by Andrew Miller

Tech N9ne

Wed June 11

Roseland Theater

With his drum-roll cadence and guitar-solo virtuosity, Tech N9ne possesses an onstage electricity that few rap acts equal. He plays complete songs, eschewing hiphop's tradition of unsatisfying medleys. He never stops to toss out tired roof-raising chants. More than any other active lyricist, Tech can convert concert-goers on the spot with his infectious energy and far-out flows.

First, though, Tech has to get them into the club. That's not a problem in his hometown of Kansas City, where his shows fill high-profile venues and his albums set sales records. However, though Tech has shared songs with 2Pac and Eminem, his star-crossed career has been filled with shady industry dealings and poisoned partnerships.

He's starting to spread the word, in a manner befitting an unorthodox artist. In a series of stark, effective commercials on MTV, Tech--with "FTI" (for "Free the Industry") scrawled across his forehead--urges viewers to visit his Web site (therealtech9ne.com) and download his entire Absolute Power album for free. Tech also re-released AngHellic, his 2001 collection of futuristic tunes dealing with death, debauchery and deliverance, with bonus tracks, including one called "FTI." This posse cut drops a whale of a bass line into a placid, oceanic beat and lets lyricists take turns riding the waves.

Tech and his Strange Music crew planned his first headlining tour themselves, kicking off in Australia before hammering the Midwest and West Coast, showing off a full production complete with costumes and ornate entrance music.

To Tech, though, it's just another teaser. He dreams of unveiling one of the most aesthetically outrageous stage shows in hiphop history. "I'd be on some other shit, with barcode crucifixes and burned-out cathedrals," he raves.

Such concerts would test the limits of Absolute Power's titular concept. "Absolute power means moving this sea of people and feeling a surge," Tech explains. But true absolute power would involve getting millions of people involved in this interaction. After this gig at the Roseland, he should have a few hundred more enlistees in his army.