By Sean De Tore
The Mixtape

As I was driving to the Crocodile this past Friday night I couldn’t help but wonder if I was actually going to be on the ‘list’. Having the job that I have I get certain perks and privileges that completely rule. One of those perks is getting into shows for free and then being able to bring to you, the (hopefully) constant reader, my experience which I would like to think helps you find new music that you have no idea about and will then enjoy day after day. The reason I was wondering if I was going to be on the list this past Friday night is because I have gotten completely screwed in the past on several occasions and I am now forever paranoid?, skeptical?, about whether or not I will be able to get into a particular show. This paranoia I am now afflicted with also affects whether or not I choose to ask a friend (or lover. that’s right. lover.) to accompany me to a show, and if I do bring someone along I now find that I give each person the same spiel about how I may or may not be on the list, blah, blah, blah. This time around I was fortunate enough to be able to partner up with a very competent PR person and everything worked out fine. Whew.

After a silent rejoice about the fact that I was on the appropriate list I made my way into the main stage area of the Crocodile mere moments before Doomtree were to take the stage. To my surprise the place was completely packed. I say ‘to my surprise’ not because I in any way doubted the talent and awesomeness of Doomtree but because before this last Friday night I had only a minimal knowledge of the group and I had just started my journey into the investigation of the collective. Doomtree is a group of seven friends (Dessa, Mike Mictlan, Lazerbeak, P.O.S., Cecil Otter, Papertiger and Sims) who come to us by way of Minneapolis and have been on the scene for a solid decade showing off their skills to audiences all over the U.S. to great acclaim. The lights went down, the crowd went berserk and Doomtree broke out ‘Bangarang’, a cut from their brand new LP No Kings, which you can witness below…

As the night wore on the members of Doomtree not only acted as a collective rocking the rhymes on time (which didn’t seem tricky at all), but several members of the crew also broke off on an individual basis taking ownership of the mic, showing off their ability to go solo. Check out Dessa of Doomtree below…

This past Friday night the Crocodile was completely crackin’ and I’m positive that if Doomtree were to have played all night long (all night) the Seattle crowd would have dried off their sweaty, glistening bodies, enjoyed a drink from the bar and then would have taken over the dancefloor for the rest of the evening with absolutely no plans of leaving.

If you happen to get a chance to catch Doomtree on their current tour I swear to you that even if you go into the show knowing nothing of the collective, you will leave wanting to know everything.

sean.