Photos by Merideth C. & review by Dave G.

I wasn’t sure what to expect heading to The Fillmore on Friday. We don’t cover a lot of Hip-hop at Stellar. and it isn’t the style of music I listen to the most. With that in mind, I can honestly say that Yelawolf was the best concert I’ve been to this year. Other than maybe one other show (for completely nostalgic reasons), Yelawolf was probably better than anything I saw last year, too. Blending truly unique, interesting beats, southern white trash experience, and some of the most technically impressive rhymes, Yelawolf transcends whatever white rapper stereotypes you might try to put on him. Not because those influences aren’t obviously there, but because you can see that he genuinely doesn’t care what you think about his style. It’s his and he owns it, even when that style changes dramatically between songs. This is evidenced in “I Wish” where it’s proclaimed “I wish a mother fucker would tell me that I ain’t Hip-hop. Bitch, you ain’t Hip-hop.”

The crowd at The Fillmore seemed ecstatic for every single song; screaming and cheering “Yelawolf, Yelawolf” in between songs and singing along throughout the show. Yelawolf is a natural on stage. He interacts with the crowd at every opportunity, leading clapping on songs like “Pushem” and “Til It’s Gone”; getting the crowd to respond back and forth and holding the mic out to them on songs like “Good to Go” and “Pop the Trunk” and shouting “fuck that shit” on “Catfish Billy”; and encouraging throwing up middle fingers on songs like “Throw it Up” and “American You”. The 23 song set was high energy and engaging for every second over nearly 2 hours.

At one point Yelawolf took some time to lament the desolation in Detroit, the police violence in America, and how dangerous it is on the streets for so many people. He encouraged the audience to not act like a gangster if you aren’t a gangster; to stop acting tough if you aren’t tough. He recalled times that he backed down from trouble and how it’s the reason he’s on the stage, alive and well. Yelawolf is a unique artist who embraces his differences from other Hip-hop artists. I haven’t stopped catching up on his discography since I left the show. I recommend you do the same. And get to a show if you can, this is not one to miss.

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Set List

Download songs from this set list by clicking the iTunes icon!

1. Outer Space
2. Honey Brown
3. Good to Go
4. Growin' Up in the Gutter
5. Ball and Chain
6. Box Chevy V
7. Push 'Em
8. Whiskey in a Bottle
9. Let's Roll
10. Throw it Up
11. Pop the Trunk
12. I Wish Medley
13. Catfish Billy
14. Trunk Muzik
15. Tennessee Love
16. Heartbreak
17. Johnny Cash
18. Best Friend
19. Empty Bottles
20. Devil In My Veins
21. Till It's Gone Encore:
22. American You
23. Fiddle Me This

Find out more about Yelawolf

• yelawolf.com
• Buy merch from Yelawolf's online store
• Facebook
• @yelawolf
• Yelawolf on iTunes: