MF Disconcert–Doom dispappoints
A dreamy cloud of THC lingered over the thousand-plus audience which swayed side-to-side, waiting for a figure to appear on the stage. Baseball hats and hoodies concealed faces, and the pockets of heavy winter coats held restless hands.
Every so often a familiar riff would play, sending fans running to the bar for their last beer before the show began or lighting a second joint to get them in the right state before the rappers’ words streamed into their ears, seducing the THC which clouded their minds.
This carried on for two hours until the first bottle was thrown. Quickly, it was chucked on stage followed by a second hurling, this time a beer can. Heads turned in every direction, not so much looking for the hurler, but the spot where at any moment a riot could begin sending hundreds of people stampeding over each other in a mad shuffle to get out of the danger that was looming. “In the words of Tommy Davidson from Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls—I believe the plane is moving, but there’s no pilot flying it,” humorously stated buzzed Trey Parker.
Considering his previous short-comings, MF Doom fans were surprisingly faithful in their favorite underground rapper illuminating the stage to spew his infamous lyrics.
The masked rapper was originally set to play a January 27th concert at Toronto’s Kool Haus with Mos Def, one of the most well-known rappers of all time. In a press release by Ticketmaster sent to ticket holders just hours before the concert, Mos Def will not be appearing due to “scheduling conflicts”, followed by a second press release stating the concert was postponed to a later February date.
It was the Grammy Awards weekend, and just over a day after the initial concert, Mos Def was on a California stage presenting a music award to a favorite performer for the last cyclical year leaving questions of the real reason why the concert was inexplicably canceled.
On the day of the second-go for the concert, Ticketmaster sent a mass e-mail to ticket holders stating that Mos Def had exited the line-up but Doom will still be appearing at Kool Haus.
The showtime was scheduled for 9pm. With no opening act, promoters did the best they could, pulling a sick joke out of their hat in the form of D’Sisive—a Canadian rap duo who spewed out 30 minutes of far-less-than mediocre rhymes. Two hours after they left the stage, and multiple empty promises of Doom arriving within the quarter-hour, the crowd became anxious. Strung out fans began collecting their coats and walking out, a few fights erupted, and others stood for as long as their weed would allow, lighting up another one until they had no choice but to leave.
After reports of being at the airport, in his hotel room and backstage throughout the nearly four hours that it took for him to get to Kool Haus, Doom eventually made it on stage and threw together 45 minutes of disappointment—projecting blame on multiple “technical difficulties”. Those who did stick around for the show were uncertain whether the Doom they saw was the actual Doom they enjoy, or one of his imposters who he often sends to perform shows for him, wearing his signature metal mask.
“I bought a ticket and went to the show only to be disrespected by DOOM for not showing up in time. Although he did make it on stage, I had already left since the group that I was with became fed up of waiting for the guy and slightly unnerved at the growing hostility of the crowd,” said Byron Koss, who is currently battling to get a refund for the show which he attended but did not see.
Katherine McFarlane of REMG Entertainment which has merged with another promoter The Union as of last week, said, “Unfortunately I am not able to issue any refunds for any tickets that were scanned at the venue on the night of the show.”
And so goes the story for everyone that attempts to get a refund for a contract which was broken between Doom and his promoters, promoters and ticket agents, agents and fans—ultimately, Doom and his disconcerted fans.
Rishma Lucknauth 