Up-and-coming punk rock collective from the San Francisco Bay area AG Club kicked off their tour for “Imposter Syndrome,” released in Sept. 2022, at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles on Nov. 10. The event featured Asha Imuno and Omni as openers for the band.
After a three-month tour of Denzel Curry’s fifth studio album “Melt My Eyez See Your Future,” AG Club broke their performance hiatus and announced shows in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City.
With a 771 capacity venue, the El Rey Theatre concert was the first show to kick off the tour. In the middle of the El Rey Theatre was a designated pit area, and surrounding the pit were two steps and a walkway kept clear by security. Alongside the outskirts of the venue, additional fans stood barricaded in smaller groups.
AG was started in 2017 and featured singer-rapper-guitarist Mick Anthony, producer Louis Garcia also known as Loui, lead vocalist Baby Boy, writer-rapper Jody Fontaine and creative direction from Manny and Ivan Collaco.
The band rose to prominence with the hit song “Memphis” off their 2020 album “Halfway Off the Porch.” Their follow up album “F**k Your Expectations PT.1”, featuring lead single “COLUMBIA”, helped bolster AG’s rise past any one-hit-wonder presumptions. The band collaborated with redveil, Sam Truth and saw the unofficial departure of Mick Anthony. The latest album rollout saw yet another unofficial departure, this time from producer Loui. “Imposter Syndrome” was led by singles “TRU RELIGION”, “Mr. Put It On” and “Kevin.”
The first performance featured Omni, a post-punk band out of Calhoun, Georgia. The band is a Brockhampton-inspired collective that relies on catchy choruses or hooks while passing verses across members. The collective hyped up the audience with bass-heavy bangers “BLACK MINIVAN” and “WILLIE.”
The next opener, Asha Imuno, emphasized a more relaxed vibe, with soulful rhythms and rhymes like “ZIG ZAGGING” and “WOODGRAIN.” The latter explores Imuno’s upbringing in Moreno Valley, where he made harsh sacrifices to maintain his tough persona.
Finally, the mantle was passed to AG Club. The first jarring part of their performance was the set. AG had a goofy setup, filling the stage with a loft bed where Manny, Ivan, and other guests sat while Baby Boy and Fontaine performed.
Later in the concert, Fontaine revealed that AG had many difficulties trying to book a venue in Los Angeles. According to Fontaine, the previous year’s performance at The Roxy was condemned for being too rowdy. In an attempt to get around the bad reputation, AG decided to pitch their concert as a play, hence the addition of a loft bed. Fontaine later went on to say that Los Angeles was the first city to experience the new adaptation of “Imposter Syndrome.”
AG Club opened with the new album’s first song, “Adam Sandler,” a ballad boasting captive melodic keys and a hypnotic echoed chorus. For the first song both members sat, with lighting emerging from beneath their feet, but lacking any overhead brightness. Jody sat atop the bed loft and Babyboy sat on the couch beneath the bed loft.
AG eased into the grandiose ballad and the addition of three supporting singers provided a soft and delicate sound that lulled the audience into a calm state.
The audience cheered on AG Club as the grand “Adam Sandler” came to a close, but soon after the crowd clamored in silent awe and patiently waited for the AG’s next cue. AG wasted no time and fired off “Tattoo” and “Kevin.” The lights now flaring in devious whites and reds in rhythm to the beat inspiring a five-minute marathon of bouncing and moshing. AG then slowed the tempo with “Long Division,” a song about being heavily intoxicated with love for someone.
Before the next song began, Fontaine spotted an “Imposter Syndrome” CD in the sea of people and signed it before continuing with “A B**ch Curious” off their 2021 album “F**k Your Expectations PT.1.” The song boasts a smooth beginning with raps about a habitual liar and speeds the beat in the latter half to create a moshable segment in the song.
AG Club then performed “Memphis,” their hit that caught the attention of NLE Choppa and A$AP Ferg. Both artists were featured on “Memphis, Pt. 2,” a remixed version of the original. Through “Memphis,” AG features an infectious hook, detailing AG’s humble origins and “never seen before” talent among the hip-hop ether.
After commencing “Memphis,” the entire stage went dark until Baby Boy appeared on top of the loft with a black biker jacket and the beat mimicked the rhythm of a revved motorcycle. The audience roared, “bodega bandit at the corner of the street” and bounced in rhythm to “Bodega Bandit.”
Na-Kel Smith, a featured artist on the track and member of the skateboarding group Illegal Civ, joined Baby Boy on the chorus and performed his verse on the song. Towards the end of “Bodega Bandit,” Smith hyped up the crowd into one more frenzied mosh.
AG then went into “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which features Sam Truth and redveil, and played the final song on the “Imposter Syndrome” album, “Candice.”
Before the night ended, AG Club brought out the entire production crew, singers and set helpers of the night and performed “Mr. Put It On,” an emphatic statement about AG’s contagious brand of punk rock relating its likeness to an addictive substance. AG Club and the stage crew danced alongside the crowd and wrapped up the night on a high note.
Jason Garcia Escobar is a Sports Intern for the fall 2022 quarter. He can be reached at jasonag3@uci.edu.
