Genesis Owusu makes Amsterdam Bar & Hall come alive
by Sofia Haan and Bump Opera
May 08, 2023
On Saturday evening, St. Paul’s Amsterdam Bar and Hall hosted a rising musician with international clout. In a walled-off area of the hall, eager concertgoers milled around anxiously waiting for Genesis Owusu to take the stage. Throughout his eight-song set, Owusu embraced theatricality with boundless energy, delivering a performance that left his audience hungry for more.
The show marked the genre-defying artist’s second stop in the Twin Cities after a show promoting his debut, Smiling with No Teeth, in 2022. (This show, however, came as the latest of The Current’s MicroShows, which offers intimate concert experiences in unexpected venues via ticket giveaways.)
Cheers rang out throughout the hall as whooping noises sounded over the speakers to start the show. Slowly, a figure emerged from the back of the stage; Draped in a floor-length black cloak with life-sized, three-dimensional blood-red hands cascading over the shoulders and arms, Owusu crept forward. Staring out emotionless behind a pair of bug eye-shaped lenses, he surveyed the stunned crowd before sinking down as two backup performers clad in full-face black masks and black rope — his “Goons” — appeared from beneath the cloak. They leered down at the front-row attendees as Owusu sang with arms outstretched. On the final chorus of “The Other Black Dog,” the Goons pushed down on Owusu’s shoulders, a manifestation of oppression, as he sang “I want to be your number one / You’ll hold me to the sky / …I want to be your flesh and bone / You’ll take me to the grave.” As the song came to a close, Owusu shed the cloak to reveal a poppy-red suit with black netting underneath.
Just as quickly as they had appeared, the Goons were gone, leaving Owusu to carry the stage alone. After quickly greeting the audience, he launched into the funk-heavy “WUTD.” With moves reminiscent of James Brown, Owusu roamed the stage, pausing only to rap portions of the song to audience members. The bassline was impossible to ignore, inspiring even the more reticent attendees to finally let go and groove with him. While the initial entrance of Owusu and the Goons created spectacle, Owusu on his own proved that the show involved more than just grabbing attention — he had the vocal talent to back it all up. His voice was melodic, powerful, and impassioned, commanding the room.
He remained alone on stage as he transitioned into the spoken word introduction of “Waitin’ On Ya.” Throughout the airy hip-hop track, Owusu pantomimed air guitar as he sang, strumming down on the beat. However, where the recorded version of the song tapers off gently, Owusu’s live version added a driving 808 kick, ratcheting up the show to a fiercer pace. At the back of the stage, the Goons appeared again as if waiting for their next chance to pounce.
The building energy of the show reached its peak with “Void,” a deep cut off Owusu’s 2017 Cardrive EP. Flanked initially by the Goons, Owusu jumped in time as he repeatedly shouted the lyrics “Trapped in a void / Young boy been trapped in a void” as the crowd pulsed in tandem. The song might have come as a surprise even to the most fervent Owusu fans in attendance, but concertgoers quickly matched his energy and yelled the words back to him. During the final chorus, Owusu leaped directly into the crowd to sing. This direct engagement with the audience, like every other element of the show, seemed to surprise and delight concertgoers, who circled him immediately to form a frenzied dance circle.
From the center of the floor, Owusu commanded the entire audience to get low. For a crowd work tactic that can receive lukewarm participation in some cases, the entirety of the Amsterdam immediately dropped to their knees and stared up at him in reverence. Owusu had the crowd in the palm of his hand. Slowly, he crooned out the beginning of “Gold Chains” before allowing the thumping R&B beat to carry him back to the stage. He sang as an artist not creating a product to be consumed, but being consumed himself by the cold, ugly weight of success, declaring on the chorus “When it looks so gold / But if feels so cold / Inside these chains.” Each time he sang these lines, the Goons towered faceless behind him, holding up a red silken sign emblazoned with the ominous phrase “Don’t Forget to Smile,” a reference to Smiling with No Teeth’s messages of creating facades in an attempt to mask mental health and racial injustice in the modern world.
Owusu didn’t let the heavy themes of the song weigh down the latter half of the performance, shifting immediately to new release “Get Inspired.” The air of the hall rocked in time with his rapid-fire lyrics as the trio bounced, high-kicked, and stepped together across the stage. Owusu’s pure physicality was on full display in both his choreographed and natural movements to the music. His motions felt planned, but not forced; purposeful, but not over-exaggerated. All movement carried meaning.
In his final two songs, the atmosphere shifted. At the start of “Don’t Need You,” the Goons ripped off their black masks to reveal the smiling faces of the backup performers. Gone was the submission to the oppression and fear of the Goons and in their place was pure, unadulterated joy. The trio led the audience in free-flowing dance, embracing the strength of overthrowing forces that seek to tear you down, as well as the joy that comes with simply celebrating life with others. Owusu played with the crowd before his final number “Good Times,” directing portions of the crowd to cheer with a swipe of his hand, before thanking the crowd for “making his 15-hour flight from Australia worth it.”
And just like that, he was gone. The hungry crowd was still calling out for more, even long after the house lights went up, praying for another song. Eventually, Owusu came back to greet fans, shaking hands and posing for photos for at least 20 minutes after the set had ended.
Numerous times throughout the evening, Owusu asked the crowd, “St. Paul, are you alive?” As the Amsterdam continued to hum with excitement long after Owusu had called it a night, safe to say it was he who breathed life into everyone in the room.
Setlist
The Other Black Dog
WUTD
Waitin’ on Ya
Void
Gold Chains
Get Inspired
Don’t Need You
Good Times