T-PAIN (at Circa) Sun Nov 3 Rating: NNN
What do you expect to see in the performance of a man who is a caricature of a cartoon is the biggest pop sensation of the year, and is rarely heard without his Roger Troutman-inspired effects box?
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Well, the freak show rolled into the very fitting circus-like atmosphere of Circa Sunday night, as the slowly-swelling crowd eventually fell under the spell of one of the music industry’s most celebrated ringmasters.
Though fashionably late, no BET Hip Hop Awards-like R2D2-ish vocorder accompanied him, but he was joined by two white-painted, braided mimes, whose Southern-fried swagger was a head-spinning sight to behold. T-Pain, a man who can surprisingly carry a tune without Autotune’s help, spent more time electrically popping, locking, and breakdancing than actually stressing his vocal chords, and after eventually wrestling acceptance from the Screwface audience, he proved why his circus is worth the price of admission. He announced: “why don’t I mind so many people sounding like me on the radio? 1) Because I’ve got no hater in my blood, and 2) cause ‘I Get Money!'” as 50 Cent’s capitalist anthem smashed the club.
T-Pain’s biggest hit’s hooks were extracted as he cleaved Kiss Kiss, I’m So Hood, Good Life, Bartender, and others into micro-videos. And current Billboard hit Can’t Believe It’s “I could buy you a condo/somewhere up in Toronto!” shoutout was embraced voraciously by the crowd. As was the mention that T-Wayne is coming in December. Ah, the Ringling Brothers are coming. Cute.
