By: Lauren Garbutt (@LaurenGarbutt1) –
Del The Funky Homosapien of Deltron 3030. (Photo: Lauren Garbutt/Aesthetic Magazine Toronto)
Wednesday night at the Phoenix Concert Theatre saw hip hop super-group Deltron 3030 (which features producer Dan the Automator, rapper Del the Funky Homosapien and Kid Koala) making their Toronto stop on their current tour to support their new album, Event 2.
Deltron 3030’s own master turntablist Kid Koala opened the show. Rocking three turntables, his beat juggling was second to none as he mixed hip-hop classics like Beastie Boys’ “Whatcha Want”, Outkast’s “The Whole World” and “8th Wonder” by the Sugarhill Gang. The highlight of his set was when he remixed his “5 year old’s favourite song”, “Yo Gabba Gabba”, which had him jumping into the crowd and having them mimic his dance moves.
Near the end of his set, Kid Koala surprised the crowd with an unannounced guest appearance of Ladybug Mecca; a prominent member of veteran New York rap group, Digable Planets. She spat a couple of verses including her part from their 90’s hit “The Rebirth of Slick (I’m Cool Like That)”, and while her performance was well received by the audience, it’s likely that most didn’t recognize what a privilege it was to see her live.
After a brief wait, Deltron 3030 took the stage along with a back-up band. Wasting no time, they opened their set with “3030”, “Things You Can Do” and “Positive Contact”; the first three songs from their self-titled debut album. This proved to be a smart choice, as these are some of the most memorable songs from the record and it got everybody on-board right away.
Having not released an album since their self-titled debut in 2000, we’ve finally been treated to a sophomore release in Event 2, which was just released on September 30th. You wouldn’t know that 13 years had passed since the previous album if you listened to both records back-to-back, as Event 2 feels like it picks up right where the first CD left off. From Del’s vocal stylings to Dan The Automator’s production, it sounds like an authentic Deltron 3030 album.
After warming up the crowd with a few classics, they got into some new material, starting with the fittingly titled opening track “The Return”, followed by “City Rising From the Ashes” which you may have seen them perform on Late Night With David Letterman the night before, though they were without the orchestra this time.
The remainder of their hour and a half long set was a healthy mix of songs from both records and included Kid Koala spinning an interlude mid-set and nearly knocking over his turntables during “Melding of the Minds” as he jumped onto the table to the cheering of the crowd.
They closed off the set with “Memory Loss” before coming back for an encore that included the closing track from Event 2, “Do You Remember” and the Gorillaz classic, “Clint Eastwood” which featured emcee Del The Funky Homosapien. This had the entire audience happily singing along.
Needless to say, Deltron 3030 thrilled the Toronto crowd with new material, and along with their live band that did a great job of complimenting Dan The Automator’s beats and Kid Koala’s turntablism with live instrumentation while Del rapped over it all, it was a strong show throughout.
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Deltron 3030
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Kid Koala
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