Shad with a new (JD) Era

Arriving just as JD Era was taking the stage I leaned up against the Indian statue and took in the show. I enjoyed his set - more than Shad's previous hiphop opener - and he did write a few interesting hooks. DJ TLO rolled the beats for him, which already helped to improve his status in my mind but he actually could rap in addition to that. Whereas Shad sings "I self-deprecate more than I boast - and I boast a lot", JD Era just boasted. He claimed on more than one occasion to have the best flow in Canada, which I'm going to have to disagree with despite his solid performance, but there are a number of excellent Canadian hip hop artists these days. (6.5)

Of course a name that shoots right to mind when I think of them is the man himself - Shad K. Coming off a performance at the Polaris Music Prize gala the night before (where Shad sadly missed out on the prize to a deserving Caribou) Shad still seemed just as stoked about playing a small, though packed room in little old Guleph. The crowd was behind him the entire way, waving hands and clapping at the request of the main man, or singing their part without much encouragement necessary. The set was much the same as in Waterloo the week before, with the notable addition of the acoustic part of the set as it wasn't plagued with technical difficulties as before. Actually there were a few tense moments for me as he picked it up and strummed without anything reaching my ears. This went on for a few seconds, before a bit of fiddling and switch flipping remedied the situation and the chords burst forth from the speakers, filling the Vinyl with sound. Using the acoustic he played 'Rock to It' and the 'Fugees sampled 'Nappy Heads' tune. After packing the guitar back up he had TLO whip out the 80's mix for a bit til again it was cut off in favour of 'I don't really like to'. 'The Old Prince Still Lives at Home' went over extremely well yet again and Shad seemed to feed off the energy for the rest of the show.
As an encore Shad broke into the free-verse style a capella that he'd used in place of his acoustic set a week earlier. Having the opportunity to listen to it twice (this time sober too!) made me appreciate not just how lyrically dynamic Shad is - but in his style and mannerisms as well. For example, rather than just say what he meant to with words, he would do things like start a verse that was a joke, then say he was playing, rewind it back and start it again similarly but this time seriously. I hadn't realized how calculated this approach was on the first go around, but I was thoroughly impressed upon realization this night. Shad really is a hip hop artist that is a cut above the rest in Canada - many would probably argue that he has the best flow in Canada. (9)