At Edmonton Events Center on Friday March 9.
19
year-old Malcolm "Mac Miller" McCormick has taken the nation by storm
since recording his first songs in the Fall of 2007. The Pittsburgh rapper
basically owes his fame to the buzz created by his online audience, with his
Youtube videos exceeding well over 15 million views each, and selling over a
million singles with barely any radio play. Back in 2010, Miller signed with
Rostrum Records and on November 8, 2011 he released his debut album Blue Slide Park, which made it onto the Billboard 200 list in the first week, making Mac Miller the first independent artist in 16 years
to have made number one on the charts.
Adoring fans, young and old, scurried inside the Edmonton Events Center to find a simple stage set containing two light posts and a DJ booth with a home-made looking sign that read, "Blue Slide Park.” The basic set kept the attention solely on Miller and his long time friend and the Assistant Manager at Rostrum Records, Quentin or "Q" for short. Q provided the back up vocals for the night and emanated pure energy that flowed out into the crowd of 1800 people from the ages of 12 to 35.
Adoring fans, young and old, scurried inside the Edmonton Events Center to find a simple stage set containing two light posts and a DJ booth with a home-made looking sign that read, "Blue Slide Park.” The basic set kept the attention solely on Miller and his long time friend and the Assistant Manager at Rostrum Records, Quentin or "Q" for short. Q provided the back up vocals for the night and emanated pure energy that flowed out into the crowd of 1800 people from the ages of 12 to 35.
Miller came on stage wearing
a black hoodie, jeans, white and black running shoes, sunglasses and his
signature backwards hat. The show went on for about an hour and 15 minutes
transitioning between his hit songs and some free style raps in between. “Knock, Knock,” Miller’s first single with Rostrum Records was the high point to
the show (A video of the live song can be found below). Before the song was
played he hinted at what song he was going to play next by holding his microphone
in the air and knocking his fist against it; the crowd went wild and sang along
with great enthusiasm.
It was clearly
evident that Miller felt completely at home on stage and delivered Lady Gaga
type inspirational messages every once in a while. One that stuck out in my mind
was when he was encouraging his fans to, “just sing if you wanna sing- it don’t
mean anything if you’re bad." When you
didn’t think the audiences’ spirits could be lifted any higher, the above
phrase caused the audience to somehow sing every song for the rest of the show as loud as they could. Miller was also sure to emphasize the fact that he too was just another kid pursuing his dreams, doing what he loves and working hard. He continued to encourage those who worked, went to school or studied all week wishing them luck and happiness and repeated the famous lyrics "Were just some mother-bleeping-kids" from his hit song, "Kool Aid & Frozen Pizza."
It was clearly
evident that Miller felt completely at home on stage and delivered Lady Gaga
type inspirational messages every once in a while. One that stuck out in my mind
was when he was encouraging his fans to, “just sing if you wanna sing- it don’t
mean anything if you’re bad." When you
didn’t think the audiences’ spirits could be lifted any higher, the above
phrase caused the audience to somehow sing every song for the rest of the show as loud as they could. Miller was also sure to emphasize the fact that he too was just another kid pursuing his dreams, doing what he loves and working hard. He continued to encourage those who worked, went to school or studied all week wishing them luck and happiness and repeated the famous lyrics "Were just some mother-bleeping-kids" from his hit song, "Kool Aid & Frozen Pizza."
Miller wasn’t afraid to get
intimate with his fans, he was completely comfortable with slowing it down a
little and dedicating one of his songs to his mom and thanking his fans for all
of their support, without them and their ability to share his videos and songs
on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Tumblr, Miller surely would not be where he is
today.
This was Miller's second time playing at the Edmonton Events Center and he will without a doubt he will be returning to see his devoted Albertan fans once again.
-Keltyn Marshall
This video contains coarse language, viewer discretion is advised
This was Miller's second time playing at the Edmonton Events Center and he will without a doubt he will be returning to see his devoted Albertan fans once again.
-Keltyn Marshall
This video contains coarse language, viewer discretion is advised
