Dead 2 The World Tour: Blackear, Gashi, and Harry Hudson
Nestled between Suntrust Park and The Battery shopping complex is the Coca Cola Roxy. Outside the roped off front entrance, throngs of fans lined up in anticipation for an excitement filled evening. The marquee above the venue, all black and red read “Dead 2 the World Tour: Blackbear” and the fans couldn’t be more excited for the experience they were preparing to take part in.
Opening the show was Harry Hudson who, despite a simple setup (a single guitar player and then Harry himself) managed to put on a captivating show for the audience. There were a couple of early technical issues with the lighting that did nothing to slow the artist down. There was plenty of fan interaction between the artist and the fans and the crowd, especially the females seemed to love the young rapper’s performance.
Next to take the stage was Gashi whose DJ set the tempo before the artist stepped out, busting out some incredible dance moves to the beat ahead of Gashi’s walk out. From there the whole set seemed like a party, Gashi himself requesting to the crowd that they all celebrate with him on his recent singing to Jay-Z’s record label. More complications with the light caused Gashi to state that he was “fat” and that the lights were making him sweat. An obstacle he overcame by simply heading down to the floor of the venue and rapping to the crowd from the security railing. Even that didn’t contain him long because eventually he waded out into the midst of the crowd, rapping and “turning up” in the middle of the venue floor. There were copious amounts of water thrown at the crowd, whether it be from water bottles from Gashi himself or the giant Super Soaker his DJ blanketed the crowd with. Celebrating seemed to be the theme of the entire set and Gashi promised he would wait by his merch table until every single fan that wanted to do so had an opportunity to meet him and get a photograph or autograph with him. And indeed, even after the final song of Blackbear’s set, Gashi was still at his merchandise table mingling with fans.
As a giant, two-tiered structure filled the stage and the lights dropped, the screams of the crowd rose to an ear-splitting crescendo and Blackbear took the stage. Once the music started, everything that took place was all a component of an incredible performance from start to finish. Blackbear flexed his versatility in a number of ways, vocally, when he played a coffin-shaped piano and even when he put a guitar into his hands and proceeded to play his songs (even behind his head.) He weaved his way through a ton of his hits as well as music from his new album, Anonymous , which released this year. There was crowd interaction when Blackbear climbed on the cabinets on each side of the stage high fiving and singing to fans in the balconies. He left the stage milling through the crowd, to the back of the venue, and then back to the opposite side where he hung out in the crowd as he rapped. Once back on stage, he proclaimed that the side where he had hung out was “lit” and that they continued to hand him drinks. Decked out in Atlanta Hawks clothing, he closed out the concert to his massively popular “Do Re Mi”.
The tour continues through the following dates:
June 3 – Philadelphia, PA – The Fillmore
June 6 – New York, NY – Rooftop at Pier 17
June 7 – Boston, MA – House of Blues
June 9 – Toronto, ON, CA – Rebel
June 12 – Pittsburg, PA – Roxian Theatre
June 14 – Indianapolis, IN – Egyptian Room
June 15 – Chicago, IL – Aragon Ballroom
June 17 – Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theater
June 21 – Denver, CO – Fillmore Auditorium
June 22 – Heber City, UT – Bonanza Campout
June 23 – Las Vegas, NV – House of Blues
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