he introduces a track by the Red Hot Chili Peppers (“Under the Bridge”) as the first lyrical bed into “Guarantees,”—“I’ll be reading all this shit on You Tube tomorrow,” he jokes—and then after the “campfire song” sing along, he stops to tell us the story of how the guitar beat in the chorus actually came from Nate, the guitarist, who gave Slug the bed after the original beat had been borrowed from a beat Ant gave to Brother Ali for a song about a suicide. Just goes to show how those crazy kids at Rhymesayers really are just one big family. . . But this story didn’t just end there; it turned into Slug giving Nate, his “moment to shine,” which consisted of a killer guitar rock cover introduction to “Trying to Find a Balance.”

Highlight #5: Following the final Encore number, “Always Coming Home to You,” Slug brings out fellow tour mates Blueprint, Abstract Rude and DJ Rare Groove for a freestyle sesh to “Smart Went Crazy”—is any further descriptor necessary? That shit was off the hook—packed full of references for the Chi crowd to go bananas—“The Bears lost today, but that’s ok,” the obligatory Obama reference, the mid-west rules, etc etc.

Honorable Mentions: “The Rooster,” “Say Hey There,” “Don’t Ever Fucking Question That,” “Yesterday,” “Shrapnel, “Vanity Sick”—new track?

And of course–The crowd. The audience was one of the most courteous, passionate and carefree groups of people I’ve checked a show with in as long as I can remember. Everyone felt that noise and for the most part, was cool to those around them. It’s like Slug and Ant gave off some sort of delectable happy high, as their beats vibrated the Vic, Slug stated, “Tonight’s show was brought to you by the Letter V, V is for Victory.” Indeed, Slug, indeed.

Previously: Review: Atmosphere - Metro, Chicago