The evening rain fell upon the city of Toronto on October 19th but this didn’t stop fans of Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist from making the trek to the east end and lining up outside the doors of History – the ideal venue for concert goers that live out in the Beaches neighbourhood of the city. Ticket holders that slowly populated the space were greeted by a stage setup that placed what seems to be a small restaurant front that’s Japanese-inspired – obvious with the sign saying “Alfredo” in large red katakana as well as in the duo’s 2025 collaborative album, Alfredo 2, and its accompanying visuals. The show started at 8pm and with only 15 minute changeovers between each set, the three openers set the pace, kept the energy up, and made it feel like there was always music to enjoy ahead of the legendary headliners.
First, Toronto’s very own Insyt walked out to a welcoming hometown crowd bringing pure lyricism to the audience while highlighting what Canadians can bring to culture as well. Then, Sweden’s Sven Wunder took the stage behind some keys accompanied by drums to showcase his jazz creations. A la Menahan Street Band and to hip-hop heads’ delight, the duo transported History to a world of music that would make any fan of samples feel like a kid in a candy shop. Amazing song after amazing song had the heads bopping and faces “stanking”. From there, MAVI came out like a firecracker – exploding onto the stage with speed and surprise. Repping Charlotte, NC, the artist coming off of hype from his collaboration with Earl Sweatshirt brought his raw power to Toronto. Jumping across the stage supported by his DJ who also flexed his rapping chops later on in the set, the crowd was more than ready for the Alfredo tour to really begin.
With the Toronto crowd primed and in the right headspace, The Alchemist strode on to the stage and in what felt like a split-second, he took his position behind the decks in front of the restaurant window, instantly with mic in hand, already hyping the audience. Shortly after, Freddie comes out from the front door in full karate gi kicking off 1985 from the duo’s Alfredo collaboration from 2020 much like the next tracks in first third of this set. Bringing out the staples early felt like it set the atmosphere for the rest of the performance – just pure razor-sharpness from Freddie and Al. The next third of the set had the spotlight on The Alchemist more with fans being treated to a DJ set that lets the legend take centre stage along with tracks like Now & Later Gators and teases of Mobb Deep’s The Realest highlights his chemistry with other rappers including Freddie. Deeper cuts for fans like Lavish Habits and Empanadas compliments all of this.
As they worked through the set, Freddie also made sure to check in with the crowd periodically on the Blue Jays game with the crowd shouting back the score without hesitation. A win would mean taking the series to a Game 7 elimination match and so fans in the crowd were happy to hear that Freddie was thinking of staying to feel the energy the city had to offer. The Jays did end up winning but it’s unknown if he made it out to the incredible win. Baseball aside, the last third touches on Freddie’s Madlib era going into tracks like Crime Pays and Thuggin’ that brought a good soulful twist to the set and to close, Jean Claude and A Thousand Mountains to seal the deal. Especially with the stunning visuals they released for the latter track back in August, it made a lot of sense to end the show with the modern classic.
Overall, the show had all of the bases covered (baseball pun intended). All of the different eras of different partnerships were represented while the set felt like a roller-coaster that made great twists and turns throughout that history (in History of all places!) with The Alchemist complimented by Freddie bridging the entire narrative. It was cinematic and raw – exactly what the audience expected and it’s not hard to believe that even with the rainy trek home, everyone left the venue satisfied.
Keep up with the latest on Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist on their Instagram/Instagram and Website.