During 2011, South Africa’s rap-rave trio Die Antwoord tore through the Windy City twice, each time surfacing at the intimate Double Door to perform for 400 or so hardcore fans. With the project’s sophomore LP Ten$ion still fresh on shelves, or more likely your digital locker, Ninja, Yo-landi Vi$$er, and DJ Hi-Tek came equipped with all their Zef swag for another sold out Chicago performance, this time packing the 1,100-capacity Metro. An even greater accomplishment when considering the show was on a Wednesday evening with a 6:30 p.m. “door time,” rather early for a band that chooses to describe their aesthetic with the term “rave.” Nevertheless, not an inch of extra room was to be had as the lights dimmed and the trio’s dooming instrumental introduction rolled through the two-level theater. Making the entrance even more memorable was the visual cameo of late Leon Botha, who helped Die Antwoord go viral with an appearance on the music video for “Enter the Ninja”.

The brightly-clad crew took little time introducing any newcomers to their aggressive Zef style, showcasing producer DJ Hi-Tek with the new track “DJ Hi-Tek Rulez”, but as the track so unabashedly explains, he really just wants to “fuck you till you love [him].” Both Ninja and Yo-landi managed to discard most of their original garb as they quickly worked their way through the Afrikaans-heavy “Fok Jolle Naaiers”, “Wat kyk Jy”, and “Wot Pomp”. No language barrier could hamper the crowd from screaming along with Yo-landi’s wickedly-infectious vocals, which when combined with the punching-synths of “Way Kyk Jy” has dangerous effects on the dance floor.

With approximately 90-minutes of music between their two albums, lyric memorization seems to come easy after repeat listens, quite possibly due to our secret desire for verbal malfeasance, so the hall filled with a thousand renditions of the new track “Hey Sexy”. To the credit of both vocalists, even when running around stage, the syncopated, hype-bass flow of “Fatty Boom Boom” was near spot on, with Yo-landi’s high-pitched vocals actually more pleasurable in the live setting.

Since inception, the outfit’s music has only been a portion of their greater artistic ambitions. The threesome are a visual spectacle alone – the long, lean, tattooed Ninja, Yolandi’s small figure adorned with hollow black contact lenses, and the broadashouldered beast DJ-Hi Tek towering over the stage on the 1′s and 2′s. When combined with their limitless stage energy, symbiotic stage relationships, humor, and Keith Haring-esque drawings, the 65-minute set visually sped by like a caffeine-fueled, South African influenced menga. The energy further intensified mid-way when Yo-landi stripped to her signature gold-shorts for “Rich Bitch”.

With no downtempo tracks or ballads existent in their catalog, Die Antwoord just kept the set peaking to the end with a run of their top tracks, “I Fink You Freeky”, “Beat Boy”, “Enter The Ninja”, and “Never Le Nkemise 2”. The string of crowd favorites and the banging-electro closer had the audience in a complete daze as the house lights came on, with the majority of the crowd stuck to the floor until Metro’s sound team unplugged the tables and mics. For all those lucky enough, the show ended much like the night before (Valentine’s), it was rough, dirty, and covered in bodily fluid. But left us pleading for just one more.

Setlist:
Intro > DJ Hi-Tek Rulez
Fok Jolle Naaiers
Wat Kyk Jy?
Wot Pomp
Hey Sexy
Fatty Boom Boom
Money and Da Power
Rich Bitch
Orinoco Flow (Sail Away)
Baby’s On Fire
I Fink You Freeky
Beat Boy
Enter The Ninja
Never Le Nkemise 2