"You might have heard some things about me lately" said Mykki Blanco at the beginning of the performer's set, referring to the recent, bold post the rapper made on Facebook about being HIV positive. Blanco didn't spend time dwelling on it, but elected to get personal with the crowd via a performance that was eclectic and confrontational. Coming onto the stage wearing a green wig and a robe taken from the nearby hotel and a glass of wine, Blanco set the crowd off with "Haze.Boogie.Life" and followed it up with a set of songs that suggested that even with an upcoming album with no release date in sight, Blanco is doing just fine on the live circuit.
It was an aggressive and chaotic set that showcased many of Blanco's strengths as a rapper and performer. Though it was disorganized at times, with songs seemingly chosen and abandoned with little forethought, Blanco more than made up for it with explosive stage presence, employing stage antics from jumping into the crowd and starting mosh pits to playing coy dance routines and repeatedly singing and rapping acapella. Blanco abandoned a song midway through to show love to the Calgary crowd, and got them all to cheerfully scream along to a chant of "a straight man's respect ain't shit to me!" before leaving the stage, task accomplished for the night.
It was an aggressive and chaotic set that showcased many of Blanco's strengths as a rapper and performer. Though it was disorganized at times, with songs seemingly chosen and abandoned with little forethought, Blanco more than made up for it with explosive stage presence, employing stage antics from jumping into the crowd and starting mosh pits to playing coy dance routines and repeatedly singing and rapping acapella. Blanco abandoned a song midway through to show love to the Calgary crowd, and got them all to cheerfully scream along to a chant of "a straight man's respect ain't shit to me!" before leaving the stage, task accomplished for the night.
