Shad (Wrongbar, May 12, VIP)

For as many times as I've seen Shad perform there have been new incarnations of his performance. And so the emcee was true to form for the VIP performance at Wrongbar. Ever-energetic Shad took to the stage with his authentic raps and confidence that refrains from being cockiness. The expected assortment of tracks were thrown down with 'my man DJ T-lo on the ones and twos and Ian Koitus on holdin her down on the bass'. Didn't take long for the first blip, in the form of a cameo by Lisa Lobsinger of BSS and Marge-Simpson-hair-lookalike fame. She sang on Rose Garden but unfortunately for all her mic was real low or even off, but at least we got got see her pretty face. In the vein of Telephone from last year's TSOL, Shad dropped a new track that sampled rings and dial tones, calling this one Cell Phones. (Speaking of Rings, Diamond was spotted in the audience sans makeup but with that signature 'do). In other musician news Grand Analog stole a mic to throwdown his Shad-featuring tune that allowed music to make the world go round and stuck around for The Old Prince Still Lives at Home. The intensity never waned as one track was spit completely from the floor and power tune We, Myself and I pushed the decibel level in the capacity club. So thoroughly had he entertained us that he had to scrape the bucket for his encore but it was no B-side as he cracked out a brand new tune that met the bar that Shad has loftily set for Canadian hiphop.


Opener: Miracle Fortress

Miracle Fortress (Wrongbar, May 12)

Much has been said of Miracle Fortress' departure in style between debut Five Roses and Was I the Wave? Unfortunately we wouldn't get much of a head to head comparison as the new album dominated the set. As Graham Van Pelt is only touring with a drummer he had to rely on prerecorded samples for much of the music and this back fired off the bat as they were barely a change from the house music that had been playing and the chatty crowd took some time to register that he was even performing. In addition Graham played the guitar and worked the sampler while of course singing too. Personally I am one in the disappointed camp with the change in Miracle Fortress' sound, not that it is bad but it isn't the sound that I'd really gotten into a few years back. With that in mind to say that this show didn't wholly impress or win me over isn't a huge knock - the only 'old' track in the set came as finale and wasn't enough to make it memorable.


Opening for: Shad