Saul Williams September 21, the Sayers Club.
In promotion of his new book US (a.), poet/emcee/activist /stage actor Saul Williams graced the stage at the SLS’s Sayers Club as part of the Bunkhouse Series of shows, inherited from the now-defunct Downtown venue.
Before an intimate, seated crowd—sans bottle service—his performance was executed completely a cappella. After he finished reading the first of many selections from the book, he stepped away from the mic and allowed his voice to command the room, still booming without the need of electric, amplified assistance.
Juggling cadences from Gil Scott-Heron to R.E.M., Rakim to Jack Kerouac, the performance was never boring, despite the fact that there was no music to back him up. Boldly, Williams even sang his own his tunes, belting out “Black Stacey” and holding its notes with ease. With sort of an off-the-cuff approach, he would flip through the book, almost improvising his setlist, at times going “naaaaah,” or “oh, here’s a good one.”
Saul seemed equally impressed and bewildered at playing a set in Vegas, with a beautiful view of the World’s Largest Gift Shop just outside the window. “It’s hot as f*ck out there, but inside it’s all ’70s and velvet,” he laughed.
As the curtain fell, he closed with a performance of his breakthrough poem “Amethyst Rocks,” ending with its famous nod to “Public Enemy #1,” as the multi-cultural, 30-and-up audience chanted “one, one, one!” together, as one.