Attending Rebel in Toronto, you always wonder what kind of show you’re up for tonight. Rebel has its history of concerts that go insane, and with a beautiful view of the Toronto skyline from the venue, what other place would be perfect for headliners Hollywood Undead and Tech N9ne? Tonight, every hardcore fan of each artist from the GTA had made their way to witness the chaos, high energy, and memories that Hollywood Undead and Tech N9ne were about to unleash on the crowd.
Zero 9:36 was first up to base, arriving on stage promptly at 6:25 to kick off what would be an ebullient night. Their set was short, yet sweet, performing a handful of songs from albums None of Us Are Getting Out, … If You Don’t Save Yourself, and You Will Not Be Saved. Zero 9:36 encouraged the crowd to get closer midway through the show, asking if they had wanted a fast song to open a mosh pit, or a slower song. Singer, Matthew Cullen, decided that he would do a slower song, as he wanted to switch things up from doing a pit from most of the previous shows. Announcing to the crowd, Matthew spoke on how Zero 9:36 is fully independent, and that they are proud to do everything by themselves. Finally, at the end of his set, he did what the crowd had eagerly been waiting for, and opened up the mosh pit as he closed with song “The End”.
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Next up to the plate was Set It Off. I remembered listening to them a lot during my college days, and was extremely excited to watch them perform up close. Starting their set with “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing,” from their album Duality, right off the bat. The energy was high, the music was loud, and the crowd was in full swing, headbanging. Reaching the fourth song in their set, “Evil People”, lead singer Cody Carson made sure a new mosh pit was opened and they dived deeper into their act. Later in their set, when reaching their song “Parasite,” Cody asked the crowd to reopen the pit, but got the crowd to do a tidal wave mosh pit, as everyone backed up to either side of the room, and then started running at each other. It was enjoyable to watch, but I was glad my camera and I were safe on the sidelines. Closing their set with “Punching Bag”, Cody spoke about how they had the option to resign to the current label they were with, or sign with a new label, and ulitmatley the band decided to go unsigned, and were very proud that “Punching Bag” was their first song to be released as an unsigned band. They also proudly announced that the song also became their first radio single. Throwing guitar picks and drumsticks into the crowd, Set It Off left the stage in preparation for the first headliner.
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Hollywood Undead made their way on stage, opening right up with their song “Riot”. Being this close to them in the photo pit was exciting, and I enjoyed the fact that they all moved about the stage, keeping the energy high and the crowd not knowing their next move. Performing through songs “CHAOS” and “Levitatie”, they decided to make a hardcore Hollywood Undead fan’s dream come true as they asked who in the crowd would be able to shred a guitar solo? Finding the right fan, they brought him up on stage and gave him a guitar and asked him to show off what he could do. A quick little solo, and they asked him to join in on the song “Comin’ In Hot”, which he absolutely nailed.
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When Hollywood Undead moved into song “War Child,” everyone in the room started jumping around. Moving their way deeper into their setlist and performing songs such as “Lion”, “Unusual Suspects”, “Hear Me Now”, and “Another Way Out”, the energy in the room remained high, and in great spirits. Speaking with the crowd, Hollywood Undead said that tonight in Toronto is living proof that rock and roll is alive and well, and that Toronto fully understands it. They also mentioned that people kept saying on social media that mosh pits were extinct, but the band was happy that Toronto could prove that wrong. Switching things up, the band performed a cover of Neil Diamond's song “Sweet Caroline” before wrapping things up with “Bullet” and “Undead”. Asking the crowd to give it up for the openers, Hollywood Undead thanked the crowd and hyped them up for Tech N9ne.
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With a quick clean-up of the stage, the lights went out, and Tech N9ne’s song “Planet Rock 2K” played as an introduction to his set. Getting right into the run of things, Tech N9ne performed “Stamina,” “Red Nose,” and “Riotmaker” to properly open his set. Tech N9ne owned the stage, as he moved about with interpretative dance moves and a crown placed on his head, there is no doubt why they call him ‘The King’. What I enjoyed the most out of his set was you could feel his passion for the music in every song he performed. He thanked Toronto for coming out to support him, and that he didn’t need to introduce himself, because the crowd already knew who he was. He did introduce his band members to the audience and welcomed them all to the ‘Tech N9ne experience’.
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Performing more songs like “Einstein”, “Am I a Psycho?”, and “Worldwide Choppers”, Tech N9ne started scouting out the fan who was singing his lyrics word for word and the loudest. Finding that fan in the audience, Tech N9ne brought them on stage, and with an arm wrapped around their shoulders, he performed “Aw Yeah (InterVENTion)” together with them. With a setlist that was a staggering thirty songs long, full of passion, hard hitting beats, and rap lyrics no other artist could master, Tech N9ne closed his set with “Hood Go Crazy”, before leaving with the instrumental to “Psycho Bitch”.
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You can stream Hollywood Undead and Tech N9ne’s latest albums below on Spotify:
