On March 19, I was afforded the opportunity to see Detroit’s own Danny Brown with openers Bruiser Wolf and Hook at Grewal Hall in downtown Lansing. This evening was a real experience, so I’ll try and recount it chronologically.
When I showed up at Grewal, a small, intimate venue with a general admission floor not much bigger than a basketball court, Bruiser Wolf’s set was nigh upon the lucky group who had shown up that evening.
Bruiser Wolf, a recent inductee to the Danny Brown-led Detroit rap collective Bruiser Brigade, spent the next 45 odd minutes spitting some uniquely Detroit flows and hyping the crowd up with calls of “Bruiser!” to which the crowd responded with a resounding “Wolf!”
Bruiser Wolf’s set consisted mainly of tracks from his latest album, My Stories Got Stories, released in January. His style was evocative of classic hip-hop and had the crowd moving more than I’ve seen with most openers, especially for the size of the venue.
Los Angeles-based rapper Hook took over once Bruiser Wolf’s set had finished, and she brought some of her new release’s best tracks to Lansing. Her style was equally engaging, bringing some unorthodox trap beats with what sounded almost like an emo rap style with a bombastic female twist.
Afterward, the stage was reset and the excitement for Brown’s set was all over the room. After some time, the stage went dark and the frenetic production of “Tantor” from Brown’s new release Quaranta blared across the venue. After making his way through “Tantor,” Brown led the crowd of devoted fans through all of his best tracks from every one of his cult classic albums. In a venue of that size, I’ve never felt so sure I was going to be crushed in a mosh.
Brown’s biggest strength has always been his underground appeal, and the energy from some of his most devoted fans during his performance at Grewal Hall dwarfed that of far bigger concerts I’ve been to. Listening to Brown is one thing, but seeing him live, for real fans, is the comprehensive experience.
For me, seeing him almost a year prior at MSU’s 2023 spring concert before giving his work a real listen made this a full circle experience. My bottom line? Catching Danny Brown live is not something one should miss.