Concert Review: Casey Veggies and Pac Div at Highline Ballroom

All photography by Far Fetched Future (@MrFarFetched)

For Casey Veggies, even a smaller, more intimate crowd wasn’t too much of a change. “I used to do shows with 50 people in it, a n***a never too good for this,” he said on Friday night at the Highline Ballroom.

This was the second performance for Casey Veggies and Pac Div – the artists are currently openers for the three month old The Blue Slide Park Tour. The show was meant for fans that didn’t get to see them earlier. CV rapped a set quicker than usual, possibly because just hours before he was worn out by thousands of fans awaiting for independent Pittsburgh hustler Mac Miller to hit the stage at Best Buy Theater. Still, he kept his energy up and jokes flowing when the small audience gave him mellow claps after every song. “This is like some spoken word shit,” he said. Snaps were his next request and it started to feel like the Nuyorican.

Casey follows a new generation of rappers from the West Coast swagging out the industry. On “Ridin’ Roun’ Town” off his debut Sleeping In Class, Casey’s hypeman shouted “Swag!” after every line with the crowd habitually mouthing along. It felt like the adlib spoke to more than just hard-hitting punchlines. “Ridin’ roun’ town, mo’ change, mo’ steelo [swag!] /New girl with me, but I keep it on the d’lo [swag!].” There can never be enough swagger to pass around in the Peas and Carrots camp, especially when lines are this emphatic, catchy and straightforward.

On “Euphoria II,” CV took a personal route, revealing that he wrote this song one day while he was in his room. He spit effortless bars that switched up the entire mood of the show, trading smoker anthem rhymes with talks about his natural high. “CDC” featuring an absent Dom Kennedy shifted us back to the LA takeover and “30,000,” his finale, had the crowd jumping.

Pac Div (Like, Mibbs, and BeYoung) are a rap trio from southern California with laid-back flows that translate well to their performance. Backed by Casey’s DJ, their 2011 mixtape Mania! and the group’s debut album The DiV were the focus of attention, running through standouts from both: “Super Nergoes,” “Anti-Freeze,” “Fallin’,” and “Posted.” They also made a couple comments about the modest turnout. Like came with arguably the best tweet-ready quip, “We can definitely go to Wingstop now!”

A bigger show might have been more rewarding for the trio, but to see the three of them wild out Highline as if it was packed was impressive. They pumped in humor, shared stories and looked very comfortable on stage. Add the theatrics from all members and it’s clear that Pac Div want to build a reputation as lively entertainers. The looser tracks from their mixtape catalog – “Broccoli,” “Don’t Forget the Swishers” – had accompanying gestures that had the crowd mimicking. At one point, Mibbs stepped off the stage and everybody huddled around him. The intimate show just got a little bit closer.

Another side of Pac Div is that they’re talented lyricists. “Whiplash” is a smooth metaphor for hard work paying off. “Mayor”, one of their most successful singles, makes you realize they would be entertaining executives. More requests from the crowd were geared toward their classic tracks, but nothing topped their last song “Fa Real.”

There was no encore and no surprise appearance from young Veggies to perform any of their collaboration tracks. By the end Pac Div looked exhausted. But as the lights were dimming down, the group stuck around to take photos, sign autographs and just mingle with their fans. Despite their exhaustion from performing two shows in one night, this last effort was appreciated by the Highline crowd.