Tech N9ne - NXNW Tour, Calgary, AB (3.18.10)
Posted by Bill Wannop on 04.06.2010
Tech N9ne rocks a sold out show on his first tour of Canada! With Krizz Kaliko by his side, the two put on one of the best small venue shows in recent memory!
Tech N9ne, born Aaron Yates, is known as one of the most successful independent rappers in the world today. He has been rapping for over 25 years, and through his own label, Strange Music, has sold over 1 million albums. He has collaborated with many big names, from Scarface, Ice Cube, Paul Wall, Three Six Mafia, Crooked I and Chino XL.
Tech is known for having a great live show, and in a recent interview conducted with 411mania.com, he stated that he learned how to put on a live show from the true legends of hip-hop; Eric B and Rakim, LL Cool J and Busta Rhymes. He said he loves to get the crowd moving, and that crowd participation is something he loves to have at his shows.
After stopping through Canada as part of Rock the Bells tour, Tech N9ne was amazed at how many fans he had up here and started this North by Northwest tour to come up through Canada. I was able to attend a show in Calgary, Alberta, Canada on the North by Northwest tour, on March 18, 2010. The show advertised having Big Scoob, Kutt Kalhoun, Krizz Kaliko and Tech N9ne.
Since Krizz Kaliko, Big Scoob, and Kutt Kalhoun are all on the same label as Tech N9ne, and are featured heavily on each other’s songs, I had the feeling that they would all perform together on stage, with each performing small individual sets between intervals of songs which featured all the artists. I really enjoy concerts that do this, since this means there is no real down time in the concert and allows the artists time to take small breaks during the other artists sets allowing the energy and flow of the show to stay high. The only exception for this tour is that Kutt Kalhoun was not present despite being advertised.
To open up the show, Tech n9ne came out to his short rapid fire track, Stamina, then jumped right into Planet Rock 2k from his Anghellic cd. Right after that Krizz Kaliko entered the stage with performing the title track from his most recent album Genius. From here Kaliko and Tech went back and forth on stage together performing Midwest Choppers a fast paced song, in which they took turns rapping, with the opposite person stayed frozen while they were not rapping.. From here the tempo stayed high with Tech and Kaliko performing Ghetto Love which had the crowd swaying their arms, singing along and then the crowd started moshing with the performance of Riot Maker. The two then performed Welcome to the Midwest, Beast, Bout to Bubble and Einstein.
The one thing you notice right away about Tech and Kaliko is that they are constantly moving throughout the performance. They were jumping around on stage, and interacting with the crowd with what seemed like endless energy. At this point Tech N9ne took a break which allowed Kaliko to break out into his solo stuff, where he performed, Doe Doe, Misunderstood and Birthday. Tech then returned and the two belted out Anxiety and Cry Baby.
Label mate Big Scoob came out and all three artists performed his hit song Salute from his most recent album, and in a surprise to everyone they actually had some choreographed dance steps to go along with the song. All three stayed on stage until the end of the show, which had Tech going through his most recent work with songs from his KOD, and Sickology 101 albums, which included, KOD, Blackened, Strange Music Box, and Leave Me Alone. To close out the night, Tech performed Areola (and encouraged some ladies to show their areolas), Caribou Lou, and finished with I’m a Playerto end their over 90 minutes set.
The concert was nonstop energy with never a dull moment which was due to the fact that all of the main performers were on stage at the same time. Even when Tech N9ne stepped off stage for his break to allow Kaliko to perform his solo songs, the transition was seamless and you didn’t really notice he was gone which is a testament to the emerging talent of Krizz Kaliko. During this concert, his talent really stood out. There is no doubt that Tech N9ne is the definite star, but Kaliko seems to be equally talented and seems ready to break out. Whether he is singing the choruses to the majority of the songs, or keeping pace with Tech N9ne on the rapid fire rap songs, Kaliko more then held his own, and had a great stage presence and charisma.
The crowd interaction was great and the choreographed stage show really added to the overall enjoyment of the entire evening. The only drawback would be the lack of Kutt Kalhoun, who was advertised but never showed up. The show was sold out and the audience was as mixed as I have ever seen, with a relatively equal amount of males, females, juggalos, rock, hiphop and gangster rap fans, which truly was a sight to see such a mixed group of people jumping and rapping along to the same songs.
After attending the show, I must state that is was one of the best small venue, hip hop shows that I have ever seen, if not the best. The back and forth rapping and interaction between Tech N9ne and Krizz Kaliko was on point and you can tell a lot of practice when into the show. The crowd interaction and choreographed dancing really adds to the entire experience, and you can genuinely tell that Tech N9ne is doing whatever he can to ensure put on the absolute best show. Krizz Kaliko really stood out as a star in the making, and hopefully Tech N9ne is able to make it through Canada more often.
When rating the concert I compared it to all other small venue shows as it is not fair to compare to the big arena style shows which have huge screen, special effects, and pyrotechnics. This was probably the best small venue show I have ever been to, with the only drawback being the lack of Kutt Kalhoun.
The 411: The show was a non-stop ride of energy with Tech N9ne going all out to deliver one of the best hip-hop shows I have ever been to. From the choreographed dancing to the back and forth chemistry between Tech N9ne and Krizz Kaliko, they really raised the bar for what a small venue show should be. They performed for over 90 minutes giving fans more than their money’s worth. If you have the chance to go to a Tech N9ne show, you will not be disappointed!
Tech N9ne, born Aaron Yates, is known as one of the most successful independent rappers in the world today. He has been rapping for over 25 years, and through his own label, Strange Music, has sold over 1 million albums. He has collaborated with many big names, from Scarface, Ice Cube, Paul Wall, Three Six Mafia, Crooked I and Chino XL. 
Since Krizz Kaliko, Big Scoob, and Kutt Kalhoun are all on the same label as Tech N9ne, and are featured heavily on each other’s songs, I had the feeling that they would all perform together on stage, with each performing small individual sets between intervals of songs which featured all the artists. I really enjoy concerts that do this, since this means there is no real down time in the concert and allows the artists time to take small breaks during the other artists sets allowing the energy and flow of the show to stay high. The only exception for this tour is that Kutt Kalhoun was not present despite being advertised.
The one thing you notice right away about Tech and Kaliko is that they are constantly moving throughout the performance. They were jumping around on stage, and interacting with the crowd with what seemed like endless energy. At this point Tech N9ne took a break which allowed Kaliko to break out into his solo stuff, where he performed, Doe Doe, Misunderstood and Birthday. Tech then returned and the two belted out Anxiety and Cry Baby. 
The crowd interaction was great and the choreographed stage show really added to the overall enjoyment of the entire evening. The only drawback would be the lack of Kutt Kalhoun, who was advertised but never showed up. The show was sold out and the audience was as mixed as I have ever seen, with a relatively equal amount of males, females, juggalos, rock, hiphop and gangster rap fans, which truly was a sight to see such a mixed group of people jumping and rapping along to the same songs.
