Wrapping up his West Coast Canadian tour in support of his latest album ROLLERCOASTER at the Fox Cabaret on Tuesday night, Cadence Weapon — Edmonton-born rapper and author Rollie Pemberton — proved that in an exploitive, algorithm-driven music industry, nothing beats the live interface between artist and audience. Showbiz is rife with fakeness, but the emotion in the room was all genuine.
Winnipeg hip-hop band Super Duty Tough Work opened the night, curating an inviting vibe and staying true to their mission to celebrate joy in the face of the capitalistic forces that make victims of us all. With loose drumming, vibrant, glistening keys, deep grooving bass lines, and MC Brendan Grey's liquid smoke voice, Super Duty Tough Work floated through catalogue highlights "First Strike," "Exhibit Grey" and "Quiet Strength." The four-piece didn't shy away from musical tension either, ebbing and flowing with a funked-up reworking of "Guillotine Dreams."
"It takes a lot to come out on a night like this, so pat yourselves on the back," Grey said, praising the rainy Tuesday evening crowd. "It takes a lot for us as musicians," he added, citing perseverance and patience as necessary qualities to create and share art. Above everything else, though, "The one thing that it takes," he said with a protracted pause before pointing to the table at the side wall of the venue, "is the merchandise. So, we'll see y'all later, right?" he asked in a moment that reminded everyone of the inescapable clutch of commerce.
If Super Duty Tough Work invited the audience in, Pemberton threw the doors open. He encouraged everyone to wave their phones along to the booming, wobbling beat of "On Me," a song about surveillance. Happily obliging his mid-song request, they amplified him with a clap-along as he belted out "Conditioning."
Pemberton let the Vancouver audience in on a little something about the city they occupy. "Everybody from Edmonton moved here," he said, noting that earlier in the day, Super Duty Tough Work hit up a bar across the street where the server happened to know him from high school. Though Pemberton was unsure if she accepted his invite to pull up to the show, there were plenty of other familiar faces from his past and present at the Fox including a former roommate. He also shouted out Edmonton photographer Lyle Bell — a multi-time Juno nominee for Album Artwork of the Year — who was documenting the show from the floor. And in the front row was Grammy-winning producer Chin Injeti, at whose studio Pemberton recorded a song earlier that day.
Through song, Pemberton gave presence to those who couldn't be there in person. As he introduced "My Computer," which he called "Alberta Kraftwerk," he credited the track's producer, Machinedrum. He pointed out Vancouver author Jen Sookfong Lee's brief cameo while rattling through "Lexicon." Turning up the energy an extra notch, he acknowledged Kaytranada with "My Crew (Woooo)," which his fellow Polaris Prize winner produced. Pemberton also nodded at Jacques Greene with a selection of their collaborations including "Exceptional" and "Sting."
Pemberton brought the most radiant vibes of the night with a song about celebration, Alice Ivy's "Sunrise" on which he features, coupled with a coda of French house trio Stardust's "Music Sounds Better with You." One of the brightest highlights of the show saw Pemberton drop to his knees and beckon, "Come closer to the light!" during his rendition of another song on which he featured, Greene's "Night Service."
As for those gathered with Pemberton at the Fox, he gave his stage mate DJ Jayemkayem props, too, not only for her musical contributions, including "Own This," but also for being "so patient with our thrifting." (Pemberton, boasting an outfit entirely sourced from Value Village, and his travelling crew hit up every branch of the store they could find while on the road.) He also invited Grey onstage for a duet of their recent joint with regular Cadence and Super Duty collaborator Junia-T, the dimly lit "Nice Try," out last Friday.
Pemberton recounted that when he opened for Hot Chip in Vancouver last year, nobody knew he was on the bill because he wasn't advertised. "Tell a friend next time, and we'll have this shit really lit," he encouraged before digging deep into his energy reserves for "Senna." Although the rainy Tuesday turnout was modest, throughout the night, Pemberton expressed his gratitude for the heartwarming tour closer, a gathering that testified to art's ultimately indomitable ability to draw people together and the value of showing up rather than passively taking in content from a handheld screen.