Review: Timeflies does not dissapoint in Des Moines

Shapiro and Resnick freestyled about Des Moines and Iowa State University 

Angela.Rivas.Com

It is Wednesday night, and Des Moines is about to become the best stop on the “Too Much To Dream” tour for Timeflies. Both Baby Raptors and Bryce Vine have finished up their sets and have left the stage.

Everyone patiently sways back and forth to songs like “Be Humble” and “Bodak Yellow” on the stereos. Then the lights go out, and everyone starts to scream.

“Are you ready to f***ing party?” yells Cal Shapiro, vocalist of Timeflies. Following Shapiro onto the stage is Rob Resnick on electronic beats. As songs fly by, Shapiro and Resnick keep the adrenaline pumping and the audience jumping.

“All the Way,” “For You” and “Gravity” were the first three songs that are played. Then it takes a 180-degree turn. Resnick pulls out an acoustic guitar and the duo slows it down while covering popular songs like “Wagon Wheel” by Old Crow Medicine Show and “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran.

“Tuesdays are the best day of the week,” yelled Shapiro.

Timeflies first caught attention putting out weekly YouTube videos on Tuesdays doing covers, freestyling or releasing new music. Their first release was “Under the Sea” in 2012 with a new twist to the original Disney tune. The duo is still currently releasing “Timeflies Tuesday” videos. 

Adding a new beat to anything comes as a breeze to Shapiro and Resnick. Well known for their freestyling abilities, Timeflies asked the crowd to send in random words before the show. 

When the time came, these words were projected onto the screen and the duo would have to incorporate that word into the freestyle. “ISU Truck,” “Zombie Burger,” “Cornfields” and “Busch Light” were just a small group of terms submitted and successfully used in the freestyle rap. 

Using DJ Khaled’s “All I Do is Win” beat over the freestyle battle, the real winners tonight were Shapiro and Resnick.

“I love you guys. Because of your support, we can do what we love,” said Shapiro.

Like all concerts, there is that moment where everyone gets silent and the band gets serious. When Timeflies performed in 2012 in Des Moines, they made a promise. And tonight, they kept that promise.

“[We promised that] we will always be the same motherf***ers,” said Shapiro.

Moving into their next song “SMFWU” (Same Motherfucker, What Up), you can hear the emotion in Shapiro’s voice. He gets down on his knees to sing and thank the audience.

One of Timeflies’ more popular songs, “Once In A While,” was left for last. Singing along and bopping their heads, the audience moved with Shapiro as he jumps around the stage and evidently into the audience.

Finishing strong with not only one, but two encores, the duo leaves the stage while everyone starts to pile out the doors. The night is over and we can all return to life. 

Hopefully we don’t have to wait another four years for Timeflies to come back to Iowa.