Out in Toronto’s Port Lands, a Wednesday crowd gathered at Rebel, the latest iteration of a revamped club venue that welcome a wide range of acts to a pretty interesting space and familiar to those that have lived in the city for some time. November 12 saw Danny Brown take his North American Fall tour there and with support from underscores, the weekday audience was in for a pretty special show. With the Stardust Tour, named after his newest album that dropped just the Friday before on November 7th, Danny hit the ground running kicking it off a couple of days back (a sold-out show in Boston) with this single Canadian stop being only the second show. And so with that said, fans can be right to expect a raw and energetic show from a Danny Brown that’s as fresh as this new chapter of his career and his sound that he wants to share with his newest release.
With Femtanyl not on this early date in the tour, underscores was the only opener for the evening though it felt like their set was way more than that. Rolling onto the stage lugging a silver shell carry-on with the big upside-down headphone logo that matches the back of their cool white bomber jacket, there was immediately an aesthetic forming on stage before the audience’s eyes. Stack that on top of starting the set with their Soundcloud hit Point A and its chime-y intro on the keys, underscores effortlessly curates a type of “Internet Explorer”-forward electronica atmosphere that digital nomads from the early to mid 2000s were obsessed with traversing. With a catalogue scattered across different platforms on the web, the set felt like music only those that have been chronically online can understand. Ranging from originals, covers, hyperpop staples, underground gems, and new-era Wallsocket energy from their 2024 release, underscores felt like they orchestrated a narrative mixtape rather than a linear set. Toronto was also treated to the first live performance of Your favorite sidekick with 8485 in the flesh – a definite highlight with the song spanning back to 2021. Then finally, complimented with visuals of various headphone styles, the set wrapped up satisfyingly with the bass-y track Music released back at the end of June on streaming services. The track wrapped the set up nicely with a bow – especially if it was an emoji of a bow from the AOL/MSN days.
With the Toronto crowd now more than hyped for the headliner, the black blanket that’s been on-stage since the venue opened its doors was finally uncovered to reveal a hollow cube platform in the middle of the stage. The edges of the cube made up of neon tube lights would then light up Danny Brown as he made his way to the stage adding a simple yet epic component as he worked through his set. Mainly composed of tracks from Stardust, the show highlighted Danny’s deliberate pivot into a new artistic identity – even kicking off the set with the titular track that starts the album as well. Also his seventh studio album, it feels less a continuation of Atrocity Exhibition and U Know What I’m Sayin?, and more of an evolution into an era not so much driven by shock, madness, or satire, but clarity that’s both personal and creative. And just like the set at Rebel, the chaos is still there, but now it’s sounds more mature and purposeful while expressed through collaboration, experimental electronica, and incredible emotional transparency.
While the tour is focused on unveiling this new chapter of Danny Brown, he also throws in fan favourites from earlier albums like Dip, When It Rain, Ain’t It Funny, 25 Bucks, and the absolute heater Smokin & Drinkin. Coming from his older LPs, Old and Atrocity Exhibition, these tracks help ground the set in his legacy and remind longtime fans that this tour isn’t just about the new stuff too. It’s no surprise though because Danny’s always been about the fans. He even made sure to sign a front row-er’s vinyl record before the end of the set as well as showing specific love for Toronto and Canada mentioning his adoration for poutine and how you need the right cheese for it (though the Canadian concoction makes his stomach hurt). And with his home city of Detroit right at the border of Windsor, it’s nice to hear a close neighbour embrace the culture even at this level.
Then like a left-hook coming out of nowhere, Danny takes the set to a new level by doing covers of tracks with musical collaborators (many of whom are featured on Stardust) that really emphasizes the experimental, cross-genre direction of his current sound. It almost felt like a revisitation of how these new layers of Danny formed in recent time with Stardust being the tangible sum of that arc. Though the covers bring more variety and risk, shifting the mood (especially for those familiar with these recent projects), they’re fun, but also retain that atmospheric and experimental feel that built up the show from the start. SCARING THE HOES pays homage to his recent collab with JPEGMAFIA, psychoboost (with Jane Remover) brings in that familiar hyperpop/digicore aesthetic while Shake It Like A (with Frost Children) and Attak (with Rustie) gives nods to electronica and club producers. There’s nothing more you could ask as a show-goer from an artist that knows how to balance a set that hits all of the right cuts giving fans their money’s worth while still meeting the goal of giving the show a strong promotional backbone that ties the live experience directly to a new career chapter.
To bring the show full circle, Danny not only takes another u-turn back to material from Stardust, but also invites underscores back out to perform their two tracks on the album Copycats and Baby – a late section of the set that was an energetic crowd pleaser and felt like a culmination of the two sets thus far. This on top of 8485 coming back out as well (to perform their Stardust collab Flowers) earlier in the set really puts on display how much Danny values collaboration as well as inclusivity of ideas to show what cool things you can create when you team up with like-minded individuals especially within the digital/experimental generation. With that said, the set takes a quick detour back to 2013’s Old with 25 Bucks that featured Purity Ring and is perhaps a song that marks the earliest turning point into the electronic avant-garde sound Danny’s been pumping out in recent memory. With its position in the set, it just felt like it held some weight beyond being a familiar track to loyal fans.
Before the last track and as fate would have it, Danny doubles down on championing his collaborators once again shouting out underscores for always bringing the energy and as his “goat”, it inspires him to go twice as hard every night on the rest of the tour. From there it clicked: Stardust is also more than a collaboration-forward album (not in a feature-heavy sense). Being influenced by the textures and philosophies of younger experimental artists, it also feels like a celebration of those inspirations that introduce new and unexplored directions that Danny wants to take. Instead of bringing guests into his “sound”, he synergizes into theirs, letting his voice become a guiding instrument in this evolving, digital landscape. To cap the night off, Danny made sure to thank everyone who listened to Stardust adding he’s “at a point in [his] life where [he doesn’t] care if people dont like [his] music and appreciate those that do” and finishes the show with the last song on the album All4U referring to who he does all of his music for – the fans. From aggressive nostalgia (25 Bucks) to new-era reflection (All4U), it created a satisfying resolution and although chants for an encore fell short, it’s hard to imagine a fan walking back out into the downtown chill unhappy with the story of a set Danny stitched up for Toronto.
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