FrancoFolies: Akhenaton & Faf Larage + Anodajay @ Metropolis

On June 16th, for the FrancoFolies de Montreal, I went to Metropolis to see Akhenaton and Faf Larage with Quebec rapper Anodajay opening. The show started at 21h, but by 20h30 the place was packed; this was going to be a good night.

21h00: lights go down, sound goes up and Anodajay comes on stage; his fresh beats and hip lyrical style coupled with his deep love for his homeland of Abitibi was a very refreshing combination. He performed songs from his newest album, ET7ERA, and had guest appearances from Samian, Koriass and Dramatik who are on the same record label, 7ieme Ciel, as well as Raoul Duguay with whom he performed his song "La Beat a Ti-Bi."

21h50: Anodajay thanked everybody with his famous 7 (reffering to his birthday 7th of July 1977) and exits the stage. Pressure built as the stage got set and the DJs came out preceding Akhenaton and Faf Larage. The crowd was getting really restless.

22h00: Akhenaton and Faf Larage came out and the crowd went wild. The dynamic duo started off by performing songs from their brand new EP, We Luv New York. The heavy beats started going and the two rappers were playing with an overexcited crowd. Their set list started with "On Revait de New York" and then "Euh...". The show had finally started and everybody was enjoying it and singing along as the beats kept dropping one after the other, each heavier than the last; the two artists gave a great show, talking with the crowd and getting the DJs involved. Halfway through the show, the duo started mixing up their repertoires, taking older songs from both artists such as "Le Faineant" by Faf Larage and some of IAM's (Akhenaton's original group) greatest hits, which really made the crowd go wild. During intermission, the DJs stayed on stage and kept the crowd on their toes while the artists got changed. When the beat for "Bouge la Tete" dropped, everybody started singing the lyrics. The artists came back on stage and finished the song with the help of the entire crowd; it was a great communion during an amazing concert with two talented artists. They performed one last song from their album before bidding everyone goodbye and exiting the stage. Akhenaton and Faf Larage made them wait, but after about five minutes they finally succumbed to the crowds cheers and came back to perform what was probably the best song of the night: "Petit Frere." At this point only half of the crowd was still in the concert hall and everyone was crammed against the stage to get the last few glimpses of their artists. For this last song only Akhenaton sang with the crowd backing him; he was happy and so were we. He thanked everybody once more and announced that he will come back on October 1st, 2011 with a new show and the rappers from IAM. Some minutes later the two artists stepped off stage to sign autographs even though only a handful of people were still in the room.

-Jordan Thibault hosts Greedy Graffiti on Thursdays from 1-2pm