Lil Wayne - I Am Still Music Tour - Calgary, AB (04.29.11)

Posted by Bill Wannop on 05.10.2011

Lil Wayne wrapped up his first leg of the I Am Still Music tour. Did the show prove that Wayne is still on top of the rap world?

Over the last few years nobody in the hip-hop industry has had as much success as Lil Wayne. His last tour was one of the highest grossing tours of all time grossing over $42 million dollars. However after a year in prison, serving a sentence for weapons charges, many people have begun to question whether Lil Wayne is still on top of the hip hop world. After being released and readying the release of his anticipated album Tha Carta IV in June, Wayne set out to prove that he still is the man in terms of hip hop, so he embarked on his I Am Still Music tour. I had the chance to catch the last show on the tour in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

The first thing to be said about the show is that it is not just Lil Wayne. While Wayne is the headliner, he enlisted a lineup of heavy hitters to open for him. At the start of the show, Mixmaster Mike and Travis Barker put on a nice set which really helped to amp up the audience (those who were in attendance)by remixing classic tracks while situated in a large stage set of a boom box.

After that the crowd started to enter the boom box was taken down and a large picture of Rick Ross was set up. Ross took the stage and put on a somewhat disappointing set. Ross doesn’t seem to know how to work a stadium type show yet, as he had very limited stage presence and mainly just went through one verse of his hit songs before moving on to the next track. While he had the crowd going at certain parts specifically with “Astin Martin Music”, his set had entirely too much bass which made it really difficult to hear his lyrics.

The show moved along quickly and after a brief intermission once Ross left the stage it was time for the main event. A large countdown started at which point Lil Wanye entered the stage, immediately performing “I’m Going In”. Wayne briefly addressed the crowd, letting everyone in attendance know 3 things. 1. He believes in God. 2. He ain’t shit without you 3. He ain’t shit without you.

He continued his set jumping into tracks such as “A Milli”, as well as “Got Money”, before going into classics such as “Go DJ”. Wayne Even busted out the track Green and Yellow while bouncing around on stage and climbing his stage set, which somewhat resembled a large Hollywood squares design.

Wayne would take somewhat of a break which allowed for the entrance of Nicki Minaj which featured a gladiator intro before she appeared and jumped right into “Romans Revenge”. Minaj would go through all of the hits from her album, in a more controlled and theatric mode then Wayne. She would even give Travis Barker a lap dance, before belting out “Right Through Me”, “Moment For Life”, “Big Fat Bass”, “Did It On Em”, and “Your Love”. She would be rejoined by Wayne and the two would perform some of their songs together including “Bedrock”.

Wayne would then continue to go on with even more energy than before performing “Forever”, before he grabbed the electric guitar and started belting out tracks from his Rebirth rock album. Minaj and others including Lil Twist would then join Wayne back on stage as he would finish off the night with his newest single from his upcoming album Tha Carter IV, “6’7”.

It was a thrilling end to a marathon night, but in a good way. Looking at the time Wayne and Minaj were on stage for over 2.5 hours, but during the performance time seemed to fly, thanks to the upbeat sets of Wayne as well as the intermission of Nicki Minaj who switched up the tempo.

Throughout his set Wayne had a live band on stage which really added to the overall performance, and helped to not drown out his vocals with huge bass, as was the problem with Rick Ross.

The show started at 7:30 and did not end until 11:30 giving the fans (those who made it on time) over 4 hours of music. Travis Barker really warmed the crowd up while Rick Ross has a lot to learn from Lil Wayne in terms of performance and stage presence. Nicki Minaj almost stole the show and really knows how to impress a crowd, while Wayne keeps the concert going high octane all the way through.

The only drawbacks of the evening could have been with the fact that Wayne played no new tracks. Despite the fact that his new album is set to come out in June, nothing from the Carter IV was played with the exception of 6’7 which has been released for months now. It would have been nice to have had a little taste of what is in store for the new album.

The 411: Lil Wayne proved that he still is music on this tour, as he and Nicki Minaj performed for over 2.5 hours. The set was continuous energy with not a dull moment to be had. The only drawbacks came in the form of Rick Ross, as well as the fact that Wayne did not play any new tracks off his upcoming album. Aside from that Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj showed that in terms of live shows, they are two of the best.

Final Score:  8.5   [ Very Good ]