RJD2 @ La Tulipe

On Wednesday March 10 Ramble John "RJ" Krohn, aka RJD2 graced a packed house with some of his latest and greatest.  The Montreal stop of his tour to promote his new album Colussus touched down at La Tulipe, a great local venue, one of my personal favourites.  Opening act, NYC's Break Science warmed up the crowd with their unique blend of live hip hop and dubstep remixes.

  

RJD2 emerged to a roar of approval wearing a robot / circus welder suit, complete with crotch-mounted MPC and vocoder-equipped mask. RJ's playful entry set the tone for what was to be a fun-filled, creative and boundary pushing performance. Bouncing between samplers, turntables and his accompanying live band RJD2 showed an accomplished mastery of his craft, and took the audience on a journey through his multifaceted musical biography.  I came to the show very familiar with RJD2's past discography, but I hadn't heard any of the new material from the new album.

Highlights included his live renditions of past hits including "Exotic Talk" and "Since We Last Spoke", and an MPC remake of the Donkey Kong theme song, complete with Mario doll.  RJD2 saved the best for last, busting out what might be his most popular song, "Ghostwriter", from his 2002 album Deadringer. RJD2 and the band came back for an encore after an cacophony of applause and did and an amazing live rendition of "Making Days Longer" from his 2004 album Since We Last Spoke.  

Over the years RJD2 has never ceased reinventing himself in his music, and this show of raw talent only reinforced that sentiment.  RJD2 is truly the jack of all instruments.