Ho99o9 at Brighton Music Hall 5/1
When I saw that fellow New Jerseyans Ho99o9 were coming to Boston on tour, I knew I had to go. Having had a steady presence in the underground punk rap scene for a while now, the duo, consisting of members theOGM and Eaddy, have created a solid discography since their debut in 2014.
I discovered them in 2019 after listening to their 2018 EP Cyber Cop [Unauthorized MP3.]. I came away loving their song “Mega City Nine (unknown virus 4.),” a stylistic deviation from their usual punk-inspired sound that I did not quite appreciate yet at the time. As a result, I did not pay much attention to them for the next few years, only really listening to this one electronic banger. However, I came back to their full-length albums United States of Horror and SKIN ahead of the concert and loved their raw and unfiltered energy, so I was extra excited for the show.
Before Ho99o9’s set, though, came N8NOFACE, an incredible synthpunk artist who I actually saw open for City Morgue back in September. Yet again taking a minimal approach to his live show, armed with nothing but a sampler and a synthesizer, he managed to produce some of the most head-banging inducing rhythms I’ve heard in a while. A super passionate performer, he screamed his lyrics and moved all across the stage, pulling his shirt over his head and picking up the mic stand in the process. He killed it yet again, also throwing some slower songs into the setlist, something I don’t remember from the City Morgue show.
In terms of Ho99o9’s set, they were incredible. Starting off with “Leader of Pain (unknown virus 7.),” a banger off the aforementioned Cyber Cop, they set the bar high. After playing an electric three song run with cuts from SKIN, they transitioned into anti-establishment anthem “Christopher Dorner.” Soon after came some of my favorite songs from the group: “PROTECT MY BITCH PT.2,” featuring a loud and distorted bassline and screamed vocals, as well as “Street Power” with its absolutely crazy guitar riff. I also finally got to hear the song that got me into the group, “Mega City Nine (unknown virus 4.),” which was a surreal moment.
Throughout the set, theOGM and Eaddy made sure to put on a real show. Bouncing all over the stage, they were overflowing with energy. While at the beginning they took their posts at opposite ends of the stage, with theOGM at the synthesizer/mic stand and Eaddy at the other mic stand, they made their way towards the center soon enough and really fed off of each other’s energy. First wearing a jacket and a hat reminiscent of a witch’s, theOGM later took them off to show off his corpse face paint and see-through floral shirt that he pulled over his head for one song, making for some wild pictures. Eaddy opted for a t-shirt over a striped long-sleeve and utilized multiple microphones throughout the set, one of which was a telephone handset that created a really cool muffling effect on his voice.
Some other highlights of the set were “Knuckle Up,” “LOWER THAN SCUM,” “BATTERY NOT INCLUDED,” and “Sub-Zer0” before they closed the show with “F.O.G (Error)” from Cyber Warfare. Ho99o9 are such great live performers. Their energy was truly infectious, as I could not stop headbanging throughout their set, even though I knew I needed to take pictures. I also wanted to give a nod to their drummer Billy Rymer, as he consistently delivered insane rhythms for the entire show. Give Ho99o9 a listen if you like Punk and/or rap and catch them live for some crazy energy, and I will definitely be revisiting Cyber Cop [Unauthorized MP3.] and diving deeper into their discography going forward.
