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by Earl Crown, host of Crucial Cuts on WLOY

On June 4th 2017, Kool Keith (aka Dr. Octagon) came to Baltimore Soundstage with his hip-hop super-group, and reminded us why we loved Dr. Octagon in the first place. His 1996 album, [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/1977/id310121423?i=310121516&uo=4″ title=”Dr. Octagonecologyst” text=”Dr. Octagonecologyst”], is considered by many to be among the most important albums of that decade and a must-own LP for any serious fan of the genre. With the help of producer and DJ Dan “The Automator” Nakamura, as well as world-class turntablist DJ Qbert, Octagon was able recreate the genius of his groundbreaking 1996 album on stage.

The Dr. Octagon tour features an all-star stage band, with a live drummer and bass player, along with two DJs, the aforementioned Dan the Automator and DJ Qbert. The set list for the Baltimore Soundstage show included many tracks from the Dr. Octagonecologyst album, including “[itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/3000/id310121423?i=310121435&uo=4″ title=”3000″ text=”3000″]”, “[itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/earth-people/id310121423?i=310121448&uo=4″ title=”Earth People” text=”Earth People”]” and “[itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/bear-witness/id310121423?i=310121476&uo=4″ title=”Bear Witness” text=”Bear Witness”]”. The appreciative crowd got especially wild for “[itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/blue-flowers/id310121423?i=310121467&uo=4″ title=”Blue Flowers” text=”Blue Flowers”],” a fan-favorite from the 1996 release.

The British rock band, [itunes link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/don-broco/id307317604?uo=4″ title=”Don Broco” text=”Don Broco”], has been around since 2008, but have just embarked on their first US tour. Aside from having the pleasure of interviewing the band, I had the opportunity of seeing them live at Baltimore Soundstage.

Anyone who knows Baltimore, knows that the music fans of the city are very hard to please, especially the pop punk scene, who have seen acts like Modern Baseball, All Time Low and many more jump off to headlining acts at major festivals and their own tours. And to be honest, Don Broco is definitely the odd ball out when looking at the bill. They are lined up with bands like: With Confidence, Against the Current and State Champs. Fortunately, there were a few fans there, but Don Broco definitely had a challenge ahead of them.