Concerts Reviews
LIVE REVIEW: A$AP Rocky Brought Arena-Sized Mayhem to Vancouver on Canada Day
Canada Day usually belongs to fireworks. This year, A$AP Rocky brought enough flames, sirens, helicopters, and controlled chaos to make his own case for stealing the holiday.
Stopping at Rogers Arena on July 1 for the Vancouver date of his Don’t Be Dumb Tour, the Harlem rapper delivered one of the year’s biggest arena spectacles. The music was only part of it. A$AP Rocky has never approached live performance like a standard rap show, and this production pushed even further into theatrical territory, blurring the line between concert, action movie, and dystopian art installation.
The evening didn’t begin without some frustration. Like many stops on the tour, there was no opening act, no warm-up DJ, and a long wait after doors opened before Rocky finally appeared. By the time the lights dropped, anticipation inside Rogers Arena had turned into impatience. Fortunately for A$AP, his audience (many of them clearly too young to remember the early A$AP Mob days firsthand) never seemed ready to give up on him.
When he finally arrived, he made sure nobody forgot it. Instead of walking onto the stage, A$AP Rocky emerged from the arena floor surrounded by dancers dressed as militarized officers while a helicopter hovered overhead with searchlights sweeping across the crowd. Within seconds, the floor dissolved into a massive mosh pit as he launched into “Trunks.” It was loud, disorienting, and exactly the sort of entrance the Don’t Be Dumb aesthetic has been building toward.
The surveillance-state imagery remained throughout the night. Upside-down flags, “Big Brother Is Always Watching” banners, flashing emergency lights, riot shields, and a microphone built into a megaphone reinforced the show’s themes of authority and resistance. Whether every fan followed the underlying message hardly mattered. The visuals worked because they never stopped moving. Every few minutes there seemed to be another surprise waiting around the corner.
A$AP Rocky soon reappeared hanging from a second helicopter suspended above the audience while another inflatable helicopter drifted around the arena. Pyrotechnics exploded across the stage. Lasers filled every corner of Rogers Arena. Nearly every song arrived with a new visual twist, making the production feel far bigger than the average arena rap show.
If anything, the scale occasionally threatened to overwhelm the music itself. Much of the first half leaned on material from this year’s Don’t Be Dumb. Songs like “Helicopter,” “Order of Protection,” “Punk Rocky,” and “STFU” fit naturally within the show’s militarized concept, even if some haven’t yet earned the instant crowd reaction of A$AP‘s older catalog. His delivery often rode alongside backing vocals rather than standing completely on its own, but that hardly slowed the momentum. This wasn’t a night built around technical precision. It was built around atmosphere. He even apologized for his raspy vocals, joking that he was “trying to keep it sexy for the ladies.”
The crowd responded just as much to the energy as to the songs themselves. White T-shirts spun through the air during repeated calls to “wave your shirt like a helicopter,” mosh pits opened almost on command, and fans matched A$AP Rocky‘s enthusiasm from the floor all the way into the upper bowl. For an artist who has spent much of the last several years making headlines through fashion, film, and family life alongside Rihanna, there was never much doubt that his fanbase had stayed loyal.
The strongest stretch of the night came once Rocky reached deeper into his catalogue. “Peso,” “Purple Swag,” “Goldie,” “Fashion Killa,” and “Everyday” reminded everyone why his influence stretches far beyond chart positions. These songs have aged remarkably well, finding a second life with younger audiences through streaming and social media without losing the dreamy, stylish swagger that made them stand out more than a decade ago.
A$AP Rocky balanced those quieter moments with plenty of personality. He joked with fans, encouraged the crowd to look after one another in the mosh pits, and closed the night with his trademark mix of humour and common sense, telling everyone not to drink and drive, and, naturally, “don’t be dumb.” It was a fitting ending.
The Don’t Be Dumb Tour occasionally feels like it’s trying to outdo itself. The helicopters, sirens, dancers, and constant visual overload can sometimes compete with the songs rather than support them. Yet A$AP Rocky somehow keeps everything from falling apart through sheer charisma. Even hidden beneath masks, oversized jackets, or hanging from a helicopter above the audience, his presence remains unmistakable.
On a day built around national celebration, Rogers Arena became home to a different kind of spectacle. Canada Day had fireworks outside. Inside, A$AP Rocky supplied enough of his own. The result wasn’t a perfect concert. It was something far more memorable: almost two hours of stylish chaos from one of hip-hop’s most distinctive performers, reminding Vancouver that very few artists can build a world around a live show the way he can.
Check out our favourite photos of the night below or head to our Facebook page for the full gallery!
Upcoming Tour Dates:
Fri Jul 03 – Edmonton, AB – Rogers Place
Sat Jul 04 – Calgary, AB – Scotiabank Saddledome
Wed Jul 08 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena
Sat Jul 11 – Newark, NJ – Prudential Center
More information here.
A$AP ROCKY in VANCOUVER
All Photo Credit: Caroline Charruyer
Concerts Reviews
LIVE REVIEW: aespa Close North American Tour With a Futuristic Spectacle in Vancouver
My K-pop education continued on October 11 as aespa brought their SYNK : COMPLæXITY Tour to Rogers Arena in Vancouver. After seeing TWICE in January and IVE in August, this was my third concert foray into K-pop. I was excited to see how aespa would compare, and the answer was a little different from my first two experiences. Where TWICE brought the fun and IVE delivered its own polished pop spectacle, aespa leaned into futuristic visuals, heavy electronic production and choreography that rarely let up.
With no opening act, the stage belonged entirely to Karina, Winter, Giselle and Ningning. Vancouver marked the final stop of the North American leg before the group heads to Europe in January, making this the last chance for fans on this side of the Atlantic to see the production for a while.
There had been some concern about Giselle’s participation after she left the stage five songs into the group’s October 9 show at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. Thankfully, she was back in Vancouver. Both she and Winter mentioned having a cold, but you wouldn’t have known it from their performances. Neither appeared to let it get in the way, and both delivered strong performances throughout the night.
The show opened with “LEMONADE,” immediately filling Rogers Arena with heavy bass, electronic beats and futuristic visuals. The production was massive, but the sound mix occasionally worked against the group. At points, the bass threatened to overpower the vocals, which was frustrating when four singers this capable were onstage.
“Switchblade” and “Whiplash” kept the momentum going before aespa reached back to its 2020 debut single, “Black Mamba.” The choreography remained sharp, and the group’s ability to move between demanding routines and vocal passages without losing its composure was impressive. “WDA (Whole Different Animal)” brought a harder hip-hop edge, with Giselle’s rap standing out against the heavy production.
The concert was divided into five acts, with cinematic video segments building on the group’s fictional universe. The story occasionally felt like a lot to keep up with, particularly for someone who hasn’t followed every chapter of aespa‘s mythology. Still, the visuals gave the show a clear identity. The production had a narrative thread running through it.
The second act offered a welcome change of pace. Karina introduced “Count on Me” on a piano, leading into a softer arrangement that let the members’ voices take centre stage. “Camouflage” and “Angel #48” continued the dreamier stretch. These moments were a reminder that aespa doesn’t need a wall of bass and flashing screens to hold an audience’s attention.
The solo and duet stages were among my favourite parts of the night. Giselle and Ningning brought a relaxed feel to “Lollipop,” while Karina and Winter took a more energetic approach with “Serenade.” Each pairing had its own character, making the performances feel distinct rather than like variations on the same routine.
The four solo performances gave the members even more room to show what they could do. Ningning’s “I Love You But I Gotta Let You Go” built from restrained verses into soaring high notes, while Karina’s “16 Bit” relied on a more understated, moody delivery. Giselle showed a softer side on “BYEB4HELLO,” moving beyond her usual rap role, and Winter’s “Saddle Up” put her choreography and stage confidence front and centre.
These performances made a strong case for the individual personalities within aespa. The group’s sleek, coordinated image is part of its appeal, but seeing the members step outside that format made the concert more interesting.
The heavier material returned with “Armageddon” and “Bite,” followed by a run of choreography-driven performances including “Next Level,” “SHAKIN’” and “Supernova.” The dancers added scale to the show, and the synchronized routines looked particularly effective against the digital scenery. By this point, the production had made its point: aespa knows how to turn its music into a full arena experience.
The pre-encore dance challenge was a fun change of pace, with cameras scanning the crowd and giving fans a chance to show off their moves on the big screens. The segment ended with an (shy) audience singalong to “Roll” before aespa returned for “Yeppi Yeppi” and “’Til We Die.”
As someone still getting to know K-pop, I appreciated the range. The spectacle was impressive, but the quieter songs and individual stages stopped the night from becoming one long sensory overload. The sound mix could have been better, and some of the storyline went over my head, but those were minor complaints in a show packed with strong performances.
TWICE got me curious about K-pop, and IVE gave me another reason to keep exploring it. aespa made a convincing case for sticking around. Their Vancouver show was loud, visually striking and full of personality, with four performers who could hold Rogers Arena’s attention even when the production threatened to steal it. That’s a solid way to close out a North American tour.
Upcoming Aespa – SYNK : COMPLæXITY’ World Tour Dates:
01/14 – Manchester, United Kingdom @ AO Arena
01/16 – London, United Kingdom @ The O2
01/19 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Ziggo Dome
01/22 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Avicii Arena
01/24 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Royal Arena
01/26 – Berlin, Germany @ Uber Arena
01/29 – Milan, Italy @ Unipol Dome
01/31 – Barcelona, Spain @ Palau Sant Jordi
02/02 – Paris, France @ Accor Arena
More information here.
Concerts Reviews
LØLØ Brings her ‘God Forbid a Girl Goes on Tour’ to the Pearl in Vancouver
LØLØ brought her second headlining tour – aptly named “God Forbid a Girl Goes on Tour” – to Vancouver this week, a first for the Canada-born artist. We’ve been a fan since we first heard “Death Wish” back in 2021, which seems like it was yesterday, and we aren’t going to overthink that right now. That being said, we’ve been waiting a long time for this night, and what a show!
We’ve been frequenting The Pearl more and more lately, and like so many others this show was sold out and packed wall-to-wall. There was a small mob for the first opener of the night, Dawson Gamble, and the floor was packed by the time Con the Artist took the stage. When LØLØ appeared, it was all plaid miniskirts and devil horns from the stage to the merch booth.
When the lights went down, LØLØ’s voice boomed over the speakers, narrating excerpts from a journal. LØLØ is not a choreographed, over-polished pop princess. Like so many artists that grew their audience from nothing, she does her best to connect with individuals in the audience. She takes her time, holds their hands, and during one memorable song, brings them on stage to dance.
“I think that people don’t want perfection,” she told Rolling Stone earlier this year. “They just want to see a live show and a special moment.”
LØLØ was very upfront about her adventures online, finding her voice, and time spent during COVID, and from the vibe you have to assume the audience had been there with her the entire time. From “The Floor is Lava” to “Faceplant,” all the hits were covered and sung along to. Speaking of which…
Must Hear Songs by LØLØ (In Our Humble Opinion):
• “death wish” (Single, 2021)
• “Hot Girls in Hell” (falling for robots, 2023)
• “u turn me on (but you give me depression)” (falling for robots, 2023)
• “Let It Go” (A Whole New Sound (Disney), 2024)
Fun fact: LØLØ was featured on a 2024 Disney punk album alongside Simple Plan, Magnolia Park, and Yellow Card, to name a few iconic bands. Check out her version of “Let It Go” from “Frozen.” It’s unexpected and a lot of fun.
LØLØ ‘s first moment of viral fame was her cover of “Hey There Delilah,” updated and sung from Delilah’s perspective. Pulling Con the Artist back on stage for a duet gave the crowd a wonderful, heartfelt moment that was honestly quite touching. Not everyone’s favorite song, but a lovely moment for everyone in the audience.
LØLØ, with several incredible songs in her library and with a stack of “Warped Tour” appearances already in the books, seems poised to breakthrough to the next level. She’s electric on stage, and animated, and we can only dream of the day she is given more space to play. Until then, another highlight concert of 2026, and something to think about until her next visit!
LØLØ Setlist:
• the devil wears converse
• pretty little wreck
• god forbid a girl spits out her feelings!
• THE FLOOR IS LAVA!
• debbie downer
• me with no shirt on
• the punisher
• 2 of us
• u turn me on (but u give me depression)
• faceplant
• Hey There Delilah
• death wish
• delusional darling
• junkie
• DON’T!
• dumbest girl in the world
• wish i was a robot
• hot girls in hell
Check out our favourite photos of the night below or head to our Facebook page for the full gallery. Thanks for attending the show with us and for checking out our review!
LØLØ
All Photo Credit: Jason Martin