Sunday night Blowout: Doomtree's entry, Foster the People's return

So much for going the distance with Doomtree this week. I had to bow out early from last night's opening gig in the weeklong Blowout VII, thanks to a stomach bug that tore through my household. I felt like Kramer from "Seinfeld" in the "Master of My Domain" episode (when he slaps his money on the table right after the contest begins; I'm out!). That said, I think I got a pretty good idea of what's in store for the rest of this mayhemic week.

As will undoubtedly be the case for each of the five 7th Street Entry shows (the fun then moves to the main room next Friday and Saturday), the club was packed and heated and discernably electrified. That night's headliner, Sims, picked all the performers, and he and most of the rest of the Doomtree gang were hanging out in the crowd like it was their house and everybody else came over to watch their pay-per-view. Fans showed up early for Michigan rapper One Be Lo (ex-Binary Star). They pretty much didn't stop mouthing along to the songs once Astronautalis took the stage, followed by in an intimate and remarkably personal set by Brother Ali (in which he opened up losing his dad and other personal troubles this past year).

Although he had an excellent band on tour with him all fall, the newly transplanted Astronautalis (from Seattle via Jacksonville, Fla.) showed off his locally stacked Rolodex and performed Sunday with members of Me & My Arrow for backers – working as the Sheriffs of Sexiness in this case. They certainly were arresting right from the get-go as they opened with "The River, the Woods" and "Dimitri Mendeleev," highlights from the mastermind new album, "This Is Our Science."

As usual, the crowd ate up Astro man's freestyling montage, in which he polled the crowd on topic matters and the delivered them in song. Last night, that included Herman Cain, something out of "Game of Thrones" ("ah, geek porn!" Astronautalis enthused), plus the unlikely line, "Iowa is succulent" (about which he was less enthused; "I've been to Iowa, and that is not an adjective I think of," he said). Somebody also suggested he work in "No Kings," the omnipresent title of Doomtree's new album. "No way," he said, "They've got that down pat."

Sims also joined Astronautalis and, um, the Sheriffs for one song, "Thomas Jefferson." That spirit of collaboration will probably become a defining factor as these Blowout nights progress. One collaboration noticeably missing from the show, though (so I was told afterward): None of the other Doomtree rappers took the stage with Sims to deliver one of the "No Kings" tracks or other oldies. It seems they're saving it up for Friday and Saturday. So maybe it's good I'm saving my energy until then.

At the time of writing, the Mike Mictlan-headed Blowout show tonight in the Entry and Saturday's main room show are the only ones not yet sold out. Click here for Leslie Plesser's photo gallery from Night 1 for Vita.mn.

Speaking of the main room: Foster the People was next door Sunday night playing very sold-out makeup date. I poked my head in for a few songs, none of which were "Pumped Up Kicks," thankfully (heard it about 3,200 times too many now). The energy in the room didn't seem nearly as ecstatic as when the Los Angeles pop-rockers played the Fine Line in June -- it was more of a drinking and high-fiving crowd than a dance party. However, as was the case the first time, the band sounded surprisingly tight and made for undeniably charismatic showmen, defying suspicions that theirs is just a throw-together studio project and/or one-hit wonder. FTP's three-song set in the KDWB Jingle Ball across the street might not be their only time in a local arena, in other words.