B L A C K I E at Recession Thursday, Numbers, August 28 Photo by Brigitte B. Zabak

Today marks the battle of the capital letters: B L A C K I E vs KTRU. The distortion-obsessed local hip-hopper was scheduled to appear for an in-studio session on the station’s (91.7 FM) Tuesday-night The Local Show, but plans have changed … for the better. B L A C K I E will instead perform a free concert at Rice University’s Student Center, which will be simulcast on The Local Show at 8 p.m.

“Basically, our station manager - who's a big B L A C K I E fan - and I were talking Friday about how exactly we were going to translate [his] extremely intense show to a sound-only, radio-friendly format," says The Local Show host Ian Wells. "Ultimately, we decided that instead of locking B L A C K I E up in our studio, we'd ask him to perform outside in front of a real crowd and see if we could broadcast live from there.”

Wells is right; anyone who has witnessed a B L A C K I E show knows it's not easy to contain him. At past performances, the MC has scaled partitions, roamed venues and handed out whistles and kazoos to audience members for backing tracks. If you’ve missed him in the past, now would be a good time to catch up – for free. - Dusti Rhodes

8 p.m. tonight at Rice University Student Center's Ray Courtyard, 6100 Main.