Logic & G-Easy – Mystic Lake Amphitheater – Shakopee MN – September

Live Nation and Mystic Lake Amphitheater present Logic and G-Easy

Review and photos by Jesse McKinney

Logic
I’ve liked Logic for a while but this was my first time actually seeing him live. I’m not the biggest rap fan but I’ve always liked the speed of his delivery and the boom-bap style beats. The weather wasn’t doing anybody any favors at Mystic Lake. It was colder, rainier, and windier than it has been recently but it’s Minnesota and that wasn’t going to stop anyone from going!

Logic started talking to the crowd pretty much the second he got onstage. I knew he was big on audience participation but I didn’t realize just how much of the set would be spent chatting with people. It felt like almost every song came with a couple minutes of banter before the next one. He kept people interested and I usually don’t mind that stuff, but after a while it started to kill the flow of the set and the songs seemed to get cut short too at times which didn’t help.

That said, some of the talking led to the stuff I’ll remember most! At one point he found out there were twins celebrating their birthday, took their IDs to make sure they were telling the truth, then had the whole crowd sing “Happy Birthday” to them. Ive followed Logic long enough to know he likes crowd participation so I wasn’t suprised when he brought a fan on stage to “Gang Related”. Whenever a fan joins the artist on stage its always a bit nerve-racking to watch. You can know every word from the floor and still completely freeze when you’re up on the stage and everyone is looking at you but luckily the fan crushed it and had the crowd hyped!

Even with my gripe about the pacing, it was easy to see why people talk about Logic’s connection with his fans. He gave those interactions real time and attention and the show had that positive feel he’s known for. Personally I wish some of that time hadn’t come at the expense of the songs. His show was more than worth seeing despite the cold Minnesota weather and looking at the crowd during his set I think it’s safe to say they would agree.

G-Eazy
I don’t think a lot of people who know me would expect me to be a G-Eazy fan but I’ve been listening to him off and on for over a decade now (more off than on lately). Something about his 2015 album “When It’s Dark Out” just stuck with me. “Me, Myself & I” was a massive hit back then and that album eventually led me to seeing him at the Minnesota State Fair in 2016. I haven’t really kept up with his music since but I’ve enjoyed a few of the newer releases I have heard like “Helium,” but nothing has quite topped “When It’s Dark Out”.

One thing I still remember from that State Fair show was how G-Eazy managed to fill that massive stage with pretty much nothing but himself. There was no elaborate production, no full band, just him up there commanding the crowd. Ten years later and that hasn’t really changed! He had a little more to work with this time, including a car and a DJ table and although he didnt really need it, it was nice touch to the stage set and I liked how he mixed them into his performance. He’s got the confidence and energy on stage that had the entire crowd locked in from start to finish!

The setlist was a nice mix of older material, his biggest hits, and some of his newer songs. I was especially happy to hear the older stuff since that’s still what I find myself going back to the most. Much like Logic, G-Eazy spent plenty of time interacting with the crowd but I thought he did a better job keeping the music moving and the songs had more of a flow between them. There wasn’t nearly as much stopping and starting, which I appreciated. Logic also came out for a bit during his set, which was cool to see on a co-headlining tour!

I really liked the production too. The smoke and atmospheric lighting worked great with the misty weather and fit the vibe of a G-Eazy set perfectly! It was getting noticeably colder as the night went on but plenty of people stuck it out and were still enjoying themselves. It’s pretty wild thinking it’s been ten years since I first saw G-Eazy and I still came away with a lot of the same thoughts. He’s a great performer who knows how to work a crowd, and while my favorite album of his is still over a decade old, I’d absolutely go see him again!