Review: Kid Cudi

Like no other music genre, hip-hop has asserted itself as a vast cultural force over the past 25 years or so, influencing everything from fashion and language to sports and music itself.

As a live commodity, however, it is still a work in progress. Sure, there are performers out there who can put on a live show that is both -- live and a true show, like the Roots. Monday night, one of hp-hop's rising stars, Kid Cudi, came to the Midland theater, where a sold-out house of more than 2,700 fans awaited him. For $35, He gave them an hour of music, beats and rhyme, most of which were canned, and a show that was spartan and without a flicker of glitz. Surprisingly -- almost astoundingly -- there wasn't even a merch table on a night when dude could have sold a ton of T-shirts.

He performed with a DJ behind him and a logo hanging above them, working through a set that highlighted "Man on the Moon: The End of the Day," his acclaimed debut album, and that gave the crowd a taste of "Man on the Moon: The Legend of Mr. Rager," which will be released Nov. 9.

His crowd, which was heavily populated with teens and college-age students, was fawning and appreciative all night, nevermind that the sound was rugged and a lot of what they were hearing, vocals included, were canned. Cudi writes some hellaciously catchy, sing-along songs, like "Up Up & Away" and "Pursuit of Happiness," both of which prompted convulsions of singing and dancing and arm-waving. But instead of a live setting, the theater felt like a big nightclub where a DJ was spinning the recorded version. Because, well, that's pretty much what was going on: live vocals over tracks that included recorded vocals. 

He brought out his opener, Chip Tha Ripper, for "Hyyerr," and he introduced a new song, "Marijuana" before closing with "Solo Dolo," another "End of the Day" track. On that album, Cudi worked with an array of collaborators, some outside the world of hip-hop: Kaye West, Common, MGMT, Ratatat. At one point, he told the crowd he was learning to play guitar, a development that sounds promising. As well-crafted and -produced as as some of his recorded music is, it'd be nice to hear him give them a true live vibe the next time he swings into town and sells out a big venue on a school night.

| Timothy Finn, The Star

Comments

[Green]

This sold out... what, are you serious, happy that it did but that surprises me with the cost and it being a monday, also thought Midland seated more than 2,700. Frank for 5 dollars down the street was a better deal!

[Steve J]

Sold Out plus I think the show was just announced like 3-4 weeks ago.

[steve]

Tickets were only sold a couple of days after the show was even announced to the public, and that was only about 2 weeks before the concert. And the album is "End OF Day" not "End of THE day".