Many things happened at the absurd spectacle that was the recent Action Bronson show in San Francisco. In order to distinguish between fact and fiction, myth and reality, we will present the events in the form of a fun and easy True or False quiz. (Hint: They are all true. Guess true on all of them.)
1. Party Supplies, producer of the ‘Blue Chips’ mixtapes and acclaimed DJ, started off the concert with a 45 minute set : TRUE
2. The opening band was a hardcore punk band called Trash Talk. Their question, “How many of you thought you were just going to see a rapper tonight?” was met with awkward silence and handraises from the crowd: TRUE
3. Within seconds of their first song beginning, a large hole opened up in the middle of the crowd and a violent mosh pit emerged, formed by the people who had actually come to see Trash Talk: TRUE
4. A friend of ours was mildly concussed after getting kicked in the head by a band member. He chose to treat the injury by continuing to smoke marijuana: TRUE
5. ⅔ of the way through Trash Talk’s set, headliner Action Bronson came sprinting up the back stairs onto the stage, to the audience’s delight: TRUE
6. Delight soon turned to fear when it became clear that Bronson (330 lbs and compact) was sprinting towards the audience and launched into a stage dive: TRUE
7. Bronson, after being supported for four to five seconds by the crowd, fell onto the floor and began participating in the mosh pit: TRUE
8. The tour’s banner featured a shirtless Bronson wrestling an alligator on a volcano: TRUE
9. Bronson claimed, perhaps dubiously, to have taken 48 dabs before the show: TRUE
10. Bronson belted out Billy Joel’s “Only the Good Die Young” while dancing like Seinfeld’s Elaine Benes: TRUE
11. Bronson rapped the second verse of ‘It Concerns Me’ with a joint in his mouth: TRUE
12. He rapped the next verse with two: TRUE
13. Bronson threw out thousands of dollars worth of his own brand of premium wax dab pens from a butter leather clutch: TRUE
14. Party Supplies came out and did a guitar solo while Bronson stood by, eyes closed, banging his head harder than Trash Talk had an hour prior. His beard waved majestically: TRUE
15. A young man with muscular dystrophy and two crutches watched the show from the back of the stage, rapping with Bronson word for word: TRUE
16. Action Bronson referred to this fan as ‘Tommy Two Sticks’: TRUE
17. Bronson threw Tommy over his shoulder and, after warning the audience “not to drop this mu’fucka”, tossed him off the stage into a crowd surf: TRUE
18. Tommy 2Stix is a real rapper: TRUE
19. After a number of lit joints were thrown onto the stage, Bronson inquired if the crowd “wanted to just smoke or wanted to hear him sing rap songs:” TRUE
20. Bronson cut the beat at the end of ‘Strictly 4 My Jeeps’ to alter the lyrics from “I’m a hero in my hometown, baby” to “I’m a hero in any motherfucking town, baby.” He repeatedly demanded the audience to acknowledge this alteration: TRUE
21. Bronson rapped “Amadu Diablo” a capella with Party Supplies on an electric guitar, right before going into full Tracy Chapman mode while singing “Give Me One Reason” with the crowd: TRUE
22. Action Bronson smoked at least a dozen joints, passed to him by the audience, by the time the show ended: TRUE
23. Bronson swept the venue after the show – he literally “shut it down” in SF: TRUE
(‘14, History/Creative Writing, Editor-at-Large) is from Cleveland, Ohio and writes fiction.
(‘16) is from Kansas City, KS and likes listening to, writing about, and (soon) making music. He runs a blog at waylesseffort.com.