The Reverb
Toronto, Ontario
September 5, 2008

Normally the thought of shooting and reviewing a rap show would cause instantaneous projectile vomit to leap from my face in much the same manner as the Alien’s little mouth would spring upon it’s prey. I do however pride myself on being open minded and willing to try anything if only once. So I found myself on a Friday night, downtown Toronto, preparing myself for the worst.

Upon entering the venue, the Reverb on Queen and Bathurst, I noticed something a little different than most of the metal shows I review. Something kept distracting me from what was happening on stage. I couldn’t help but notice that the place was decorated with wall to wall females! Like hot little things too. I’m not talking the kinda crew you find at a Lilith Fair either. Top notch, grade A all Canadian hotness.

I hung around and watched the band on stage for a few minutes just soaking up the completely foreign atmosphere and scoping out how the crowd interacted with each other and the band. The dynamic is so completely different from any show I’ve ever seen before in that the “show” lies almost solely upon the shoulders of the crowd, rather than the band. Seriously, there was more action in the crowd than on the stage and it was being encouraged by whatever band held the stage. The bands would actually make a swimming gesture towards the crowd as if to part the Dead Sea and the crowd would actually move out of the way and form a circle to let the breakdancers wow us with their moves. Some of these guys were incredible. One in particular came all the way from Sault St. Marie just to hang out and treat the crowd to his fuckin madness.

I found myself in a position of learning all over again. How to shoot these guys? Who to shoot? The area in front of the stage is normally pretty dark so I had to use a flash which is something I almost never do. Had to use manual focus cuz I don’t have the big ass fancy flash that most REAL photographers are sporting… Still, a couple of the photos I got were pretty fuckin cool. Guys twisted up like a pretzel ready to snap at angles that the human body was never meant to be bent in… I was cringing in pain with half of these moves and it wasn’t even me doing it. All I could see was busted bones and ripped tendons if I was to try to get my fat ass down there for some of those moves. Forget it pal. That’s why I’m the photographER not the photographEE.

After my comfort level equalized, I made my way down to the VIP room to meet Sentury Sam and his crew rounded out by Rob Whiskey, Steele and Raw B Snatch. They weren’t there. Hmmm. I was told these guys were really young and didn’t have a whole lotta experience under their belts so naturally I envisioned a buncha jerkoff kids, fucking around, getting all fucked up for the show.. what have you. Nothing could have been further from the truth. When they did show up, they went straight for the water. No alcohol. Nothing like that. They wanted to keep it together for the show. Not only that, but what band can actually practice immediately before a show? Maybe if you’re a huge band with a gargantuan crew, you can have a portable jam room carted around with you for every show but not at this stage of the game. Not for a regular instrument laden band. All it takes for a rap band to practice is an iPod and a set of computer speakers and voila.. instant band.

This REALLY impressed me. The fact that these guys just wanted to practice right up until show time was quite amazing to me. At one point I left the VIP room and there were 2 of the guys in the stairwell, both plugged into their own music, both rapping something completely different. Man that’s dedication. And that’s dedication where you least expect it. But like the booking agent, Eric Kuthe, lead singer of Sin Dealer, pointed out, these guys gotta remember more lyrics in one song than a typical band has on a whole album. Of course, I think the only person who’d notice a few lyric fuck ups would be Raymond Babbitt. Yeah… definitely fucked up a few lyrics… definitely.

Well for a relatively new band, with little or no exposure and/or experience, they kicked fuckin ass. They easily ruled the roost even though the competition from female rapper Deja made my camera much happier than Sentury Sam's boys. To be expected. I’m so fuckin biased when it comes to cute little chickies holding microphones, my judgement just can’t be trusted til I’ve seen em a few more times and the novelty of their looks wears off. Either way, the Reverb was full of all kinds of people of all kinds of races, ages, you name it, there to sink their fangs into some good hip hop. Not being the best judge of what is and what isn’t good hip hop, I’d have to leave it up to the crowd and go by their reaction. Relying solely on their reaction, they got their dose of good hip hop and then some.

So there ya have it, the first rap show I’ve ever reviewed. Being a huge Eminem fan, it isn’t too hard to get into The Reign and their tech-nine delivery of relevant raps. If that’s your bag man, open up and get it in ya. The Reign is a rap group worthy of your support so get yer homie ass out there and show the love people.

The Reign Official Web Site

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