Special to TVD Toronto: Adam Micallef
On international weed smoker’s holiday (4.20) a sellout crowd of underground Hip-Hop fans of all ages assembled at Toronto’s Opera House to see The Heavy Metal Kings preform one of their first ever shows. The newly formed rap duo comprised of Vinnie Paz from Jedi Mind Tricks and Ill Bill from Non-Phixion was continuing a tour that began just three days before their first ever album release on April 5, 2011. Both rappers are well known & respected in the underground Hip-Hop world for lacing hard beats with even harder lyrics both as solo artists and with their respective groups.
As soon as the show began the crowd lit up, both with camera phones and greenery. With all the weed smoke filling the air, you would have thought that might have helped to subdue an otherwise rambunctious all ages crowd, but that was not the case. Almost instantly the floor area closest to the stage broke out with several violent mosh pits. Even the Opera House security kept their distance from the chaos, mainly contained in a few small pockets of people who clearly enjoyed moshing. At one point a fan attempted to grab Ill Bill. Bill quickly addressed the crown to let them know the rules: “If you touch me, I’m gonna touch you, hard”. Needless to say, nobody made any attempts to get at Bill or Paz for the rest of the show.
The two artists spent the majority of the show alternating fan favourites from their past solo & group albums. This made for an intense dynamic that maintained the crowds energy level near it’s peak for the entire show. The hit’s just kept rolling as fan’s were fortunate to hear many of their favourites such as Ill Bill’s “Black Helicopters”, & Jedi Mind Tricks “Heavenly Devine”. Vinnie Paz also preformed several tracks from his first ever solo album “Season Of The Assassin” which was released in June of 2010. It was clear to anyone who had witnessed Paz preform live in the past that he had made tremendous strides as an MC & as a live performer. His delivery was much clearer and his breath control was excellent, allowing him to carry his unique sound right through to the end of his verses, a feat that Bill who’s delivery sounded slightly forced was unable to accomplish.
After leaving the stage for a few moments the Heavy Metal Kings returned to the stage. They announced that they would be preforming one more track, but not before lighting up some of Toronto’s finest herbal medicine to celebrate 4.20. As Bill puffed away on a joint, he joked about how Vinnie was not a weed smoker. The crowd began to holler for Paz to take a hit. Eventually Paz gave in to the peer pressure and took a few tokes. The pair then cranked out the original “Heavy Metal Kings” single they had collaborated on for the Jedi Mind Tricks album “Servants In Heaven, Kings In Hell”. The crowd once again erupted with enthusiasm. By the time they left the stage their was no doubt that Vinnie Paz & Ill Bill were indeed “Heavy Metal Kings”.
