By Chad Utke
The rigours of being an onstage performer day-in and day-out for over 10 years must really get to you. The monotony of playing show after show at club after club in city after city can drive a person to grasp at straws just to make it through a single concert. Toronto rapper k-os must have felt that a frigid Calgary night in November was just enough to push him over the edge, as he succumbed to rock-star cliches while playing The Republik last Wednesday.
The show was characterized by a blended hip-hop/rock style that k-os is famous for, including a range of classic rock samples. With suspiciously glazed eyes and a half-empty .40 of vodka, k-os created equally lasting memories from his onstage antics as he did with his superstar-like musical talent.
Much like the musical stylings of k-os himself, the crowd’s fashion sense encapsulated the diversity that our nation thrives on — flat-brimmed hats, dreadlocks, cardigans, Ed Hardy t-shirts, and, of course, hipsters in flannel. All of these subcultures were out in full force to support an artist who draws from a number of different musical genres to create a style all his own.
The crowd was generally well-behaved as the opening band, The Dirty Mags, took the stage. A new wave/garage-rock band from Toronto, tdm seemed a bit out of place as the precursor to a hip-hop artist like k-os, but that didn’t stop them from doing exactly what an opener should do — amp up the crowd. Lead singer Mike Kaminski led the four-piece with all the aloof confidence of someone who’s been doing this for years. The crazy thing is that they’ve only been together for a little more than a year. k-os himself even acknowledged them as “the best rock ‘n’ roll band in Canada.”
30 minutes after tdm’s set finished, k-os stepped onstage rocking a blue and orange letterman jacket, a non-descript hoodie covering a fair share of his dreads and face, aviators and the aforementioned half-empty .40 of vodka in hand. In short, he kind of looked like he was in his own world. It didn’t take him long, however, to warm himself up to the crowd by launc=hing into a high-volume, fast-paced rhyme-spitting session which included some impressive freestyling mentioning former Calgary Flames player and hockey legend Joe Nieuwendyk.
The first real crowd-pleasing moment came when the band launched into a rendition of “Crabbuckit,” fusing the anthem from 2004’s The Joyful Rebellion with a hard-rock chorus and interlude that felt satisfyingly out place. As he continued to make his way back to the bottle of Smirnoff, the realization came over me that, however inebriated he was becoming, he was achieving a new level of comfort with every swig. This seemed apparent as he proceeded to remove an article of clothing every couple of songs.
The mastery of the band accompanying him began to make itself apparent as they sampled classic rock tunes to introduce almost every other song.
No band or chorus seemed to be safe — they covered everything from The Police to Dr. Dre, “She Loves You” to Bowie’s legendary “Space Oddity.” k-os certainly understood the advantage of using classic rock as a means of bridging the gap between the average music fan and his music.
With the letterman jacket and hoodie removed, k-os discarded his aviators — his eyes revealing the possibility that he might be under a second type of influence. But once again, it seemed only to add to the mystique and greatness that was k-os on this night — never missing a rhyme, always engaging the crowd, and constantly pushing the musical envelope.
The concert’s biggest moment came as he led the band into his hit song “Sunday Morning.” With the crowd buzzing and reciting every word, he stood stationary with mic outstretched. For a moment I thought he might have buckled under the weight of his alcoholic ingestions, but he snapped back with a vengeance, passionately finishing the song like that was his plan all along.
The concert came to an appropriate end as the chord progression of the final song led everyone in the room to believe k-os had decided to finish with Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall,” only to realize that it was the transitional interlude to “Man I Used to Be.” k-os performed the final song and encore with the fortitude of a man trying to give every last ounce of effort.
Interestingly enough, directly after this performance k-os showed no interest in the people he had just impacted, making a straight path to his awaiting tour bus. The only problem for him and the band? The driver wasn’t there, and they seemed to be locked out. It was a fitting end to an amusive night of live music.
Aided by his tremendous instrumental counterparts and a host of other influences, the musical aptitude and unorthodox concert skills of k-os were on full display last Wednesday. The enigmatic man often creates the greatest art, and on this night k-os was a full-fledged enigma.