Rema Brought The HEIS Rave to the 6ix

Once I heard Rema was going touch down in Toronto for the HEIS Tour, I knew I had to be there. May 11th couldn’t come fast enough and clearly the other fans agreed. Last Sunday, Scotiabank Arena was filled with baddies clad in leather and burgundy. This must be why the streets have been calling this tour the “African Fine Sh*t convention”. 

Rema has had a banner year taking the world by storm with his dynamic yet original take on Afrobeats in new album, HEIS. The tour of the same name has also made a lot of headlines with recent one being his Madison Square Garden show where he brought out three statues to represent the Big 3 of Afrobeats: Davido, Burna Boy and Wizkid. The latter recently cancelled a large section of his North American tour. This came as no surprise to some as this isn’t the first time Wiz has cancelled. Needless to say, fans were happy Rema made good on his tour schedule. 

Vibes were high as DJs Dynamite and Jumbee (Rema’s official DJ) played a mix of old and new Nigerian classics. Openers Uzuazo and Azanti also did their best to jazz up the crowd with the modest time they were allotted. After screaming “Rema, we want to party!” For the umpteenth time, it was finally time for Rema to seize the stage and seize it, he did! He emerged with a triumphant scream, from the bottom of the stage, smoke all around him and wielding a silver sword. “MARCH AM” made for a rousing opener, erupting the crowd. After thanking us profusely for coming out to see him, he said, “This is not a Rema concert, it’s a fucking Rema party!”

One thing about Rema: he wholeheartedly loves women. It’s not only clear in songs like “Favourite Girl” which the crowd loved of course, it’s also clear in the arrangement of this show. From the graceful dancers that punctuated his performance to the cheeky “Kiss Cam” break to the way he hyped up the women in the crowd the whole time, he was relentless. “Fine girls, I am here to give you what you want,” he said before launching into an exciting performance of  “Soweto”.

There were many interludes during the show, for song changes, costume changes and even surprise guests. Popular Toronto artists, Chxrry and Sadboi came on to give us short performances of their latest hits. To be honest, the set change felt a bit sudden especially because it came right after an energetic performance of “Calm Down” but the crowd didn’t leave our guests hanging and sang along.