Super Jam 2014 will probably go down as one of the most celebrated of them all by Hot 104.1 FM. The popular annual summer concert series managed to survive the odds of a venue change, a revolving door roster and carrying on the show without any artists of true headliner caliber.
Actually, they did better than survive. Saturday night’s show at Scottrade center illustrated that they’ve managed to transcend the idea of enticing an audience for the sake of the names on the bill and create a following based on the Super Jam brand.
Up until this year, Super Jam was held at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre as an all-day outdoor summer concert. Wiz Khalifa, T.I., Ludacris, Drake graced the stage alongside artists like Wale, Miguel, Keri Hilson, Keyshia Cole, Nelly and The St. Lunatics.
Saturday’s show was an extreme makeover. Guests were met with an indoor venue, evening show and a roster that wasn’t necessarily as healthy with respect to mainstream popularity.
Kendrick Lamar was supposed to provide that link, but was dropped from the bill early on in the promotion of the show.
But artists like Bando Jonez, YG, Cash Out, K. Camp, August Alsina, K. Michelle, Juicy J and show closer Yo Gotti, clearly resonated deeply with the fans of Super Jam.
It was still anybody’s guess how Super Jam 2014 would fare in its new digs when the show kicked off at 6:55 with Super Jam Madness contest winner Indiana Rome and opening artists like Tinashe.
The masses hadn’t arrived yet and it wasn’t clear that they were coming at all.
But by the close of the STL Mixtape portion of the show there was no question that Super Jam had the city’s support as the energy nearly raised the roof off of the Scottrade as they sang along with familiar club classics.
The crowd went wild when rapper Pretty Tony brought out child internet sensation Lil Terio as his hype man. The audience exploded with delight when he recited his viral catch phrase “Ooh kill ‘em.”
The homegrown portion of the show was definitely a situation of St. Louis supporting its own as JGE, Lil St. Louis, Tef Poe, MC Keem (formerly known as Hakeem Tha Dream), Tiffany Foxx and Laudie represented for the St. Louis hip-hop scene. Murphy Lee, backed by brother and fellow St. Lunatic Kyjuan closed out the St. Louis portion of the show.
And by the time Murph spit his last verse, a healthy crowd of about 10,000 appeared to be completely bought in to what Super Jam 2014 was offering.
Third tier artists like Ty Dolla Signs kept the audience engaged until the group of more familiar artists took the stage.
In 2012, Master P. moved the crowd into the later portion of the show with his “No Limit” classics. For 2014 it would be fellow New Orleans rapper – and former No Limit label artists – Mystikal that would serve as the bridge between the lesser known and more popular acts.
He fared reasonably well with his 1990s – 2000s classics like “Danger” and “Bouncing Back (Bumpin’ Me Against The Wall) before closing the show with his biggest hit “Shake Ya [expletive].”
Rising heartthrob August Alsina was the first among the bigger names on the lineup to take the stage. He was meet with screams and swoons throughout his entire performance of profanity laced R&B.
K. Camp provided a brief intermission, but K. Michelle picked up where Alsina left off as far as crooning the most explicit content imaginable. She also managed to connect with the crowd in the process.
Her reputation and reality TV persona have overshadowed the fact that she’s actually a natural performer with a voice that’s at least comparable –if not more powerful – when compared against her female R&B contemporaries.
Cash Out and YG were the weakest links of the later end of the roster, performing to tracks and rhyming over backing vocals. The crowd could’ve cared less about the performance caliber as the dance along and recited the words to their favorite club anthems.
Three Six Mafia founder Juicy J, who has found popularity among a new generation of hip-hop heads thanks to his affiliation with Wiz Khalifa’s Taylor Gang, gave audiences a taste of the old and the new.
He took them back to classics like “Poppin’ My Collar” and “Stay Fly” and embraced his resurgence with guest verses on B.O.B’s “We Still in This…” and Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse.” He also gave a taste of his recent solo album.
At first sight, Yo Gotti would seem an unlikely way to close out Super Jam 2014. But with his strong St. Louis following, Gotti’s place at the end of the bill proved to be a perfect fit.
Hot 104.1 gifted him what was probably his largest headlining gig to date. And he paid them back in kind with a well done set that maintained the crowd’s attention until the very end of the more than four hours of music that Super Jam provided over the course of the evening.
In the early days of Super Jam, Gotti was among that list of early performers that could be considered “ones to watch.”
His headlining showed not only his progression in popularity as an artist, but the growth of Super Jam – which in itself has become a formidable headliner drawing in crowds on the name alone.
