Outkast

Pemberton Stage, Pemberton BC, July 20

Photo: JPG Photography

BY Alex HudsonPublished Jul 21, 2014

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When Outkast reunited earlier this year and embarked upon an extensive festival tour, their return was initially greeted with tepid reviews. In the months since then, they've clearly worked out the kinks, since André 3000 and Big Boi were in fine form as the Sunday night headliners at Pemberton Music Festival.

Following a short, moody intro, the pair hit the ground running with the rapid-fire "B.O.B.," the full-band rendition of which was blasted with brass and sweetened with gospel-style backup vocals. These players were assembled alongside a large, semi-transparent cube, which was used for dazzling, hologram-like 3D projections.

André 3000 donned a black jumpsuit with the phrase "I pray there is a god at the end of all this" emblazoned on the chest. His unique get-up also included large sunglasses, a dangling "SOLD" tag and a silvery white wig. Soon after arriving on stage, he admired the gorgeous surroundings, cheekily joking "It's beautiful being between these mountains. It's kind of reminding me of last night."

This proved to be a theme during the set, as the rappers interspersed classic material with lusty asides about the opposite sex. "The Way You Move," which appeared during Big Boi's brief solo portion of the set, was one of many songs to feature raunchy video footage of scantily clad women on the backdrop. And during André's solo set, he invited a dozen or so female fans onto the stage for the dazzling "Hey Ya," offering preference to guests "not wearing any panties."

Another questionable interlude found the rappers encouraging women to flash their breasts on the big screens, with Big Boi complaining that, due to the bright stage lights, "I can't see no titties."

Still, despite this tastelessness, there was no denying the strength of the material, the rapport between the MCs, or the fans' ape-shit enthusiasm. On this summer's reunion tour, Outkast seem to have hit their stride.

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