Ronnie Beasley of Omaha didn’t know what to expect of the music group when he came to the Holland Music Club Friday night, Nov. 8, but he had heard the act was one to see.
“One of the people downstairs, when she was making my bundle (of O-Pa shows for the year), she told me to try this. We always try to do something different.”
Tami Brookhouser also didn’t know the group, but she knew one song.
“We are fans of the show Justified,” Brookhouser said. “But we are big bluegrass fans.”
That group of open-minded people ready to embrace new music got their money’s worth Friday night at Holland when Gangstagrass took the stage. The group, which has won an Emmy Award for the Justified theme song, “Long Hard Times to Come,” burst onto the scene right at 7:30 p.m. with the song “Bound to Ride.”
The group effortlessly combined bluegrass melodies performed on banjo, guitar and violin with rap. Emcee R-SON the Voice of Reason ended the first song by stating “At some point, I’m gonna need y’all out of those seats.”
It took a while. As the group performed to a mixed group of fans and those new to their music, the crowd began to make their way to the front of the venue. The instrumentals were catchy, the lyrics were homespun, and the beats were slick.
As people got into the performance, they began to move toward the dance floor. They began to nod their heads to songs like “I Go Hard,” and “Obligatory Braggadocio” was well-received for it’s fun theme of having a big truck.
By 8:53, when the group performed :Long Hard Times to Come,” about a third of the crowd was on the floor. When they followed it with “A Man of Constant Sorrow” (most well-known for its appearance in the 2000 movie “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou”) at least half of the crowd was on their feet.
The group blended the two genres of hip-hop and roots music seamlessly, and the venue provided great acoustics as well as comfortable chairs and tables an the intimate setting. Those unaware of the group heard an award-winning band at their best, and those who knew the artists got to hear favorites in an elegant space.
As attendee Alan Black said, “The Holland has raised the level of accessibility to a variety of artists. I remember when Dave Sanborn was here a couple of years ago. He was raving about this place.”
By 10 p.m., the crowd of people moved from the concert venue to the lobby, where members of the band autographed merchandise for nearly an hour before the last attendees left.
