After a six-year wait between albums, Ski Mask The Slump God has finally returned with new music as well as a world tour, which made a stop at MTELUS this Sunday.
Although Molly Santana was the first opener of many that night, she was arguably the best. She brought so much energy and charisma that it was impossible not to love her set. Even though Molly has only started seeing success somewhat recently, she performed as if she had been on stage her entire life.
Her music, which can mainly be categorized as rage, was perfect for the crowd members who might not have been familiar with her before. The beats for her songs were more than enough to start massive mosh pits in the floor section of the venue. During her entire set, Molly was running around, singing her songs, and encouraging the crowd to continue raging. She was also very playful, showing off her dance moves throughout the show and taking videos on some of the audience members’ phones. By the time she had to leave, the crowd had already fallen in love with her performance and didn’t want her to leave.
Up next was Danny Towers, best known for the iconic lyrics on DJ Scheme’s “How You Feel?”, which also features the headliner of the show. Scheme, who was supposed to be the opener after Danny, went on stage early to support his good friend, DJing and getting the crowd excited. Danny’s set gave the crowd their first look at what the stage would look like for the rest of the night, as a massive floating screen was brought out, displaying captivating stage visuals.
Overall, Danny’s set was solid, although, unlike the previous opener, crowd members who didn’t know the lyrics had a harder time enjoying the performance of some of Danny’s songs.
DJ Scheme, who had already been on stage hyping up Danny for some time, swiftly took control of the music and began playing all-time classics, starting with “NO BYSTANDERS” by Travis Scott. He then played a multitude of songs by the late Juice WRLD and XXXTENTACION, who were close friends with both Scheme and Ski Mask. The crowd didn’t know whether to be sad or to keep up the energy, but they chose the latter option.
After the trip down memory lane, Scheme hyped up the crowd by playing “Not Like Us,” which the crowd absolutely loved. At one point, the DJ even lit up a joint, which resulted in a lot of bad looks from security but the approval of the crowd. Towards the end of the set, Scheme played the slower XXXTENTACION and Juice WRLD songs to the audience members, who had all put their flashlights in the air. Before leaving the stage, Scheme gave some words of advice to the crowd, encouraging them to never give up on their dreams.
Hardrock was last on stage before Ski Mask, and the pressure was building. Seeing him perform after all of the other openers was honestly surprising, as Hardrock is unfortunately still an unknown name to most rap listeners. The Atlanta rapper came out in style with a classic all-black outfit, ready to take on the crowd. I had seen Hardrock perform not even two months before this at the Montreality free show, and I must say his stage presence has gotten a lot better.
Hardrock knew what to play, and the fans ate it up. My favourite aspect of his set was the lighting. Compared to all the other performers that had fairly simple lighting, Hardrock’s set was very entertaining, with lights constantly going on and off during his songs.
Hardrock left the stage with a bang, playing his most popular song to date, “feel alive,” which features an iconic Deftones sample. As soon as the song started playing, the crowd erupted, and Hardrock sang his heart out before eventually getting off stage.
After a long list of openers, the concert had finally reached its climax, as Ski Mask The Slump God came out on stage to “Headrush,” off his new album 11th Dimension. The crowd went wild, as the song is one of the most upbeat he’s ever released.
Ski Mask played some more songs from 11th Dimension, which the crowd sang along to word for word, before eventually moving on to his more iconic songs, starting with “BabyWipe.” He followed this up with “Off The Wall!,” an XXX song that he features on. Shortly after, Ski Mask stopped playing his music as he did a tribute for his two best friends who had passed away. During the tribute, the screen on stage displayed an R.I.P message as well as iconic photos of the two rappers. “Legends” was the last song played during the tribute, and as I looked around, I saw many audience members shedding a tear during this emotional moment.
After giving out some water to the fans, the show resumed, and the vibes were brought back up as Ski Mask decided to play his most iconic songs, including “Nuketown,” “Faucet Failure,” and “Catch Me Outside.” It’s safe to say that the fans were in for a treat, as all of these back-to-back bangers had the seated audience members looking down jealously at the standing area.
To end off the already amazing night, Scheme and Ski Mask teamed up as they played “Look At Me!,” one of, if not the most iconic mosh pit song of all time. It was at this point that I regretted not bringing noise-cancelling headphones because, during that song, I think every single audience member was screaming so loudly that I could barely hear the song.
The duo told the crowd that they were playing their last song, and as the beginning of “Take A Step Back” started playing, I looked in awe as the massive mosh pit that had formed in the middle of the venue collided into itself. If the first performance of the song was crazy, the second was even crazier, as Ski Mask pretended to leave the stage but then shortly came right back and started the track for a second time.
By the time the song was over, Ski Mask ended the show for real, and for once, I was glad a concert had ended because I had become so tired from singing and dancing that I don’t think I could’ve handled another song.
All in all, Ski Mask The Slump God and his openers showed out and left the crowd tired but also extremely satisfied after such a good show.
Review & photos – Nicolas Cantin
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