About halfway through Kid Cudi’s 90-minute set at the Air Canada Centre on Thursday night, he performed a track called “Erase Me.” The timing was interesting, given that it was right around that point that the Cleveland, Ohio hip-hop star was erasing much of the damage done earlier that evening.
Cudi’s silky smooth, energetic set helped wash away a spotty lead-in, which saw a half-hearted effort from Big Sean in front a sparse crowd. A momentum-killing 45-minute intermission and a randomly stern lecture about the show’s “rules” over the sound system didn’t help, either.
Somehow, by the time Cudi took to the stage, the crowd seemed fuller and more robust. They were more than game as the star emerged wearing a tight-fitting, futuristic space suit. He quickly launched (no pun intended) into the crowd pleaser, “Unfuckwittable.”
From there, Cudi delivered a seamless show that sustained and maximized the energy of those in attendance, even as the headlining performer got occasionally lost in the hazy sea of gratuitous dry ice. The only break from the flow came late in the evening, as Cudi took a moment of genuine reflection to offer his appreciation for the fans that had helped him grow as a performer. It was an unexpectedly raw, poignant moment from a guy who has meticulously crafted a fictitious stage persona.
As touchingly real as that moment felt, this night was about laying down energetic hip-hop beats. Therefore, it wasn’t long before Cudi shifted into a string of crowd favourites, getting standout responses for “Mr. Rager” and inspiring an audience reaction that felt 10,000-strong on “Pursuit of Happiness” and “Day ‘n’ Night.”
The night came to a bit of an anti-climactic end with Big Sean joining Cudi on stage. This garnered next to no reaction from the crowd (not surprising to those who had been around to see Big Sean’s flat opening set), but Cudi had long since squeezed plenty out of his stage time.