April 2, 2026
Dave East dips into Montreal
American rapper Dave East dipped into Montreal for a short performance at Montreal’s Ausgang venue this week.
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This time, however, things went much better and the evening went ahead as planned, despite a bit of a rocky start. Fans, some of whom had VIP passes, were forced to brave the cold weather for up to an hour outside without proper explanation, while things were being set up inside.
That being said, the general caliber of emcees was on point and once things got going, it was a non stop rap train that went from station to station, straight to it’s final destination: Dave East.
Micro doses of emcees
During the evening, 6 opening artists were on the bill.
DJ POTATO(yes,potato), Kufisworld, For the Art, Young Rose, Doret and Ntwali took the stage prior to Dave East. I’d say the mix was eclectic, every unit bringing something different, artistically. Kufisworld and Young Rose kicked off the night; the sets were quite short and the tracks hit or miss for me. Following them, we had performers like For the Art, Doret and Ntwali, whom I felt the message was direct, pointed to the crowd and in case of Doret particularly, somewhat militant, even; a trait that really gave him a boss presence on stage.
Plus, he was rocking a full jean suit. A real Hip Hop ambassadorial kit! He projected a strong image.
The moment For the Art took the stage though, the evening’s energy immediately multiplied. A fearsome unit of four, they had these posse moves, owning the stage. They brought this sick throw-and-catch lyrical style; it was so damn fun! No matter the musical genre, the goal of a performance is impact, and they succeeded. Then came Ntwali.
Like all the emcees on stage that night, I was new to his music. But the crowd was captivated; he spent most of his performance on top of a monitor or a platform at the front of the stage, speaking directly to the crowd. It was bold and it had a lot of heart.
Dave East
The last time Dave East played in Montreal at Le Rouge Bar in 2023, the cops raided the event following a call about a gun sighting in the venue. The room was then emptied, and after an argument in the street, the police decided to wantonly douse everyone in pepper spray. It’s a well documented story.
Well, it was now 2026 and it looked Dave East would actually perform. A guy quickly rushed on stage and asked the crowd to make some noise, to get the place ready. The crowd was almost silent. I couldn’t believe it. Again, slightly disappointed this time, he asked for the crowd to please make some noise for the main event. A bit ashamed of the crowd, I broke out of my photographic trance where and contributed to the ol’ hip hip hoorah for the headliner.
This time, the crowd improved their communal bellow. Following this, the crowd was asked to get all their cell phones. He wanted to see lights!
Cell phones, I thought? For real? Cell phones are usually a disease at concerts. Now we’re asking for them?!
Elegantly wasted
Finally, wasted as fuck but still managing to keep a heavy footing, Dave East enters the stage. That I could tell, his state did not affect his performance whatsoever, aside from a few lyrical cinder blocks he ran into from time to time; although, these could have been freestyles abruptly ending. I couldn’t tell, and it didn’t matter. He had aura about him and the venue was ensnared, though a bit luke warm.
The set was short, running about 30 minutes, though I’m almost certain it was a bit more. Regardless, this was the shortest headlining show for as long as I can remember. I mean, remembering the amount of tracks he did while as twisted as he seemed, was quite a feat. Dave spent the set enjoying himself, smiling and occasionally speaking to the crowd.
Dave’s easy connection to the crowd via these moments was what saved his set. I particularly enjoyed the moment where he mentioned not being able to say or do certain things, given that
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Afterwards, while strolling the streets, I couldn’t help remembering statements that Doret and Ntwali said during their sets; something to the like that God had given them proof of a higher purpose of some kind.
Then, I thought about the relationship to social media that was shown tonight, a sort of shameless attempt to grab any and all attention, locking fans into a dystopian rapport with their phones. Essentially, using the crowd as content creators. Which many willingly do, unable to resist the attention they’ll garner. Some didn’t care.
That night, I couldn’t help feeling that Hip Hop could be a bit confused towards it’s own message and sometimes, despite good intentions, muzzle itself with it’s own values.
