Big Boi, ¡Mayday!, and ArtOfficial at Trinumeral Festival's Final Night

The Trinumeral Festival

Grand Central

Better Than: Probably the other two nights of the Trinumeral Festival.

There's no doubt that 10/10/10 is a date that will make any bona fide tech geek giggle in binary codes. And for last night's third and final show of the Trinumeral Festival, it was apparent that the geeks were out in full force.

Grand Central was alive and well for the last installment of the three-day music and arts fest as a crowd of ex-ravers, hip-hoppers, and indie hipsters all converged to witness another mixed-bag lineup of artists. Yet it was obvious that 90 percent of the crowd was pretty much there to see the man of the hour, Outkast's own Big Boi, as most of the concertgoers only came trailing into Grand Central at midnight or later. But for the diehards that were stationed from the beginning of the night (me, included), the evening was indeed a showcase of Miami's underground best with ArtOfficial leading the pack.

We all know and love ArtOfficial, the hybrid latin, funk, hip-hop band that boasts a solid local following and a dope horn section, who charged onto the stage at about 10:40 p.m., introduced by host of the night, MC Cynic. They encouraged the crowd, a scattered 100 people or so, to come closer to the stage as they got their feet moving more than usual. It was a respectable set, playing some of their well-known singles like "Big City Lights" and their very own rendition of the Eric B and Rakim's classic, "Don't Sweat the Technique".

After ArtOfficial came Juan Basshead and MC Jumanji as they fired up the crowd with one simple question: "How many of y'all like bass?" Who was he kidding? This is Miami! And just like that, 2 Live Crew's "Get It Girl" comes blaring through the speakers as the room experiences a miniature earthquake. It felt like we were reliving last month's Bassnectar show all over again. How much bass can one person handle? In Juan's case, it's a shit load.

So 30 minutes of nonstop bass action later and we are approached by another local favorite, MayDay!, which recently has been getting some national traction for their collaboration with Lil Wayne. Thankfully, we were not instructed to "Free Weezy" during the band's set as MC Wrekonize and BernBiz got the crowd hyped for the main act.

By now, the place was filling up nicely as last-minute party people came through the gate with the insider knowledge that Big Boi's set would start at 1 a.m. And just like clockwork, in walks ATL's native son accompanied by touring DJ Cutmaster Swiff and hype man (a.k.a. Andre 3000's pseudo-replacement) Blackowned C-Bone. Big Boi's set was a pounding 90 minute joyride filled with all of the Outkast's hit singles as well as some of Big Boi's solo stuff. Obviously, the crowd's biggest reaction would be generated by playing such timeless Outkast classics like "Rosa Parks," "So Fresh, So Clean," and "Ms. Jackson," literally performed all in a row. It was an overflow of hip-hop goodness that got nerdy white kids attempting to two step and crip walk. Now, that's what we call "priceless."

Sprinkled in were some new Big Boi solo tracks like "General Patton," "Daddy Fat Saxs," "Fo Yo Sorrows," and "Shutterbugg," all off his solo debut album, Sir Lucious Left Foot that was released this past summer. But ... yeah, let's get back to Outkast, shall we? When "B.O.B. (Bomb's Over Baghdad)" dropped through the speakers, the entire place went crazy. Keeping with the Outkast vibe, Big Boi hit us with "The Way You Move" as he grabbed three ladies in the audience to come on stage and show us the way they move. And then another slammer came our way with "Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik," "Player's Ball," and "Elevators." Outkast overload, someone call the ambulance.

By now, we'd heard all the Outkast favorites ranging from 1994 to the present. It was a trip down Southern hip-hop's memory lane that would definitely satisfy the hunger of any Outkast fan. We were sad to see Big Boi go. But we knew there were no more Outkast hits to be played other than "Hey Ya." And we all know Big Boi don't sing like Andre.

As Big Boi signed off, the host of the night rushed on stage, informing everyone not to leave as there's "a lot more to come." But no one really listened and the room quickly emptied as Taiwanese import and dubstep superhero, Mochipet, dropped another dose of big bass and electronica fervor. It was unfortunate that most of the crowd didn't hang around for Mochipet's pile-driving set. But who cares 'cause Big Boi and crew did! The Durty South representatives lingered near the back of the VIP area as they sipped on Russian vodka, spoke to fans, and got a whole earful of dubstep.

Critic's Notebook

Personal Bias: Coming to the definitive realization that Big Boi is good, but Outkast is better.

The Crowd: College students and/or drop-outs who (a) don't have work or school tomorrow 'cause it's Columbus Day or (b) have work or school tomorrow, but will most likely play hooky.

Overheard in the Crowd: "Do these guys play every night?" (Referring to ¡Mayday! And the answer is "YES!")

Big Boi's Set List:

-"Bust"

-"ATLiens"

-"Skew It on the Bar-B"

-"Rosa Parks"

-"So Fresh, So Clean"

-"Ms. Jackson"

-"General Patton"

-"Follow Us"

-"Daddy Fat Sax"

-"Ghetto Musick"

-"B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad)"

-"Star Wars" (feat. C-Bone)

-"The Way You Move"

-"Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik"

-"Player's Ball"

-"Elevators (Me & You)"

-"Shine Blockas"

-"Fo Yo Sorrows"

-"Shutterbugg" (feat. Cutty)

-"Kryptonite (I'm On It)" (feat. C-Bone)

-"You Ain't No DJ"