Paul Wall made sure to deliver a performance that was worth every dollar people spent. He exudes fun, his smile beaming as he did song after song. Sometimes bigger names will do a quick 15 minutes, Paul Wall did a proper set.
Last night I got drunk, which adds that haziness to memories where it all… feels like a movie. Opening for Paul Wall is an experience I’m grateful for. There’s something special to knowing you were just on that stage helping get the crowd to where they need to be.
I think intoxicants help us all feel like these nights are movies. I low-key find that expression overused. Then I have these surreal, “this is actually MY life” moments and feel compelled to use it myself.
Back to Belmont for sound check
I was told to arrive around 6:00 PM for sound check. Apparently, the other artists got told 6:30 PM. I can admit this may have been me remembering wrong.
It was me, the sound guy from yesterday and APXO’s homie when I arrived. The homie bought me a coffee from Tim Hortons and I really appreciate that. My Friday was fairly groggy and I even took a two hour nap to try and recharge.
That coffee helped.
The fun part of showing up early is you do get to meet all the performers. In this case the Meet & Greet was scheduled during sound check so there was a healthy amount of people in the room by 7:00 PM.
It was fun chilling on stage with CY, DJ Blaster, King K LV and the other performers as we bopped around. I should say I had fun turning up on stage while CY was sound checking.
There was a special energy in the air. This show did not feel like a showcase. Contrary to some belief, we didn’t pay to be on this show. While selling tickets will help us secure future opportunities, had we sold nothing we still were part of the show.
This felt like the kind of show I want to be more involved with. I feel each of the performers were on the same wave with me.
Chris Chrome had to remake the sign
Chris agreed to make a sign and hold it up to be a part of the set. Chris opens up the sign and has written my Instagram handle wrong. This lead to an impromptu “put it on the back” freestyle, a twist on Put It On My Back, the song we’d perform later.
While Chris got to work, I went and did the sound check part I described in the section before. At 7:07 PM I get a message that says “Paul Wall is next.to me”, verbatim. So… I head downstairs at Belmont and there he is.
Paul Wall acknowledged that my shoes matched my outfit. If you know me, this trying to be stylish thing is new. I just said we had to do it for Paul Wall’s birthday. I was low key beaming inside.
Chris continued to work on the sign. JS came down and instantly bonded with Paul Wall’s videographer. JS manages to find the video man everywhere and makes friends. Videographers attract videographers.
CC really did his thing and made that sign on time. He did it in front of all the other people and played his role. Let it be said that young Johnson earned his spot.
Doors opened and there were tickets to sell
We did our Instagram contest. So, I had to give Blue two tickets. Then the messages started coming. Three separate parties wanted 4 more tickets in total.
As people arrived, I had to keep checking my phone. I saw the room filling up and said my what’s ups to people I saw them. Still there was 160$ to be made and that money was acquired.
We sold 22 tickets to this show and I’m proud of that. DJ Blaster bought a pickle t-shirt off me. I was already feeling myself and then the drinking started.
There were 6 people that pulled up in pickle gear, me included. This was the first time I had seen that happen. We’ve been selling them at a turtle’s pace but to have people show love by rocking the merch means the world to me.
Gene, Sabrina, Victoria, JS & Chris, thank you sincerely for that. I saw Gene’s brother wanting some pickle gear post performance. Feel free to ride that wave, we got stuff on the shop on the very site you are reading this on.
Rooga started the show
I don’t remember exactly when the show started. The hustle and bustle of eager Paul Wall fans piling into Le Belmont was a bit overwhelming. I was a bit nervous.
CY pulled up in a limo. This happened before Rooga’s set but let it be known that CY limo’d up for the occasion.
Rooga had a cool energy. When Montreal Girls came on, I basically stopped the conversation I was having to run up to the stage.
Will E. Skandalz was there hosting. He technically started things off.
After Rooga came Squash Comp. I missed a lot of the first half of the set. I was running around moving tickets. Squash Comp is a collective of artists.
Their set is very organized and showcases many people bringing different vibes. I’m super biased but Natasha Marie was my favourite part of their set. If you’ve never seen her live, you are certainly missing out.
From the South West to Laval
Third on the list of performers was CY Southwest himself. Every time I see CY perform, he gets better. He came with one of the nicest performances I’ve seen him bring. He cleanly delivered every bar and carried himself with genuine confidence.
CY always gives love to his people on stage and makes sure they get some stage time too. CY and I go way back to the 2014 era of the scene. Being here sharing glory in this moment with him was really cool for me.
Jaay Noir came next, and following the theme, made sure to bring M.O.T. onto the stage. I’m a fan of Jaay as well, having performed with him back in the Rotty Squad era. There is this sense of look at us out here doing the thing for realsies.
Jaay comes prepared to rap. He has several songs that go through his introspective PRSPCTVS while sharing who he is. He’s one of the more sincere artists in our scene that is not spoken enough of.
He ended his set with his classic a cappella. Real talk I was in my head most of Jaay’s set. JS and I were on the stairs next to stage anxiously waiting to go.
Jaay Noir performed like he was meant to be there, for the record.
A rough start
Will E. hypes up the crowd and brings us on. We start our make some noise hype up the crowd business. I forgot I’m trying to say maximum du bruit this year. Big blunder.
We get into Lose Weight and this crowd did not move. This may be the second largest civilian crowd I’ve performed to. When we did the song for the Afroman people, they lost their shit.
This crowd was not losing their shit. They did look like they were paying attention though. A lot of faces just standing there, and Blue one woman mosh pitting like she was our biggest fan.
We moved into the contest part. Turns out people aren’t that eager to win 100$. Wild. We literally offered 100$ to take some pics. Also, people pretty much untagged us after they didn’t win. So I guess you should be aware it be like that if you throw a contest, I’m not offended but we need to talk about ROI honestly.
I feel that the contest part took too long, and we spent Put It On My Back trying to win the crowd back. We turned up, brought energy and it was unmatched by the crowd. We fought on.
Unexpected guests on stage
Blaster, sound controller he is, was giving us the don’t waste time talking do the song look. Probably trying to keep it all going. Then Mary Go Round started.
I had taken my shirt off during Put It On My Back so the sweat was glistening. I jump into the crowd as we planned and then there are these 2 girls on stage turning up.
I clumsily get back onto the stage before the song is done. The next thing I know we are dancing with these girls, “Mary Go Mary Go Round”s flying around the room.
Then the beat restarts. Blaster decides now we are going to do the entire song in full, again. With the girls, who turned out to be strippers, on stage with us the entire time.
I had 0 part in this taking place, so I was pretty surprised. I can tell you one thing, girls on the stage brought the phones out. All of a sudden, the side chatter we were ignoring died and people were hella invested.
I’m not advocating anything with that sentiment. It’s literally what happened. Girls started booty shaking and boys cared more.
APXO and King K LV Came Next
APXO had a projector setup with cool graphics behind him. He had a whole bunch of people around and it felt like he was a lot more significant than those of us without the posse.
Sometimes that doesn’t look cool. APXO looked like he planned this entire set properly so it had great impact. Arguably I think we all took this Paul Wall show seriously.
I enjoyed the music but at this point I’m a lot drunker, post performance and absorbing what had just transpired. I was riding a euphoric wave of feeling like extra littyyy.
I can’t say much more than if I see APXO on a flyer I know it’s a yes feeling.
King K LV is very good at what he does. He knows his songs and brings a powerful energy. His mix of storytelling and braggadocio translates well to a live audience.
King K, like most of the acts, had people come on stage with him. When I was younger, I didn’t realize this was more about sharing your moment. Now I understand that it’s important to let others experience it with you.
I liked King K’s performance. Drunk me processed his set better since I have heard songs he performed before.
What it do, The People’s Champ is here
Sometimes your timing can be off. I was walking by the area you would go downstairs at Belmont and heard “Move, Paul Wall is coming”.
The following 2 minutes felt like a video game. The security people were behind me like a boulder chasing me. I was trying to get the fuck out of the way and by now Belmont is extra packed.
I find my place in the crowd and Paul Wall comes on stage.
This man has the most infectious smile I have ever seen. He looked beyond happy as he performed each of his songs. When I say performed, he really put his heart and soul into it.
He knows his songs and he loves his songs. Montreal sang with him and created a synergy that made the vibe ethereal.
DJ Blaster and Green Onyx Productions man stop the show at midnight to wish him a happy birthday. They gift him a nice Habs jersey. Paul immediately switches tops. Smile gets bigger, kills the rest of his set.
Paul Wall gave one of the best performances I have ever seen from a rapper that is famous. A lot of people goofed on the idea of this show ahead of time. As far as shows go, Paul Wall is worth the ticket price. He put the work in.
Hitting the after hours
I was drunk drunk by this point. Like several of the drinks went down and my tummy grumbled. I had to be like okay, if I keep going I will throw up.
Mature me chose the right path and I only had one dry heave the whole night. We went into the after hours which was 2 doors over. The vibe was really nice.
There were dancers around. I had one big question. How do we do the singles thing. Like our smallest bill is 5 dollars.
Turns out you buy 20$ packs of these fake American laminated singles. I found one so I have it. I am happy to return if necessary but I wanted the pic and was too drunk to deal with it at the time.
Thankfully Mr. Rozwel let me stash my duffel bag in his car. I think in a “oh no I gots to get home” moment left abruptly and took a cab home. My bag is still in his car.
As I say that I realize where some of the money I was trying to remember spending went. I also bought a ticket to the Drug Prophets show.
Money comes and goes but opening for Paul Wall was fun
It’s funny how coming into a bit of extra cash, in this case from merch sales, can make you feel so excited you take… no regard to your spending. Then you spend more than what you made and go heh this isn’t sustainable.
I’m sure I’ll discover better balance as time goes on. Last night was one of the cooler moments of my career as a performing artist. I should say, so far.
I would recommend you go see any of the opening acts or Paul Wall if you see them on a flyer. Green Onyx and Blaster delivered with an unforgettable event. I’m super glad I was able to be part of it.
It was great seeing everyone who came out. Until the next time.
Live Long and Prosper Everyone