The hip-hop group the Flobots love America.

Last night at the El Corazon club in Seattle, they proved it decking the stage with American flag bandannas, American flag guitar straps, and lyrics about America making it look like the 4th of July all over again.
And last night, America was loving them right back.

Squeezed into the small venue, the audience went crazy for them. About 100 degrees in the place, there was so much sweat excreted the walls even seemed to drip. Girls and boys alike stripped off their shirts to better handle the heat. The screams were so loud the only thing audible was the flow of the Flobots being pumped into the very bones of the audience.

Known for their single "Handlebars," the Bots have gotten so big that the average Miley Cyrus/Chris Brown loving fan has probably even heard of them. Yet, because they are so much better than the average, maybe it proves America is ready for something new.

"I love their single and I knew I had to go see them before they got big," Natalia Herrett, 19, said of the band last night. "Their message is so simple but powerful."

A cosmic fusion of the Blue Scholars, because of their mad rapping skills, and Yellowcard, because of their use of a string instrument, only here viola instead of a violin, the Flobots bring method to the madness that is the underground hip-hop scene.

They just expect more. They expect more of themselves -- how many other bands have a viola v. electric guitar rock-off in the middle of one their songs?

They also expect more of their fans.

"The real work begins when you leave," Brer Rabbit, one of the Flobots front rappers told the audience. "Go use the talents you have to make America great."

The audience really seemed to respond to him.

"I agree with everything he's saying," Alison Fernili, 23, said of Brer Rabbit. "I like that they are not afraid to say how they really feel."

However, there were two songs the fans seemed to respond to most. The first was a cover of the Turtles song "Happy Together." The room swelled with people screaming in unison "I can't see me lovin nobody but you for all my life." The second was when the first viola plucks of "Handlebars" began. It was chaos on crack. Not a person there was not in to it.

Interspersed with viola interludes, intense head banging of dreadlocks, and an overall message of how the younger generation can rise up and change the world, their set was refreshingly new and different.

The two opening acts were sick.

P.O.S., consisting of two rappers and a Mac book, really got the party started. Absolutely twitching out and moving crazy the whole time it was hard not to just stare at them. Plus, rapper P.O.S. could give Ludacris (Chris Bridges), a run for his money when it comes to the title of fastest rapper out there. It was a trip.

The second act was Doomtree Collective, and a collective it certainly was. Hailing from Minnesota they groups seven or so members, including rapper P.O.S. who had just been on stage, each took their turns emceeing on their microphones. No one could ever tell what was about to happen next.

"The first two were freaking sick. I'm amped," Brian Inderbitzin, 20, said right before the Flobots got on stage. "I think [P.O.S.] will even be better than the Flobots."

Although the first two acts were not better than the headliner, each group built upon the last to create a continuous hip-hop masterpiece.

And last night America/Seattle was loving it.