Gathering of Hardcore Fanatics – Lil Ugly Mane and No Warning

Earlier in the Fall season, Memphis Underground Rapper, Travis Miller, known by his pseudonym as, Lil Ugly Mane, had

posted an inauspicious announcement of his first tour in half a decade. Touring with Memphis Hardcore Punk band No

Warning, fans of Lil Ugly Mane have been awed by his sudden appearance after his seemingly never-ending hiatus.

The impetus to his online regality was his grody but catchy rap album, Mista Thug Isolation, released in 2012. This album

catapulted his presence far into the culture that SoundCloud and Bandcamp were cultivating at the time. After various shows

and a handful of tours after the successful release, fans wanted to seek more of his live shows.

Releasing project after project under ambiguous alias titles and scarce social media presence, Lil Ugly Mane pulled through

with a national tour held in small venues of the nation. Presented as a tour conducted by Lil Ugly Mane and No Warning,

three other headliners performed for the show held in Chicago. The venue was a considerably small but spacious room, which

billowed radiant, soothing lighting and had sticky floors stained with spilled beer cans. The first thing you typically notice

when going to a show is how the audience is. What consistent personality do you see skimming through the lines and the

people around you inside the venue? Being in one of the first Hardcore shows I’ve ever attended, I’ve automatically noticed

the difference in the fans’ clothing choice, mood, and dialect compared to previous Hip-Hop and Alternative shows I’ve

attended. The audience members were seemingly more husky, loud, and inviting.

It was interesting to see how comfortable the aura was in this show. I’ve been caught up with a conversation with various

people throughout the show. We’ve pronounced how we understood that this was a once in a lifetime scenario and that we

were all here to witness the event.

The first performance was the Chicago band Vortex, who initiated the fervent energy that was held consistent throughout the

show.

Next was Lurk, who continued the hardcore chaos for the next half an hour. Standing all the way at the front, I’ve started to

notice the audience members behind me push each other from side to side, falling down on the alcohol-stained floor, and

skimping back and forth in the aperture of the crowd.

The third act, Sanford Parker, was an interesting, Industrial/Experimental disc jockey who, for around half an hour or so,

reverberated the room with his technical passion.

The last two shows were the headliners that everyone was waiting for. No Warning came out with a brutal performance, with

recalibrating guitars, fast-peddling drums, and an actively aggressive lyricist perpetuating the calling for turbulence within the

crowd.

At this point, I’ve had my hoodie nearly torn off and my phone nearly slapped out of my grasp.

The final and most enticing headliner finally appeared before the eyes of the crowd. Lil Ugly Mane appeared in the stage,

almost confront us face to face as we screamed down his lyrics down his own throat.

The audience members pushed forward and behind right behind the gate, I felt my rib cage compress against the hard metal,

compressing the air from my lungs, as I fought just to heave for oxygen.

Although Lil Ugly Mane held a Rap set and Sanford Parker was more Industrial, the event itself was meant to be a hardcore

set. A procession of broken artists coming together to relent their anguish upon screaming and thrashing fans.

The amount of energy was unrelenting and it felt great being surrounded by people who did not care how they acted in front of

each other. Lil Ugly Mane may not appear in Chicago again for another decade, or even ever, and we were all here to celebrate

the unpredictable specter.