Live music review: Against odds Lil Ugly Mane performs in Austin at Oblivion Access Festival
Lil Ugly Mane, aka Travis Miller, has always been an elusive figure. The underground hip-hop world that Ugly Mane spawned out of might call the Virginia native an enigma, so much so that Lil Ugly Mane’s many pseudonyms meant to take the prolific music creator outside of the SoundCloud rap box that he was painted into with his breakout 2012 debut album Mista Thug Isolation. Since the release of this album, Lil Ugly Mane has tried to take his career in many different directions, including releasing a variety of music of many different genres. Name changes were constant until Miller revealed that Lil Ugly Mane would be his permanent moniker. Following this epiphany, Lil Ugly Mane released slacker rock epic Volcanic Bird Enemy And The Voiced Concern, Miller’s most diverse and cohesive work.
When Lil Ugly Mane performed at last year’s edition of Oblivion Access Festival, he was joined by a talking giant red animatronic dog, who introduced itself to the audience as “Thermos Grenadine,” Ugly Mane’s best friend and DJ for the evening. The performance proved to be one of the most eccentric hip-hop presentations of the festival, with Miller performing skits with the animatronic animal throughout his set that evening. When Lil Ugly Mane was billed again for this year’s festival, no one knew what he’d do. Some speculated he’d have even more talking robot animals joining him due to Miller’s recent Instagram stories that revealed he had been building even more friends for Thermos Grenadine. When no animals joined the stage minutes before Miller’s set, all bets were off, and the audience was left guessing what they were in for.
Nobody knew what Ugly Mane was going to unveil for this show without set pieces in evidence at Empire Garage. This was much since Miller had been posting some concerning mental health topics on his social media, things I won’t detail here. When all of these incidents came to light for the fanbase, the planned tour was quickly canceled, with all dates being wiped except for his Austin performance, a surprising affair that didn’t feel like it was supposed to happen, at least not in the days or even moments before Lil Ugly Mane’s festival appearance.
Opening for ‘Mane was Rochester street rap mastermind RXK Nephew, an artist who could be described as prolific as the evening’s headliner. Nephew’s set had abundant diehards, with fans packing Austin’s Empire Garage for the late afternoon set. Side note: it was a fucking HOT weekend in Austin with excessive heat warnings from area meteorologists. It didn’t quite dawn on us how hot it would be for the fest, as no Texan ever really gets used to the Summer heat. Despite this, the prolific Rochester maniac dominated his set.
When the time came for Lil Ugly Mane’s performance, only a DJ table was present onstage, eviscerating any hopes of another animatronic extravaganza. Instead, Lil Ugly Mane and his DJ appeared onstage, delivering an all-hip-hop set that showed the underground rapper kicking ass like ever before. We should also mention that Ugly Mane looked great; displaying a vibrant aura that was elevated by the reaction from the adoring crowd.
Shortly after greeting the audience, Ugly Mane delivered almost all of the tracks from breakout record, Mista Thug Isolation. If there’s anything the performances of these old tunes prove, it’s that Ugly Mane has continued to excel at his craft. Miller can still spit like a madman, and the crowd was drinking in every second. A heartwarming surprise came with Ugly Mane’s warm reception to the crowd, fist-bumps, and high-fives galore. The MTI tracks were hitting hard, with fans singing every word as Miller commanded the audience deftly throughout the set.
Ugly Mane addressed recent events in his life during the set, telling the audience, “This song is about dying,” before shrugging and muttering, “It’s an option.” After commanding and tearing through track after track of hip-hop mayhem, Miller continued his thoughts by saying, “I have been in a fuckin’ facility for a little bit now. I just got out three fuckin’ days ago, so here I am.” The stage lights lit up when Miller shared this sentiment, leading to thunderous cheers and support from his fans.
Lil Ugly Mane has never been one for the spotlight. That’s always been the case. Being an ever-growing prolific artist with many tricks up his sleeve, the guy never stops creating—an artist in every sense. “Crowd-pleaser” doesn’t come to mind when discussing Lil Ugly Mane, but Friday evening’s set felt different. He leaned into what he knew, and the reception was warm and powerful. Ugly Mane left it all on the stage, performing a set that felt astronomical given the circumstances surrounding the Richmond rapper’s recently cancelled appearances prior to Oblivion Access Festival. For fans, this felt like a salvaged gift. Ugly Mane delivered with emotional intensity, and we hope he meant everything he said. Until next time, Travis. We’ll be here as long as you’re willing to play Austin.
Photos and video by Ross Blauer
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