Fort Collins Colorado — The tag-team of Minnesota rappers P.O.S and Astronautalis met 15 years ago on Warped tour and agreed to create a band. Known together as Four Fists, they released their first collaborative album 6666 at the beginning of the month. On October 18, they were on stage in Hodi’s Half-Note for the third show of their tour.

A loud cheer erupts from the crowd as Four Fists steps onto the stage and the music began to play. No sign of fatigue was evident for a band that had spent all day in a van driving from Kansas City. I looked up at them on the stage and saw two completely different people than the two Minnesota nice men I had interviewed only a few hours prior. The second they stepped on the stage they were no longer “Andy and Stef,” they were Astronautalis and P.O.S, collaborating together to make Four Fists, a band that played music to yell to. High energy along with lyrics that make the listener angry; Astronautalis wouldn’t have it any other way, “I want all the shows to be a party, I want everyone to eventually get over their own neurosis and dance and sing along and yell and sweat.”  The whole crowd lived up to his wishes, and I even caught myself nodding along. What really sold the Four Fist’s concert for me was the banter between the two leads. Between playing rock, paper, scissors to decide who gets to sing their individual song first, or making personal jabs at each other about recent medical procedures. “Be careful! He’s running on a new kidney,” Astronautalis yelled jokingly to the crowd. “No worries, it’s under warranty until 100,000 miles,” P.O.S retorted.

The only portion of the show that did not work for me is when they cut the music off and rapped without music, which to me it felt like rapid slam poetry.  The yelling, dancing, and atmosphere that Four Fist had worked to create screeches to a halt during these sections and throws off any rhythm they were making as the crowd silently stared at the duo desperately trying to understand what the artists were saying. The adoring crowd moved on from the awkwardly silent moments with polite applause and then the band quickly moved on to the next song to work back up to the atmosphere they just squandered.

All in all, the band Four Fists put on a great show, especially considering this being the third concert they have done as a band. When I asked them what I could expect to see from them in the future, I did not hear any news of prospective albums, but I received a humorous reply of marketing ploys such as vapes, flavored vodka, and baggy tee-shirts. While I look forward to what they have in store in the future, for now Four Fists has earned a four-fifths grade from me.

You can listen to the full interview below.

Interview hosted and written by Cory Odom.

Photos by Cory Odom.

Background music in the interview is “Honey” by Nctrnm.