K-OS Chaotic At Intimate Gig

It's been a weird few weeks for K-OS and Toronto.

After NOW Magazine published a slightly scathing review of his new record, Atlantis — Hymns For Disco, K-OS raised a national media storm by publicly denouncing the writer, Jason Richards. Richards had his own say a couple of weeks later (in the issue currently on stands), but none of this seemed to derail Atlantis' inevitable success.

On Monday night, K-OS took to the Mod Club stage for the first of three sold-out shows in his hometown. These intimate gigs are basically warm-ups for bigger and more elaborate tours next year. It's a good thing he's getting them out of his system now.

Before the man of the hour hit the stage, Paper Bag band Uncut played a smattering of excellent tracks from their new record, Modern Currencies. It would have seemed like an odd pairing if it wasn't for the fact that the crowd gave them a very warm reception. The band admitted they'd been nervous to perform for the hip-hop-ready crowd, but they were perfectly at ease by the end of their 40-minute set.

K-OS, decked out in his trademark hoodie and sunglasses, was backed by a five-piece band that included two percussionists, a DJ, a guitarist and a bassist. At the outset, the MC was in fine form, blasting out room-rocker "B-Boy Stance" and Atlantis single "ELEctrik Heat-The Seekwill." Another early track, "Equalizer," was even better live than it is on the new LP.

From there, the show was spotty. The rap tracks from Atlantis sounded good, but K-OS frequently forgot lyrics, and attempts to freestyle in their place seemed like an excuse to utter the phrase, "Fuck NOW Magazine!" Most freestyle sessions lasted about four lines, half ended in "yo," and all of them ended when K-OS would cut off the music and apologize for fucking up.

Joyful Rebellion's "Emcee Murder" was given a heavier treatment that gave it far more weight in the live setting, and "Commandante" was transformed into a hand-waving full-room chant. "Crucial," on the other hand, was restarted about two minutes in, while "Man I Used To Be" was abandoned entirely when K-OS couldn't remember any of the verses. There were also a couple of instrumental jams that unfortunately resembled a Ben Harper show, and a drum battle before the encore was supremely lame. I don't care how good your percussionists are, there's no need for a drum battle. Ever.

For the failings here and there, there were a number of transcendent moments, and none moreso than encore highlight and current single, "Sunday Morning." K-OS sang the track with more passion than he had for most of the show, while the band turned in their strongest performance of the night. With some tweaking and a little more focus over the next few nights, the K-OS road show should be good to go by the time he swings out to the west coast in the next few weeks.