The gargantuan line was imposing, viagra 100mg but expected. A lottery system for tickets ensured a mass of people strolling up and down the queue seeking extra +1’s, click cigarettes, and a chance to advance past what they must have considered the proverbial chaff. As folks from The Sinclair worked their way through in an effort to get everyone checked in before the door, they reassured the hopeful masses that nobody had been turned away for any of the other shows during the Converse Rubber Tracks residency, which, on it’s fourth night out of five, was a good sign. This is the type of fervor that Chance the Rapper commands, though while waiting to get into the venue I heard more reverential whispers about Michael Christmas, the young emcee who cut his teeth in Boston, than either Chance or Action Bronson, the night’s other act.

The show momentarily stumbled out of the gate as a fire alarm cleaned out the venue just before Michael Christmas was slated to take the stage. However, The Sinclair’s team was incredibly professional during the unexpected delay as they corralled the throngs of people that were once again outside as firetrucks made their way down Church Street. There was minimal downtime, and the crowd filled back up to catch most of Christmas’ set.

If Michael Christmas was fatigued at all after returning to Boston after 40 shows across the US and Canada, he didn’t show it. The rising rapper was absolutely electric as his reams of rhymes got the crowd immediately bouncing. His stage presence belied his age, as he brought an adept’s attitude when interacting with the crowd; it was readily apparent that Christmas has been perfecting his performance for years, and even the audience members who came in without knowing a word of his tracks got audibly excited when he announced that his new album, titled What A Weird Day, was on the horizon. A call and response of “tick, tick, tick” punctuated spaces between songs, and Christmas used the room’s mirrored enthusiasm to pysch himself up as he ran back and forth across the stage.

Donning a snapback that aptly read “Business,” Action Bronson set the tone with “Brand New Car,” an ode to the excess and lifestyle of the husky rapper who has benefitted greatly from the internet on his way to his current vaunted position. A supreme confidence (and a healthy dose of sweat) oozed from his pores as his abrasive, but slick flow had everyone’s hands raised for a good chunk of the set. Bronson toted out a few guests during his set, including Big Body Bess, who joined in the blistering bombast on “The Rising” and “Falconry”.

Being a Converse show, there was naturally an element of branding present. Bronson briefly took one of the pauses between songs to toss boxes of new sneakers and Converse gift cards to the audience. Normally, this type of interruption could register as a bit of a distraction, but his nonchalance defused what could have been an awkward break in the action. With minimal effort, he had the audience snapped back to attention with hands (some hoisting new pedestrian prizes) going up to a quick run-through of the chorus of Biz Markie’s “Just A Friend”. The set closed with the rapid-fire flow of “Easy Rider,” and Bronson’s version of “[riding] the Harley into the sunset” was him cavalierly hucking his mic before trotting off the stage.

Chance the Rapper and The Social Experiment closed out the night, and simply lit up the stage. Chance’s beats have always benefitted from the infusion of instruments and more progressive structures that separate some of his tunes from hip-hop’s more perfunctory parlance. The Social Experiment doubles down on this ethos live, as every track is fleshed out even more with arrangements adapted for the full band and live setting. The lean rapper took to the stage like a firecracker, and let the crowd know after a handful of songs that the group had been so excited that they had already botched the order of the setlist. From that point on, the order was chosen somewhat on the fly, but the informality only added to the laid-back atmosphere.

Chance’s energy is contagious, and the audience was more well-versed with his lyrics than those from the first two acts. “Favorite Song” had the room erupt in an incredibly loud amalgamated rap-and-sing-along, and Chance read the room, continuing to assert how fun the show was in the downtime between tracks. By the time that they played a new song off of Surf, the imminent release from The Social Experiment, it was weird to think that anyone could have a bad time watching them perform. At one point, he encouraged the crowd to shout out the song that they had really come for. A cacophony of “Juice” rose up from the audience, but after running through the bubbling song, Chance informed us that we had gotten it wrong, and he was right; the band launched into “Cocoa Butter Kisses” for a highlight of the night.

Before winding the show down, Chance followed up a performance of “Interlude (That’s Love)” by sequentially pointing his finger at just about every audience member while repeating “I love you,” in a gesture that was absolutely mutual. After an ending consisting of a brand new song and “Good Ass Outro,” the crowd filed out into the late night air still buzzing. Some shows are good reminders of the inherent fun in live performance, but some are able to transport the audience to a place of collective elation which tunes out just about everything beyond the immediate four walls. Converse curated the latter and in doing so, gave a huge boon to its Rubber Tracks Initiative.