Concert Reviews

Stormzy at the Velvet Underground

March 22, 2016

Speculation about the impending Grime takeover of North America has been building of late. Just last month Drake signed a deal with the seminal London label Boy Better Know, cementing his relationship with Skepta. Stormzy’s sold-out show at Velvet Underground this past Saturday was further proof that the tide is changing. Toronto’s excitement was palpable.

Stormzy has placed himself as one of the top players in Grime’s resurgence, alongside other newcomers like Novelist and Bugzy Malone, and established artists like Wiley, Skepta and D Double E. The leadup to the show was plagued with issues. First Stormzy canceled two of his SXSW shows because of vocal issues, and then the performance was delayed by an hour due to ‘technical difficulties’:

It’s hard to say what actually happened, but the crowd was getting antsy.

The first supporting act was Internet Daughter, who played a technically competent if a little underwhelming Trap set. When second support DJ, Freeza Chin took the stage it was like flicking an ‘on’ switch in the room. The first hour of Freeza’s set was 100% Grime. Classics like Dizzee Rascal’s ‘I Luv U’ were mixed up with some of the best new UK Hip-Hop and Grime. Section Boyz, Kano, Wiley and Skepta were given the recognition they deserve, and the crowd really appreciated the chance to skank out to some Grime beats. He eventually ran out of Grime and defaulted to a more placid mix of danceable Hip-Hop, but did an amazing job given the circumstances.

By the time Stormzy’s DJ TIINY finally took over the turntables around 2am, energy was high. The crowd had thinned somewhat due to the delay and only the faithful remained. We were ready. Stormzy started the set by professing his love for Toronto, and telling us he would like to move here for a few months. Apologising for the delay, he handed out some bottles of champagne and Courvoisier to the front row. It was a nice gesture, but frankly all was forgiven the second he touched mic anyway.

Stormzy’s obvious excitement play in Toronto for the first time was matched by the enthusiasm emanating from the audience. Lyrics were screamed back towards the stage; it felt like the whole crowd knew every word to every song, which was a little surreal given that the genre has only recently started to regain attention in North America.

Hit followed hit. Songs like ‘Shut Up’, ‘Not that Deep’ and ‘WickedSkengMan 4’ resonated in the room. A couple of songs, such as ‘Gold Thoughts’, Stormzy’s take on Kendrick’s ‘Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe’ didn’t quite reach the same level of hype, but frankly we needed some downtime in between bangers.

As he started the last song ‘Know me From’, excitement boiled over and the crowd rushed the stage. After stopping for a second to bring the room back down to a simmer, Stormzy rewound the track and gave the audience the absolution we’d been waiting for.

I do not say this lightly, but this was one of the best shows I have seen. Toronto was out in fine form, reminding my both why I love this city and why I love the Grime scene. Stormzy said it best himself:

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