Never could I imagine a more mismatched pair, artistically speaking, than Jeff McDaniel and Sage Francis; the one a literary comedian with a midnight-to-four-in-the-morning penchant for dry, poetic satire, the other an emotion channeling minstrel from the hip hop underground. As one might expect from such a fusion of talent, their Page Meets Stage mock combat performance at the Bowery Poetry Club last Thursday turned out to be an explosive mix of wit and passion. Rebounding off each other’s thematic inspiration both artists delighted in trumping their creative binary as they held the packed crowd in attendance transfixed within a playful time warp.
McDaniel read mainly selections from his well known collection of poems Splinter Factory and latest release The Endarkenment as well as his first published work Alibi School. With a vocal style somewhere between a redneck’s guttural spasm and a politician’s oiled slur, he employs a range of techniques that tend to center around humorously twisted platitudes, hermetic assertions and prosaic observations from his childhood to the present.
“Innocence is a finger coming off in
a glove during a snowball fight.”
“[paraphrased] My glass is half full, but it’s a shot glass,
I’m really thirsty and there’s a lot of other people
who all want a drink.”
“I rolled back and forth on the floor like a four syllable word.”
During the show intermission, the host asked McDaniel about his recent interest in “the classics” and what their intellectual mystique might hold for the modern day author, poet, or reader. He answered that while he appreciates the challenge presented by the antiquated language of academia he believes a certain amount of easily-accessible pleasure or straightforward, though perhaps slightly skewed, meaning to be an essential element in any work of art.
Sage’s volatile non-stop energy was a fitting contrast to McDaniel’s comic drawl. Performing various slam pieces and songs without instrumental accompaniment from his new album Human The Death Dance, he touched upon many sensitive topics within his personal experience and society at large from civil disobedience to drug abuse relying on rhyme and provocative imagery to convey his message. At one point he offered a commonly overlooked crumb of wisdom that success is nothing more than a product of hard work and requires a fair amount of isolation despite the superfly charade lifestyle attributed to most hip hop artists. Sage says he enjoys the spoken word poetry scene because it forces him to maintain a moral standard beyond the sexism, homophobia, and hatemongering expected of him by his consumer base majority. This then allows him to take that higher standard back to the recording studio where he can orchestrate a more wholesome influence over impressionable listeners.
When the dust finally settled, a clear victor could not be found as it was an even draw between the oral and written traditions. Both poets demonstrated an original ability to express enlightened insights concerning the typical state of world affairs, personal struggle, and pursuit of happiness. So what are you waiting for? Don’t think twice. BUY! CONSUME! NOW!!! I wish there could be a better end. But sadly, that is the purpose of this review. And it’s long past my bedtime.