Don't know if I have ever felt so much high energy in one place before. It was small, and overcrowded, and T.I. wasn't the only thing getting me hot and steamy.
Waiting for T.I. to come on, was a wall to wall, ceiling to floor, packed Liquor Store. Did I say a full house? I mean it was a loud, high energy HOT house! So much that T.I. could not even come out and make his way to the stage safely.
The host of the night, Dee kept asking people to move over, to make a path so they could get on with the show. 45 minutes later and, it still wasn't safe enough. People tried to make room, it was just hyped for him to come out.
There were a handful of local hip hop talent opening for T.I., including Maurice Moore, the new rising R&B star from Ottawa. Moore is only 19 years old but worked the stage like a pro, and the audience was like wax in his hands. It is clear the young crooner has a successful future ahead of him.
Then after a long wait, around midnight, the words everyone was waiting for came, "He's coming out, make room," and the place exploded!! The minute he hit the stage and started the show, the energy went up so high, I didn't know if the roof could hold up. This guy knows how to pack a place, and make it MOVE !!
He sang all of his hits, "What you know", "No mediocre", "about the money" "Ready for Whatever" and the crowd was right along word for word, note for note. Move for Move.
Now I'm gonna be honest with you, I am not someone that listens to Rap, hip hop, R&B music most of the time. You might find 1 or two on my playlist, "To live your life" is one of them. I have an appreciation for great music and great artists. I was watching a true artists in that moment. The energy, he gives to his fans is outstanding, the crowd needs little instruction on how to come to the show.. move it and let loose. It was something that this Country/Metal Girl has not been privilege to be apart of to many times. I am unsure how anyone was able to move at all, but found away, even if jumping up and down yelling the words on point.
Liquor Store staff tried to the best of their ability to keep things in control, and for the size, hats off to the staff !
With standing room even questionable, I needed to get some air. The hotness on stage, was adding to the heat in the room. This however was my mistake. As I attempted to go back in, the crowd of people having an amazing time, wasn't going to let me back into the large room where the place was alive. Everyone lets you move back.. NOBODY lets you move up, its just the way it goes. So I continued to love the music from the lobby where I could still hear all the soul catching music, and have a little more room to get into the atmosphere.
T.I. has one hell of a resume too. T.I. has won American Music Awards twice. ASCAP pop awards eight times !!! Billboard hip hop/R&B eleven times, Oh and has three Grammy Awards! His list keeps going, and he proved he earned them
He is a true artist of music. He is an actor in movies like American Gangster (2007) and Entourage (2015) and just released Sleepless. A song writer, TV, He just does it all.
I have to say, it was a great night. If you ever get to see him live, don't think twice, do it.
If you get the chance to catch T.I. take it! To find out if he's coming to a venue near you visit www.tipaperwork.com.
More photos
