The afternoon of Dec. 7, I was posing with Santa at the Hilldale Shopping Center. I didn’t know it at the time, but the mall Santa was a grim foreshadowing of what would be one of the most disingenuous shows I’ve ever attended. The Christmas icon was stripped of his magic the moment I sat on his lap, and all that was left was an old man in a red costume. Children all around me began to cry as they realized the truth about Santa, just like the countless Majestic Theatre audience members that night did about RiFF RAFF, albeit a little less teary.
The show started on a high note, with local rapper and UW student CRASHprez working the crowd. Michael Penn II has done dozens of shows in the Madison area, and it was apparent that he and the audience were well acquainted. Even with his a cappella rap breaks and discussions with the audience, people brought twice as much energy to Penn’s performance than they managed to scrape together for RAFF. Even though most people came to hear verses on Versace Slippers and Porsches with the top down, Penn’s hip hop commentary on police violence and blackness resonated throughout all of Majestic.
Following CRASHprez was Chicago rapper Logan. It took approximately 20 minutes for the energy that CRASHprez conjured up to fade away. Logan was a Chi-town contradiction, simultaneously boasting his hometown while also lamenting to the audience that his city “wasn’t giving him the love he deserved." One of the reasons for his lack of local love may have been that his style of rapping was more Soundcloud-influenced than Chicago-influenced, lulling the audience to gentle sways. The crowd was just as happy to crowd surf Logan as they were for CRASHprez, but the Madison magic just wasn’t there.
The show got local again as DJ Jean Le Duke spun a set of drop-heavy trap music before the final act of the night. Concertgoers around me began to get testy in anticipation of RAFF during Logan’s set, but the tension was loosened by Jean Le Duke’s energetic set. The crowd was moshing back and forth as Le Duke threw his body around the stage and out into the crowd. For a half hour he managed to make the wooden floors of the Majestic rock back and forth, which is more than could be said for his follow-up act.
At last, a mystical neon-laced man ran on stage, setting the Majestic aflame… for all of about three minutes. After the initial shock of RAFF’s appearance, the audience slowly came to their senses. RAFF was more image than performer, and his songs barely managed to keep energy levels above those of Logan’s performance. With almost no crowd participation or interaction, it was hard for RAFF to maintain his air of wild lavishness.
The advertisements for the show itself were ever-present. No less than three times was the audience told that they, yes they, could meet RAFF after his show for the exorbitant price of $100 per person. RAFF’s DJ barked at the audience before and after the show, “Make sure to get your wristbands at the merch table!” Suddenly, images of mall Santas flashed through my eyes. One my friends even went as far to believe that it wasn’t even RAFF on stage but an imposter, citing his lack of personality and gained body weight as signs that the show itself could be a coup.
Even RAFF’s classic songs such as “Tip Toe Wing In My Jawwdinz” only managed to garner an “Oooooooh!” from the audience, solely due to song recognition, before they resumed standing in place. The entire show was propelled only by the marketed fable and myth of the cartoonish character named “RiFF RAFF” which was evaporating faster than the crowd’s enthusiasm.
RAFF’s show was a textbook definition of a cell phone concert. Audience members and performers barraged each other with recording devices from Snapchat videos to promotional footage. Camera lights flashed in my face more than show lights did. I felt as itemized and ingenuine as I did when I sat on Santa’s lap. The paid-by-the-hour mall worker was as much Santa as the peach-haired neon man on the Majestic stage was RAFF. And both experiences ended up being as shallow as the low quality cell phone footage they were documented with.
Michael Penn II is a member of The Daily Cardinal's Editorial Board.
