An extended instrumental from “Where This Flower Blooms” played, and the curtain dropped to reveal Tyler standing atop the tree, where he would turn around and begin rapping his verse. With enough time to use the washroom and re-up on beer, an intricate stage setup was prepared for Tyler, including a starry sky backdrop, an artificial hill, and a fallen tree. There would then be a bit of a wait as the crew cleared out Vince’s stage equipment and prepped the stage for Tyler’s set. Performing the Big Fish Theory track stationary at a mic stand, Vince kept the crowd bouncing, and would pick up the tempo with more bangers off the album like “Party People” and “Big Fish.” Vince had one more throwback with “Norf Norf” before closing out his set with the high-energy “Yeah Right.” He would pause to thank the crowd before bringing the hook back for them to all chant along to one last time, with an epic choreographed light show surrounding him on stage. The countdown clock reappeared on screen, except this time it was counting up, and I think all the fans knew it would stop at the title of his next song, “7:45.” He rocked a few more throwbacks with “Smile” and “Lift Me Up,” keeping up the party vibe before briefly leaving the stage. Vince continued to perform songs off his newest releases, doing a few off his 2016 Prima Donna EP, as well as “Love Can Be…” off of Big Fish Theory, before taking it back to 2014 with “Blue Suede.” As with most of his songs, the fans recognized the instrumental as it built up, and went wild when the beat dropped, as Vince slayed his verses. He would seemingly disappear and reappear as the smoke machines created a big cloud on stage, and the light panels would move in patterns to give the crowd cool visuals to look at. A clock counting down appeared on screen to build up anticipation, and Vince would come out swinging with tracks off the new album like “BagBak,” “Rain Come Down,” and “Homage,” with the EDM style of production getting the crowd bouncing right away. His set list would be longer than last time, and he would have more intricate lighting and special effects in his performance. Vince Staples would also be celebrating a critically acclaimed 2017 album with his sophomore Big Fish Theory, and while he did get to promote it while opening for the Gorillaz last year, this tour would give him more of a co-headliner’s spotlight. Fans in a general admission pit would fill the floor where the skating rink would normally go, with the seats around the arena also being filled, and co-headliner Vince Staples would take the stage after a short DJ set by Odd Future member Taco. It’s not quite as big as the Air Canada Centre, but it’s probably the next biggest venue available in the winter months, and the biggest Tyler has headlined in Toronto to date. It’s quite possible that this would be the very first rap concert held at the arena, as in my years of concert-going I’ve never heard of anything other than hockey games and skating events being held at Ricoh. Joining Tyler The Creator on this tour would be fellow California rapper Vince Staples, and they would be just passing the halfway point with this stop at Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto. The day-one fans definitely showed up to find out, as the long line to get into the venue had plenty of Odd Future/Golf Wang clothing on display. After seeing his acclaimed Tiny Desk Concert featuring new songs off of Flower Boy, one had to wonder how he would balance this new laid back vibe with the old aggression, or if he would even perform much of his older work at all. In the past, you could expect Tyler’s concerts to have mosh pits breaking out, crowd surfing fans, and to be shouting lyrics like “kill people, burn shit, fuck school!”. The youthful aggression is pulled back, and Tyler has put most of his focus into crafting lush, mellow sounds for his instrumentals to go with his more mature thoughts, creating a more relaxing listen. Long gone are the days when Tyler was portraying his disturbed fictional character on the Bastard – Goblin – Wolf trilogy, as we’re now getting a raw, transparent display of his true personality. Not only is the new album his most universally, critically acclaimed release to date, but the growth in character and musicianship has caused a vast departure from the Tyler fans have known for years. In 2017 he released his fifth album, Scum Fuck Flower Boy(commonly known as Flower Boy), which has brought on a dramatic shift in his career. It’s a really interesting time in Tyler The Creator’s career to be seeing him perform live.
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