BMO CENTRE – AUGUST 7, 2013
It’s rare I share anything with obnoxiously girl-drink drunk teenagers in unwashed hip-hop gear on the C-Train, but this evening I did. We were both headed to Macklemore at the BMO Centre; sadly I had not polished off a 26 of candy-flavoured vodka out of some rare bit of self-respect. Once I passed the “No Entry” sign for the obligatory pat-down, I had abandoned all hope of doing anything else with my evening.
London, Ontario Juno winner Shad did a fine job warming up the crowd. A potent mixture of Shad’s heady lyrics, combined with his turntableism and live musicians necessitated getting closer to the stage, if anything to conquer the BMO Centre’s concrete bunker-muddied sound. Capping off the set with his Breeders sample hit, “Out Here (Cannonball),” Shad left the fun fur-coated crowd with appropriate energy – and not an Indian headdress was in sight, thank Christ. Grabbing a pair of beers (being far outnumbered by the Palm Breeze drinkers in the crowd), I set a land-speed record for consumption of Budweiser while waiting for the main event.
The lights dimmed, the screams began and a poncho-clad Macklemore greeted Calgary with yells of “Buenas noches” and “CAL-GAH-REE!” to roars of approval. With clips of White Men Can’t Jump playing behind the stage, the show began and featured Macklemore stage-diving into the crowd early on. While stage dives may be commonplace at rock shows, this crowd was less familiar, prompting the artist to remind them that “I jump into the fucking crowd, you gotta catch me!” when he returned. With dropping him like he was hot out of the way, Macklemore blazed through the hits, the screen aiding all of the sing-a-longs. This included “Thrift Shop,” where “motherfucker!” was emphatically belted out by the entire crowd. With a shout-out to Canada’s gay marriage-friendly stance and compassion and tolerance, the crowd lost its mind, even after Macklemore used “gay” as a trolling insult. Near the end of the set, a monologue about sex with a Canadian woman who turned into his Canadian fiancée which would result in his “Canadian-blooded” children and his possible Canadian citizenship, Macklemore proved that he knew not only how to charm the pants off his fiancée, but his fans as well.
By Spencer Brown
Photos: Andy Williams – Nonissue Photography
