Montreal matches Tinashe’s freak
The “Nasty” singer dazzles MTELUS
R&B sensation Tinashe brought the Match My Freak World Tour to a packed house at MTELUS in downtown Montreal on Nov. 11. With a hypnotic vocal performance and stunning choreographies, the Grammy Award winner was met with an outpouring of love from Montreal fans.
The show kicked off at 8 p.m. with a flawless DJ set from Robin Banks, who set the tone with a mix of rap and R&B hits. Her set conducted the audience through a variety of synths from Mariah Carey’s “I Know What You Want” to Amaarae’s “Princess Going Digital,” volleying between early 2000s classics and newly released tunes.
“It’s super surreal,” Banks said. “I literally just started mixing seriously like maybe two years ago.”
The energy shifted as Raveena took the stage, inviting the crowd to meditate with her under a crystal tree. The pro-Palestine artist was not afraid to utilize the stage in her choreography as she twirled, danced and emitted loving energy during her performance. In her half-hour set, she led the audience to look inward and get into the rhythm of her soft melodies. She sang about the journey of loving oneself and the ecstasy of love.
The “Junebug” singer sent the audience into a trance and welcomed everyone to her community.
During a short intermission, Raveena’s bandmate Jenn Clemena-Magat showed off her poignant skills at instrumental guitar play.
“We wanted to pay homage to Aaliyah tonight with ‘At Your Best (You Are Love),’” Raveena said after she thanked Tinashe for inviting her on the Match My Freak World Tour. As she concluded her set, Raveena invited fans to join her at the merch table where she made herself available for pictures.
The crowd's excitement reached new heights as roadies set up Tinashe’s elaborate mise en scène and an altered remix of “Nasty” hit the speakers. The set featured three CCTV multi-camera stands, three jumbotron screens and a raised platform.
When the lights dimmed, a mashup of relevant imagery of her three-act trilogy BB/Ang3l was projected on the screens, drawing the audience into what they were about to experience.
Opening with “Getting No Sleep” from her newest album Quantum Baby, Tinashe had the crowd singing along from her first note. The setlist was rich with top hits spanning from the beginning of her mainstream career in 2014 to her current releases.
“Tinashe’s breath control between the singing and the choreography [...] she ate that,” said Marlyne Désir, a Montreal performer and Tinashe fan.
The star’s backup dancers added flair and storytelling with their twin-like facial expressions, emotive movements and constant interaction with the audience. During "Unconditional," one of the dancers reimagined themselves as a prop and held Tinashe's mic stand for her. When "Gravity" started playing, a dancer from her crew became a live videographer, capturing the headliner as she walked up to the main stage.
“It’s been freaking amazing,” said Yevyn Alam, a dancer for the Match My Freak World Tour who has worked with Tinashe since Oct. 14. “She’s so beautiful [and] such a crazy talented artist.”
Before the last third of the show, there was a memorable and nostalgic mash-up video projected on the jumbotron screens where Tinashe's career highlights and online fan interactions were presented.
Soon after, the perfect introduction to Tinashe's new hit "No Broke Boys" was displayed: a clip of a 1996 Cher interview where she stated: "My mom said to me, 'You know sweetheart, you should settle down and marry a rich man.' I said, 'Mom, I am a rich man.'"
Tinashe closed with none other than “Nasty,” the viral song that relaunched her back into the spotlight earlier this year. The moment she sang, “cause it feels like heaven when it hurts so bad,” a surge of excitement pierced the crowd and everyone started dancing and screaming every lyric at the top of their lungs.
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