From the banner hanging on the DJ table to the matching jackets of the four performers, it was clear that the night before Veteran’s Day, Harpers Ferry belonged to Providence indie rap label Strange Famous Records.

The night began with Cecil Otter of highly regarded Minneapolis collective, Doomtree. Only hours removed from the last of the three flights it took him to get to Boston, Cecil made the sure the crowd knew how excited he was to be there: “I wore my best flannel for Boston,” he announced, adding after a pause, “It cost me five bucks.” This sheepish sincerity continued throughout his performance as he treated listeners to standouts such as the brutally confessional “Matchbook Diaries,” the guitar riff-riddled “Demon Girl” – a reminder of Doomtree’s punk roots – and the title track off his album, Rebel Yellow, which has been recently re-released by SFR.

Rhode Island native B. Dolan was next on stage with a deftly crafted mix of spoken-word-leaning songs off his first album, The Failure, and rap-oriented tracks off his recent mixtape, House of Bees. In either medium, Dolan is not shy about addressing politics, dedicating crowd favorite “Joan of Arcadia” to Sarah Palin. He performed “Lucifer”- which samples the similarly named Jay-Z track – while holding up a large sign displaying the home address of former CEO of Union Carbide Warren Anderson. There were also a few glimpses of material off his upcoming project with full production by anticon emcee/producer Alias, Fallen House, Sunken City; in particular, a piece about Marvin Gaye silenced the room.  By the end of the set, his voice was failing him – he attributed it to a smoke machine at a show the day before – but he powered through, thanking the crowd before leaving the stage: “I’ve been feeling real at home in Boston lately.”

Next up, the soft spoken and baby-faced Sleep seemed to catch the crowd off guard with his tightly wound delivery, perfectly synchronized with up-tempo beats. They may have been equally surprised when this man who seemed so young himself dedicated a song to his teenage daughter.  Cofounder of Pacific Northwest crew Oldominion, the Portland, Oregon resident hadn’t been back to the East Coast in five years. He performed a mix of tracks off his most recent album, Hesitation Wounds, and his previous album, Christopher, which was just re-released by Strange Famous Records. His excitement over the visit shone through even though his voice was clearly suffering from the same smoke-machine-induced damage that B. Dolan endured. Now that he has linked up with Strange Famous, fans will (hopefully) not need to wait another five years before his next appearance in Boston.

And then it was time for Sage Francis. Not touring in support of anything in particular, the Providence native gave a special performance, aimed more at long time fans than at new listeners. The set list included only a few songs off his most recent album Human the Death Dance – the combined version of “Waterline” and “Good Fashion” was a crowd pleaser- and fan favorite Personal Journals. He drew heavily from A Healthy Distrust, his Sick of… mix tapes, and Non-Prophets material. Obscure selections didn’t seem to deter the crowd. Fans shouted along and traded lines with Sage, silent only when he performed a few unfamiliar songs off his upcoming project. Even as the set stretched towards the two hour mark, the audience showed no signs of fading or dwindling. For his part, Sage – wearing the Strange Famous banner as a cape – kept right up with the crowd, breaking only when he was joined on stage by B. Dolan and (special guest) Prolyphic for a performance of “Survived Another Winter”.

Before Strange Famous invaded Harpers Ferry, we got a chance to pull up some barstools with B. Dolan, Cecil Otter, and Sleep, and then sit down with Sage Francis.

–Tim Burdick

- I’m Not Sha Na Na and That’s That: A Sit Down with Sage Francis

- Smoke Machines and Rereleases: The Happenings of B. Dolan, Cecil Otter, and Sleep