Photos: Alessio Neri

BERKELEY – After an hour-long wait, Caleborate took the Cornerstone stage to an audience of fans, friends and family on Thursday. The Sacramento native kicked off his Noise Pop set with “Caught Up,” the opening track of his 2017 album, Real Person. As an artist who wears both his excitement and intensity on his sleeve, it’s safe to note that everyone in the venue was visibly caught up in the much-anticipated set. Caleborate went straight into “Soul,” and then took some time to rile up the crowd.

“Can we turn up a little bit?” he said. It was a request the audience was happy to fulfill. The artist blended West Coast hip-influences and melody, and R&B into all of his tunes. His lyrics are nuanced and clever, pulling both from the world round him and his personal life.

Caleborate performs at Cornerstone in Berkeley during Noise on Feb. 22, 2018.

In between energetically bouncing from one side of the stage to the other as he sang, Caleborate expressed his gratitude to Noise Pop for having him. He went on to thank the Berkeley music scene for shaping him as a man and musician, and then gave his family members in the attendance a shout-out. Moved by Caleborate’s sincerity, the crowd unleashed a cry of support that rung from the floor to the balcony.

An introspective interlude followed with the performances of “Down” and “4 Willem.” As Caleborate passionately rapped social commentary on current events, the audience sang along. He prefaced the former by talking about music being a medium through which he deals with life’s problems and depression.

Caleborate later brought out his brother and opener, Cash Campain, to perform the smooth track “Holy Matrimony,” off 2017 album Valley Hi. He then closed the first part of his set with “Make Me Take Me” and “Real Person.” The latter was a downtempo tune that was both introspective and raw.

Smiling ear to ear, Caleborate returned onstage to close with his most popular track, “Bankrobber.”

Yeek started the night off with a soulful twist, accompanied by an upbeat backing track. Coupled with his dancing and performances of “Lust” and “Slow,” the L.A. native—wearing a baseball cap, a flannel and Chuck Taylors—looked like he could easily fit in with the audience. After playing his new single, “Slept On,” Yeek finished his set with a lively rendition of “Only In The West.”

Iman Europe performs at Cornerstone in Berkeley during Noise on Feb. 22, 2018.

Cash Campain took the stage next. Though his smooth R&B delivery was impressive, the sheer volume prohibited me from fully ingesting his songs, which often buried the lyrics. This, coupled with an impromptu ode to Hennesey and a performance of “Daydream,” failed to win over the audience as a whole. A memorable moment of the set, however, occurred when Cash Campain and his DJ performed a synchronized dance to Bel Biv DeVoe’s “Poison.”

Iman Europe dazzled the crowd with a soul and hip-hop set from the moment she stepped onstage. She introduced herself as, “Iman like the model, Europe like the country,” and brought the energy back to full speed with her infectious energy. She regularly addressed the crowd, too, asking one concertgoer where he got his clothes and if she could go shopping with him. Her banter was endearing. Europe performed beautiful arrangements of her songs “Blessing” (which has received the approval of Tune-Yards) and “Oakland,” and closed her set with “Let’s Vibe,” a crowd favorite.

Follow writer Eli Batrez at Twitter.com/@_elibelly6_. Follow photo editor Alessio Neri at Instagram.com/windowofcolor and Windowofcolor.com.