Lil’ Wayne @ ACC: M&$%F@#, He’s Ill

January 16th, 2009

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Weezy just breezied through Toronto on his big ol’ ‘I Am Music’ headlining tour, which featured opening acts Gym Class Heroes (ed: actually, they weren’t in Toronto), Keyshia Cole, Keri Hilson and T-Pain. Alas, due to a series of unfortunate events I didn’t manage to catch the openers and worst of all: I had to watch the first half hour of Wayne’s World’s show from outside. As in, just listening to it. As in, being tempted with the candy but not being able to take it. In that sad state of affairs, I heard the crowd chant “Weezy! Weezy!” as he appeared onstage to launch “Mr. Carter” and “Got Money” (T-Pain came back out for that one, natch. Or so I heard). Once I finally got my ticket and found my (crowded with screaming girls who moved closer to the action) seat, at least a half hour had passed. Dangit! But just in time to see him sans shirt, all ab. Score!

Halfway through the show, Wayne asked how many people own the first album? “Now we see who the real fans are!” he said as the beat to Juvenile’s “Back That Azz Up” dropped. Throughout the show he pulled out older tracks like “Tha Block Is Hot”, “Fireman” (complete with with amazing fireballs), and “Go DJ”. Occasionally he’d throw a mixtape bar or 2 into the fold, just to tease, before launching into anwhy don’other hit. Weezy’s smart cause this was a huge stadium show and as such, you must cater to a more mainstream crowd – and good god, this man has learned how to CA-TER. (Put an ‘r’ in there et voila! Carter! Carter Caters with Tha Carter III! I’ll stop now).

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a hip-hop show with so much pop theatrics – Wayne changed at least 3-4 times (not quite Mariah numbers, but at least Beyonce numbers) and intermittently brought out some fierce Flygirl-like dancers (holy sh*t @ the “Lollipop” pole dancing). During his costume changes, artists from his Young Money label took the stage to more-enthusiastic-than-necessary-because-you-pale-in-comparison audience response. Amongst them, Mack Maine and Degrassi actor-turned-rapper Aubrey Graham (“Drake”) passed the time before W came back out for “Mrs. Officer” (with Drake filling in for Bobby Valentino). Keri Hilson came back out for a taste of “Turnin’ Me On” and then Wayne sat down with a guitar for his lovesong to a prostitute. Note to everyone: Wayne should not sing. I know he loves his rock music but dude – you excel at rapping. It’s like when Michael Jordan played baseball – sooner or later, you have to go back to what you do best (and nobody wants to see you do it).

Despite my crap-ass mood, Lil Wayne’s onstage “don’t give a f*ck how silly I look doing a leprechaun jig” win-win attitude, paired with the incredible crowd energy, this was a pretty sick show. I was a little worried cause with his explosion of success this past year, I wondered if he’d become a more self-conscious performer? His stint on SNL was a little questionable, I thought. But nope – he pulled out the stops, he manhandled a firemaking machine, he humped the stage (and the air), he performed with confidence, and gave 15,000 people a good heaping plateful of why 2008 was Wayne’s World.

Posted on Friday, January 16th, 2009 at 5:53 pm by Wendy and is filed under Concerts & Events.