After not being able to tour in Canada for almost five years, ¡Mayday! have finally returned north of the border, hitting the country coast-to-coast as an extension of The Black Lemonade Tour. The Miami-based band has a lot to celebrate as they connect with their fans on the road again, having completed their contract with Tech N9ne’s Strange Music, which saw them release seven albums over ten years with the indie label, and now continuing to release music under their own imprint, Mayday Music. Since the last time they were here, they released their final album with Strange in 2021, Minute To Midnight, and also went on a US tour celebrating the 10-year anniversary of their critically acclaimed Believers album. Going into this show, fans could expect to see some of these milestones celebrated in Toronto for the first time, as the band would bring their diverse fusion of Rap, Rock, Funk, Soul, and Reggae to the stage.

On a Sunday in Toronto that had Ice Spice performing at History and Future & Metro Boomin at Scotiabank Arena on the same night, a modestly sized crowd showed up to Lee’s Palace to support underground Hip-Hop and catch The Black Lemonade Tour, on Hip-Hop’s 51st anniversary no less. The evening would begin with some local Canadian artists, with DJ Taktikill holding it down on the turntables and Raw Dog Entertainment’s JDon hosting. JDon would get the crowd engaged right away with a ton of free giveaways, including weed grinders, stickers, and even a bong. He’d set things off with his own performance of a handful of songs, and would keep things moving by introducing artists to the stage throughout the night, the first being a duo from Barrie called Ree N Rayzor. There were some microphone issues early on but the duo got it sounding right by the end of their set, powering through with some sung vocals mixed with aggressive raps.

JDon would keep the crowd hyped as he continued the free giveaways between performers, getting 705Luqman to help him give away another bong with some crowd participation. 705Luqman would get the crowd moving with some bass-heavy tracks, and had a funny moment when some merch he meant to toss into the crowd got stuck in the ceiling. That merch would eventually fall back down during the next artist’s set, as Blaxxx Bossalini took the stage and put in some extra energy, happy to be able to perform again after being in the hospital with a herniated disc just two days prior. As part of the Raw Dog Family set, Bossalini would be joined by the newest addition to the label, Kali Don Kilo, who rocked her own handful of songs to close out the local performances.

Next up would be the touring artists, as DJ Taktikill got his gear packed up and made way for DJ 1L to take over the sounds. The first of the touring openers would be a group whose music I’d be experiencing for the first time: Unconventional Kingz. Their approach to Hip-Hop was definitely unconventional, but not too off-kilter for fans of ¡Mayday!, Tech N9ne or Strange Music, as the group’s producer and guitarist LowKey Tha Wizard opened up the set with a guitar solo before bringing out singer/emcee High Deafinician, who spit some rapid-fire raps in a style and cadence that reminded of Tech N9ne. Even though they’re not signed to Strange Music itself (but distributed by affiliate label It Goes Up), Unconventional Kingz performed with a style and sound that would fit right in with that roster, as High Deafinician nailed his speedy flows with precision and had impeccable chemistry with LowKey Tha Wizard on guitar and backing vocals. Standout moments from their setlist included the songs “Ashes In The Wind,” “Work All Day Smoke All Night,” and a joint where High Deaf came down into the crowd and picked out a girl to dance with him as he rapped to her.

Next up would be ¡Mayday!’s manager and opener on every tour they go on, 1Ton of the California-based group Potluck. With many fans taking the time to go back to the merch booth and show some love to Unconventional Kingz, 1Ton made the most with the few who stayed with him by the stage, interacting directly with the fans and keeping them engaged as he performed. He’d have a short setlist, performing entertaining, punchline-filled tracks like “#Hashtag” and “Kush Queen,” and would close out his set by reminding the crowd that he always reps California before letting DJ 1L play Kendrick Lamar’s Drake diss, “Not Like Us” as he walked off the stage. Despite the highly publicized drama in the media around the Kendrick and Drake diss tracks, the Toronto crowd seemed impartial, many taking the time to re-up on drinks before the next artist hit the stage.

The final performer before ¡Mayday! would be the co-headliner of the tour, Strange Music’s own King Iso. Having last toured in Canada with Tech N9ne himself back in 2022, you could tell Iso picked up a few things from his mentor, as his stage presence and showmanship was on 10. He came out wearing a mask and had his energy on point as he nailed his speedy flows, quickly turning the energy up with the song “Feel” off of his latest album, 2023’s iLLdren. Songs like “Self Destruct” stood out as he shouted out Rittz & Twista who both feature on the track; two of the mid-west’s most skilled choppers to compete with on a record. He’d also bring back Unconventional Kingz’ own LowKey Tha Wizard to play guitar on his song “IMH (In My Head),” adding another soulful layer to the sound.

While King Iso can chop with the best of them when it comes to speed rapping, it takes more than just really fast raps to make a connection with the crowd, and Iso pulled that off with his content. An advocate for mental health, and more specifically the lesser talked about men’s mental health, many of King Iso’s songs had themes of overcoming those struggles that resonated with the crowd. Songs like “Help Yourself” and “Hypocrite” stood out, and he made sure to speak on the issues too between songs. After some deep songs with a dark mood to them, King Iso picked the energy back up with some call-and-response to end off his set, and pretty soon it would be time for the main headliner: ¡Mayday!

As they always do, ¡Mayday!’s performance would start off with NonMS dancing his way to the drum set and performing a drum solo to play in the two emcees: Bernz & Wrekonize. With the energy cranked off the intro, they’d dive right into some new material to kick off the setlist, performing “Hate To Love You” off of their 2024 EP The Thinnest Line, Pt. 3. With much of the crowd seeing the band perform live for the first time, everyone was hyped as they played banger after banger, and even the longtime fans who’ve seen ¡Mayday! perform live before could appreciate how their setlist can change up year over year. The next few songs they’d perform were rarities they either hadn’t done in Toronto for several tours, or would be rocking in Toronto for the first time ever, starting with the up-tempo 2014 ¡MursDay! cut “Brand New Get Up.”

Bernz & Wrekonize would take a moment to talk to the crowd, speaking on how they couldn’t include Toronto in their Believers 10th Anniversary Tour but would be making that up by performing several of those songs throughout the setlist. They’d pull one out that they’d never done in Toronto before, “My Life,” with Wrekonize nailing his cover of Irv Da Phenom’s vocals on the hook and NonMS’ live drumming adding an extra kick to the beat. Sticking with the rarities, they’d next take it back to 2010, before their Strange Music days for the true day-one fans, performing “Broads & Freqs” off of arguably their most underrated album, Stuck On An Island. The band showed off some dope choreography during the verses on the throwback, moving together seamlessly to match the spiraling tempo. As a longtime fan having been to every show ¡Mayday! have done in Toronto so far, these deep album cuts were refreshing to see get performed live for the first time.

Keeping the energy cranked with songs like “Fuel To The Fire” and the new 2023 single the tour is named after, “Black Lemonade,” ¡Mayday! would next mellow it out with a couple joints off of their Reggae-influenced album, 2018’s South of 5th. Performing “Shelter” and “Next To Go,” they had the crowd vibing out and singing along to their hooks, NonMS especially standing out on the conga drums for this segment. After the quick cool down with the mellow Reggae-styled segment, it was time to crank up the energy again, as ¡Mayday! would next start getting into the essentials.

Bringing it back to their Believers album, ¡Mayday! had the crowd pumped up as they performed classics like “Last One Standing” and “Shots Fired,” the synergy between the two emcees and the drummer being on point as Bernz & Wrek both nailed their rapid-fire flows and NonMS continued to kill it on the drums. They’d then continue into some throwbacks, taking it back to 2012 with “Roaches,” “Darker Shades” and “Badlands,” their Rock influence standing out as they nailed their vocals over the guitar riffs. With the crowd fully behind them, they’d sprinkle in a new, unreleased joint into the setlist before asking the crowd to shout out song titles they wanted to hear, knowing they had a few more essentials the diehard fans wanted to see.

Some fans of course shouted out the Believers standout “Shortcuts & Dead Ends” as their fan request, which the band has been known to close out their shows with over the years, but before they’d get there, NonMS would go to his DJ gear and drop the beat to their gold-certified collaboration with Tech N9ne and Kendrick Lamar, “Fragile.” The crowd sang along as Wrekonize nailed his soulful vocals on the intro and chorus, and the band would then follow this with their “Shortcuts” routine, Bernz & Wrek each taking turns leaving the stage so the other could have the spotlight to themselves for their emotional verse, and the crowd would join in on the soulful hook. While the powerful song about chasing the dream and overcoming obstacles always makes for an inspirational moment, this wouldn’t be the usual end of the show, as they’d pull out one last joint to leave on a high, energetic note, rocking the 2023 single “No One’s Around.” The crowd turned up one last time to the groovy track and the band would end the show with some shoutouts, clapping hands with the fans up front.

As always, it was a fun time rocking out with ¡Mayday!, as the band brought all their energy to the stage and nailed their performance. They’ve continued to build on a discography that showcases a diverse range of styles and sounds that’s uniquely theirs, and that translates to their live show as they take the fans through all the different vibes. Although they skipped out on performing songs off of their latest album, it was dope seeing their new material post-Strange get performed, as well as the rare throwbacks they added to the setlist.

Like most artists who stay long enough with Strange Music, ¡Mayday! have built up a large enough discography so that they can change up their setlist every time they tour and always bring something fresh for returning fans. They also have that Strange Music work ethic, consistently dropping new music and touring to gain new fans every time they perform. Although the size of the crowd was small, the ones who showed up definitely enjoyed their time, as ¡Mayday! put their all into their performance as always and put their diverse range on full display. It feels like the band is still one of Hip-Hop’s best kept secrets, as they put on an incredible show for those in the know.

The Black Lemonade Tour is in its final week, with shows taking place in Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia before the band heads home! Tour dates and tickets can be found here.

Big thank you to JDon, Raw Dog Entertainment and MODO Live for granting this blog media access to review this show.

Check out this playlist of concert videos from all the times I’ve seen ¡Mayday! perform live over the years!

Check out the SYpherSights Youtube channel for more concert videos.

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