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Concert reviews Music

Being Childish at the Opera house

DONALD GLOVER at the Opera House, Monday, May 16. Rating: NNN


Sometimes you don’t understand an artist’s reach until you’re at their show. That was definitely the case last night at Donald Glover’s sold out Opera House concert, the latest leg of his hybrid comedy/hip hop IAMDONALD Tour.

The well-sized venue packed to the rafters with rabid fans, which wasn’t a surprise in and of itself. Glover is, after all, the breakout actor in a talented ensemble cast on a critically-lauded network TV show. And due to its penchant for nerdy pop culture references and deep internal consistency, Community is the type of program that easily draws devoted cult audiences, so it wasn’t unexpected to hear people shouting out lines from the show. What was a shock was just how receptive people were to Glover’s music.

“Just so you know, I am going to play some music tonight,” said the charismatic 27-year-old, after taking the stage to rapturous applause. “I just wanted to warn you so you don’t freak out. Nobody expects Dave Chapelle to come out and play the oboe for 45 minutes.”

But the warning proved unnecessary. It would be safe to assume most people would know him better as a comedian or actor than as a rapper, but the majority of the audience seemed to know all the words to every song. Nobody expects Dave Chapelle to play the oboe, and I certainly didn’t expect people to lose their shit for Donald Glover’s hip hop.

In our recent interview with the young entertainer Glover told us that he approaches his hip hop in the same way as he approaches his comedy, and it showed last night. Starting the show off in his more familiar guise, the success of Glover’s all-too-short comedy set resulted more from his delivery than his jokes.

His namedroppy bits about Allison Brie and Reggie Bush were clever enough, but what sold them were his exuberance and physicality, something undoubtedly familiar to Community-watchers. It wouldn’t be unfair to call it mugging, but it’s the kind of thing that will reach a noisy capacity crowd at a non-seated comedy show.

Glover’s return as rapper Childish Gambino again oversold his ability. His nasal-voiced delivery is not what you would call traditionally “good”, but he made up for it with rapid-fire flow and jump-all-over-the-stage energy, easily overshadowing his live band.

Glover’s mix of boasty bravado and Drake-style vulnerability was surprisingly straight-faced, especially following a comedy show, but it certainly didn’t seem to bother those in attendance unlike the cross-armed Screwface Capital reaction from many Toronto hip hop crowds, this audience’s high-pitched squeals and impassioned call-and-response participation veered closer to what you might hear at a Justin Bieber show (a bit ironic considering Glover’s earlier mockery of the teenaged pop star).

When all was said and done, Glover’s Childish Gambino set nearly tripled the length of his comedy set, and no one really seemed to mind.

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