On a cool evening in October, The Boogeyman came out to play in Arizona.
by STEVEN SANDAGE
When you think about music that comes from a particularly sinister inspiration like the John Carpenter’s Halloween it doesn't exactly conjure up thoughts of warmth and community. You might anticipate the audience being comprised of angst filled recluses or sociable sociopaths. Your misguided anticipations would be understandable but very out of place if you stepped foot into the Monarch Theater on October 12th, 2018 for the release of White Horse, a highly anticipated and equally personal album from The Boogeyman himself, Mic Myers.
The t-shirts in the crowd displayed an affinity for Rob Zombie films and classic slashers but the people wearing them felt opposingly serene and happy. The muddled chaos in horror tropes tend to get thrown under the preverbal bus as nothing more than eye candy for the disturbed. The truth lies in the escape and controlled chaos they bring. Mic Myers and his eclectic audience connect through a commonality of grief and glory. For every macabre struggle detailed in his music, Mic Myers tells an even better triumph that most times ramps up that macabre setting, fighting horrors with mortars. The support was not limited to the crowd with the backstage filling up with radio personalities, local heavy hitting artists, and a mix of managers and decision makers the stage was being set for Mic Myers to bring out The Boogeyman.
His longtime friend and fellow artist Kirsin displayed an affinity for rocking a room and elevated the crowds anticipation. Having an artist like Seven Trill introduce you isn't a bad way to start your performance and it only got better from there. Each song he belted out sank into the audience like a butcher’s knife. The two standout tracks were definitely “Stunt Creep” and “The Fontaine Room” which have decidedly different vibes but shared a commonality of passion and commitment when Mic Myers delivered each line of them. Watching the audience sing along to “Stung Creep” might have been the true highlight of the night apart from Mic Myers staying to do a song with an artist during that artists’ set even though Mic Myers was dripping in sweat and only about 5 minutes removed from his performance, that's a move that shows class and a humble demeanor. Two things you might not think about when The Boogeyman gets mentioned. As the crowd of hip-hop heads and horror fiends mixed and mingled and poured out onto the streets of Phoenix, not only could Mic Myers be proud his album but he could be proud of how he presented it to all of us. I found myself, like most people, emptying out my pockets after I got home. 3:45am. Staring at my hardcopy of White Horse and putting on the 3D glasses that came with it. I drifted off and wondering if I would have nightmares. I was hoping I would have nightmares. I missed The Boogeyman.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO “WHITE HORSE”