Photos by Leslie Plesser.

As the sold-out crowd streamed out of First Avenue Wednesday night – still giddy from Yelawolf's blistering performance – I overheard a couple young fans give the rapper the most ringing of endorsements. Their comment: "Let's go get some tattoos."

Only five months after opening for Wiz Khalifa at First Avenue, Yelawolf returned for his own headlining show and packed the place like he'd never left. With his tattooed torso and long black hair, the Alabama MC looks more like a long-lost member of Blink 182 than a guy on the verge of rap superstardom. But with his recent signing to Eminem's Shady Records, that's exactly where he finds himself. Even so, he jumped on stage and led the over-stuffed crowd through a spectacular 55-minute set like he still has something to prove. (Twin Cities rappers Muja Mussiah and Prof did a nice job warming up the rabid audience.)

Once on the mic, Yelawolf powered through songs as if he was pushing the wheel on his storied box Chevy. His beats thundered through the club, a mix of classic 808 southern bass and electric guitar samples. He performed the majority of his latest album, "Trunk Muzik 0-60" (which is more of an official mixtape). On the record, his tales of trailer-park meth wars in the Alabama backwoods come off as eerie, sometimes sinister drama pieces. But on stage, his vibe was pure ecstasy – his supreme rhyme skills often throwing the crowd into a frenzy. The audience sang along as best they could. Obviously, keeping up with Yelawolf's triple-time rhymes isn't easy. He can rap as fast as Twista and he's a gifted hook writer too, bringing melodic sing-song choruses to the roughest of gangsta-rap fantasies.

In the final stretch, Yelawolf ripped off his shirt (which was completely soaked through), revealing his jigsaw puzzles of tattoos. After performing "Pop the Trunk," he left the stage with the crowd wanting more, only to come back for an even rowdier encore.

The next time he comes to Minneapolis, Yelawolf will have surely released his next album ("Radioactive") which will hit the charts with the full force of Eminem's backing and Interscope's corporate machine. He'll be huge. His pitch-perfect performance at First Ave Wednesday felt like witnessing the calm (although a raucous calm) before the storm. Here's the set list:

Trunk Muzik / Billy Crystal / F.U. / Good to Go / Box Chevy / Daddy's Lambo / Mixin' up the Medicine / You Ain't No DJ / Freestyle / I Wish / That's What We On Now / Boyz in the Woodz / Marijuana / Love is not Enough / I Just Wanna Party / Pop the Trunk / In This Club (encore)