Marty: It was a brisk November night. As I feared that it would be freezing before I went in, the night was blessed with a crisp breeze and werewolf-enticing full moon that beamed over Thalia Hall. As I waited in the four-block line that snaked around the beautiful Pilsen shops and quaint apartment buildings, my anticipation grew and my dreams finally turned to reality: I was finally seeing JPEGMAFIA live. Once the time hit 7:30, the line slowly but surely crept its way through the gate and cruised up the staircase into a venue that looks identical to where Abraham Lincoln was shot.
Once I gawked at the beautiful Victorian-style architecture and a steady stream of fans bubbling from the gate, I went through my mightly successful three-step pre-concert checklist. First and foremost, do I have a beer yet? Answer: No, but in a matter of seconds a cold Miller Lite was glued to my hand. The second objective, do I have any merch? Answer: Not yet, but a concerning amount of money was spent on a tour shirt (although I did get a free mask which is pictured below). And last, but certainly not least, do you have solid real estate? Answer: I didn’t have it at the beginning, but you bet your ass I did everything in my power to get as close to Peggy as possible. Let the games begin
After about forty-five minutes of chatting about our anticipation like fangirls, the opening act, Zelooperz, came to the stage and performed a very joyful set. I’ll be honest, I know probably five Zelooperz songs, but he did a fantastic job getting the crowd involved. As an opener, it is an extremely difficult and strenuous job to get the crowd as involved as the headliner, but he did a phenomenal job. He opened with my favorite Zelooperz song, “Battery,” which ignited his set. He performed a cover of “Hard in da Paint” by Waka Flocka Flame, and even slowed down his set at points playing “Bigger Than Me” and his most popular track “Easter Sunday.” Throughout his 30 minute set, Zelooperz had creativity, fun, and a killer voice that encapsulates a crowd. Zelooperz is a headliner in his own right and it was a pleasure to see him open.
After Zelooperz set, it was time for the main event. The lights shot to black and quickly illuminated the stage, blasting the Buttermilk Jesus like he was a prophet from a holy land. A gray cloak rested upon his body like a Jedi and at that point, I knew I was in for the show of my life. He introduced himself, walked to his laptop, and stood up, soaking in the furious passionate chant by the crowd screaming, “Peggy...Peggy...Peggy!” He would press one key, playing “Jesus Forgive Me I’m a Thot” and the crowd erupted.
For the next hour and a half, I was non-stop singing every lyric to every song and moshing like a 16-year-old seeing Lil Uzi Vert for the first time after convincing his parents for hours to let him go (that was oddly specific). He implemented a little bit of everything, playing a lot of his new album LP!, and classics from Veteran and All My Heroes are Cornballs like “Thug Tear,” “Free the Frail,” or “1539 N. Calvert". The tight-knit community that JPEGMAFIA provides is something to be admired by every artist because almost every single person in the crowd knows every song from front to back. It was tremendous. There weren't any awkward performances where the artist is the only one singing. He could’ve not sung a single word that entire concert and the crowd would have been able to finish every song in its entirety. I have never seen anything like it. Hell, he even did a “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen cover and everyone knew the words.
Even though every song was a masterpiece and performed in expert fashion, no moment topped when JPEGMAFIA came down into the crowd and sang his verse on “CHAIN ON.” I was moshing directly next to my musical lord and savior and even snapped this shaky picture. I have never been that close to an artist in my life and I could’ve died right there happy as I could be.
JPEGMAFIA is one of the best performers I have ever seen and I have seen over a hundred artists live. I cannot describe in words the joys I felt listening to that concert and if you ever get a chance to see him, do yourself a favor and go. I spent $30 to see him — it's the best $30 I have ever spent.
FINN: Jesus forgive me, I am STILL DREAMING ABOUT THAT PEGGY SET. 70 minutes of pure, crystalized euphoria. I say “crystalized” because I have been waiting for two years for JPEGMAFIA to be humanized; for his god-like persona to finally grace my presence; for his physical being to finally register in my mind as the heavenly, awe-inducing king that has blessed my ears with incomparable artistry for thousands of hours.
While Zeelooperz put on a show that had my head constantly bopping back-and-forth, I can’t say I really knew any of his music like Marty did. I showed up with some normie knowledge and quietly sang “Easter Sunday'' while simultaneously hoping the people next to me didn’t realize I didn’t even know those lyrics. All I wanted for that entire half-hour set was for Buttermilk Jesus to roll up onto the stage in whatever mysteriously hard outfit he decided to stunt with.
Here is a picture of Peggy stunting:
Whether Peggy was rocking the vest-with-no-undershirt to look like a king or to stay cool in an incredibly humid environment, all I can say is clean play. Wearing anything else would not have boded well with the amount of sprinting, galloping, and lurking around the stage that occurred during the show. Rarely did you see Peggy stand still during a song unless he was performing the most electric cover of “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen I think anyone has ever heard. I knew how much JPEG loves the track and even has the cover on his streaming accounts, but to see him perform that in concert was an incredible gift. I put that as one of my top tracks performed for the night.
The set began harder than anticipated when Peggy started things off with “Jesus Forgive Me, I am a Thot,” my number one played song of 2020. (I’m sorry I'm acting like a fanboy, I’m just really a fanboy). JPEG continued with numerous songs from his newest full album, LP!, including “BALD!,” “NEMO!,” and “DIRTY!” While I was deeply infatuated with each and every song that the DarkSkinManson performed, a lot of me selfishly wanted to hear any song from my favorite album of his, Black Ben Carson.
The lack of Black Ben Carson tracks mattered very minuscule-ly as Peggy exceeded every other expectation I had in my mind. With Peggy playing classics like “I cannot fucking wait till Morrisey Dies,” “Free the Frail,” “Rainbow Six,” and a few other earlier tracks of his, any fan should have left that concert, obviously wanting more, but incredibly happy with what they received.
Some final thoughts I have: I love when artists can come into the crowd. I know this can be a safety hazard; I’m just happy Peggy is still small enough to allow that to happen. Peggy’s ability to infatuate the crowd for the entire set with help from no one else (hype man, DJ, etc.) is the epitome of elite artistry. This man does EVERYTHING: mix, master, produce, write, perform, everything. Lastly, I love when artists let the crowd dictate some music choices. JPEG was more than happy to listen to crowd chants to give them the songs they wanted. I love that. This was the best concert I have ever been to. It (extremely bias-ly) beats out the likes of BROCKHAMPTON, 100 GECS, and Tame Impala.
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