Giveaway: David Banner, Bun-B, and Z-Ro @ the Austin Music Hall

Tuesday’s show at Austin Music Hall has been listed as both “David Banner and Bun-B” and “David Banner, Bun-B and Z-Ro.” That’s how bonkers this show will be – Z-Ro, one of the most celebrated rappers in the state, gets low billing.

After him, though, who goes next and who closes? It would be hard goings for any artist to follow Bun in Texas, where any show is a homecoming, at least as far as what you hear. As one half of UGK, his first handful of albums are classic in a way that might not be attainable any more; UGK brazenly rejected the status quo for what you could do in a rap song, and simultaneously crafted some of most vibrant and enthralling hip-hop ever. It seems every fan of Bun has at least one album they remember playing on cassette until the thing broke. Rappers today can get better, but it seems hard to fathom that they can ever be as foundational as Bun.

Still, David Banner is rap’s best bid to get on one of those VH1 shows like “Craziest Concert Moments 12.” In a genre where the bar for a good show is set extremely low (say, 6 songs, half-shouted, feet glued to the stage), Banner pinballs, shirtless, between the speakers, the crowd, and the back wall of the stage, ad nauseum. At the same time, he navigates the oft-offending catacombs of his rhymes; he riffs (for lack of a much stronger verb) about crooked cops and slavery and strip clubs and Sean Taylor, always aiming to incite someone. As much as Bun is the rare rapper who is foundational and still relevant, Banner is one of the few who could be considered truly incendiary, and in concert he seems to feel especially emboldened to fulfill that role.

If you haven't been convinced enough to buy tickets, you can win a pair from us. See the jump for details.