J. Cole and Wale at Massey Hall

J. COLE and WALE at Massey Hall, Tuesday, October 8th. Rating: NNNN

A note about J. Cole and Wale’s What Dreams May Come Tour: It begins on time. Tuesday night at Massey Hall, DC rapper Wale emerged in front of a light screen promptly at 8 pm to deliver a 45-minute mix of material new and old, including Rotation (complete with onstage blunt-smoking in a designated National Historic Site of Canada), twerk-anthem Clappers and slow grooves Lotus Flower Bomb and Bad.

Wale didn’t just hang out onstage, either. Accompanied by security guards, he ran throughout the lower section, stopping at multiple locations to rap with his fans.

When Cole appeared at 9:15, the stage had been transformed to stadium proportions, with proper live band, staircase and a video screen showcasing visuals selected and arranged by Cole himself. His show began with a (fake) news report reporting an accident and a critically injured J. Cole, setting the scene for a 90-minute journey through Cole’s dreams and reality. Opening with Born Sinner’s temptation-fuelled Trouble, Cole worked the stage and, despite saying early on he wouldn’t talk much, interacted with his audience for his set’s entirety.

The North Carolina native had plenty of love for Toronto, too, saying he would move to the city if it wasn’t so cold during the winter. He also apologized once again for a mixup before the June 26th Toronto date of his Dollar and a Dream tour that kept many fans outside.

Tracks from Born Sinner – including She Knows, Forbidden Fruit and Villuminati – were spat back at him, but the crowd liked mixtape tracks Blow Up, In the Morning and Lights Please just as much, if not more.

Cole’s delivery was smooth and seemingly effortless despite admitted consumption of Hennessy, and the show bounced along at a solid clip – 90 minutes seemed like 45. When Cole has fun, his audience has fun, too.

Kenny Lofton and Chris Tucker, both featured on Cole’s summer mixtape Truly Yours 2, fired up the crowd before Cole slowed things down to close out the show with two of his biggest hits, Crooked Smile and Power Trip. Massey Hall is an interesting choice for a rap show, and the gamble payed off: goodness, it was a beautiful night.

Part two goes down tonight, promptly, at 8 pm.