Eve

Fortune Sound Club, Vancouver BC, April 3

Photo: Jon Vincent

BY Sara HarowitzPublished Apr 4, 2014

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Like most musicians who reached the peak of their popularity during the late '90s or early '00s, rapper Eve understands that fans who come to see her — many of whom are feeling a sense of nostalgia for that time in both music and fashion — largely just want to hear her old hits.

The rapper, full name Eve Jihan Jeffers, performed to a busy, sweaty, toque-clad crowd at Vancouver's Fortune Sound Club last night. She came out to DMX's "Ruff Ryders' Anthem" and told the crowd she was taking them on a "journey" of songs both old and new. And while tunes from 2013's Lip Lock — her first studio album in 11 years — like "She Bad Bad" and "Eve" made the performance cut, it was her older work that really got the audience going.

It didn't take long for Eve to break out into 2001's classic hit "Who's That Girl?" to which the small but packed crowd erupted into cheers. She worked the stage in black stilettos as fans held their phones in the air in hopes of capturing the moment on photo or video.

Eve seemed down to earth and modest, grabbing the hands of audience members and even wishing one a happy birthday. The Philadelphia-born performer came out dressed in a simple white tank top and black leather jacket (which she then had trouble taking off because the room was so hot — it eventually took two men to pull it off her arms) with long curly brown hair hugging her shoulders.

Eve made sure to touch on all of the fan favourites, including 2001's Grammy Award-winning "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" and her featured verse in Gwen Stefani's "Rich Girl" from 2004. The veteran rapper had the crowd eating out of the palm of her hand, signifying her important and well-earned place as a female within the hip-hop world.

Fortune Sound Club provided the ideal venue for the performance, allowing for an intimate but lively show. Eve closed the evening with 2007's single "Tambourine," inviting four women from the audience on stage to dance with her and shake their, well, tambourines. Sadly, the whole night came and went without a glimpse of the rapper's famous (or perhaps infamous?) paw print chest tattoos.

And while the artist was fully present and genuine in her performance, the whole thing only lasted for about 40 minutes (there was no encore), not so impressive for an artist who has four albums. Most of the evening was spent with hosts Blondtron and Cherchez, who did their best to amp up the audience before Eve's appearance; Autokrat also performed prior to the rapper.

Still, what was presented was a lot of fun. It's safe to say that by this point, pretty much everyone knows exactly who that girl is.

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