Known for his production and background vocals on hit songs for artists such as Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado, and Keri Hilson, Timbaland visited Toronto for his Shock Value II tour promoting the album of the same name.
The show started with an opening by Keys ‘n’ Krates, a Toronto based remixing group that performed a really cool set. They used DJ turntables, keyboards, soundboards and many real instruments to create remixes of some popular songs, sampling the beats or vocals of the song. It was an appropriate opening and was very appealing to see. The group would make an amazing guest feature at a nightclub.
Between Keys ‘n’ Krates and Timbaland, a DJ played Timbaland produced songs at the venue. It was another great way to get people hyped for Timbaland. About 40 minutes later, Timbaland took the stage. The stage wasn’t much, however it did have cool lighting and video screens in the background. Timbaland performed tracks mostly from Shock Value II however, he did a bunch from the first Shock Value as well. Because most of Timbaland’s songs are more just his productions with a featured guests, he had the featured guests create live videos that were broadcasted on the screens while he mixed and added his vocals. This was done during songs If We Ever Meet Again in which Katy Perry is in the chorus, Carry Out with Justin Timberlake, Say Something with Drake, and many more including Chad Kroeger from Nickleback, The Fray, SoShy, and of course, Keri Hilson. During the featured performances, Timbaland added some more of his vocals, and although using the screens for the featured guests may sound a bit cheesy, it was an effective way of “bringing his guests on tour” rather than just having the audio track play. I enjoyed it.
His voice was just as good live as it is on his songs, and he’s one of the few producers/singers that hasn’t resorted to the popular use of auto-tune on his songs. Timbaland himself seemed to be very friendly and during his performance of “Ease Off The Liquor” he did some major fan interaction, speaking to audience members (mostly those in the first few rows), complementing girls on their beauty and offering to buy them drinks, which eventually eased into him telling the venue that drinks were on him. Whether this was just something he said as part of his show, or he really meant, I’ll never know. In between his songs, he took some very long breaks going backstage and coming back almost 10-15 minutes later at times. During this time, a DJ would spin some classic Timbaland produced tracks. This eventually got annoying as he left quite a few times. About 3/4 of the way through the show, Timabaland did a little break down and free-styled over some of his newer produced tracks like SexyBack, Promiscuous, etc. and would add more raps and verses over it. This was probably the best part of the show, as we got to hear more of Timbaland’s voice and raps rather than his beats.
Another thing the Shock Value II tour was known for was Timbaland’s announcement of bringing special guests to each one of his shows, a different one at each venue. I was a bit excited thinking he might bring out Drake or Nelly Furtado, both being Canadian artists, but instead he brought his brother Sebastian onto the Toronto stage. Sebastian was featured in The Way I Are as well as a few other songs on both Shock Value albums. I was disappointed in this, not only because I was hoping for Drake or Nelly, but also because his performance was less than average. It just seemed to be a drag.
Overall, the show was just average and easily forgettable. For someone at his caliber, I expected a little more from the show. The breaks between songs were not only annoying, but unnecessary; its not as if there was a costume change or heavy choreography that he needed to take a little break. The TV screens to broadcast the featured guests during the songs was a really neat touch the show, and was probably one of the most interesting about his show. That doesn’t say much about Timbaland.
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