Frank Ocean - Pyramids

Frank Ocean put on a helluva show Saturday night at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver. He proved that he really can sing as he crooned over lush and sparse hip-hop beats. The 4-piece band played real tight and were able to get all of the sounds from mixtape nostalgia, ULTRA and just-released album, channel ORANGE, just right. The set was really cool too with a giant spaceship thing hovering above the middle. 

Highlights of the show included a rocking performance of "Novacane", the use of Ocean's incredible pipes on "Bad Religion", and an epic performance of his epic 10-minute track "Pyramids" to close the set. His look out into the crowd when the synth beats were bumpin' and his closed-eyes singing of the songs main chorus "We're working at the pyramids tonight" were signs of a future superstar in the making. I see him playing a much bigger venue next time around and am stoked that I got to see him somewhere as awesome and intimate as the Commodore. 

"Pyramids" is an amazing song. The first time I heard it I was hooked. For a ten minute track it goes through numerous beat and tempo changes, crazy synth lines, and manages to tell the story of a stripper. He absolutely killed it on this one to close the set, leaving everyone very satisfied. 

Some thoughts...

- That was show #1 of 4 that I'll be attending over 10 days. Hope they're all just as good or even better!

- Florence has been having vocal struggles... she's cancelled all of her dates up until Friday's at Deer Lake Park. Here's hoping for a full recovery and an epic return!  

- Took a party bus to the Blarney on Saturday before heading to the show. How awesome is that!!!