Concert Review: Wiz Khalifa works his magic in hometown hero's welcome

written by Scott Mervis
Wiz Khalifa, fresh from his smoked-out Waken Baken Tour, played a homecoming show at Stage AE marking the first time in the 30-plus-year history of hip-hop that we've witnessed a bona fide Pittsburgh-based rap star in action.

Thursday morning, his breakout hit "Black and Yellow," a celebration of Pittsburgh and his Pittsburgh-hyped car, bumped to No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. Thursday night he got the sold-out hero's welcome from a crowd that had been waiting months to see him.

First they got two other treats. DJ Bonics of KISS-FM, back from his health scare, did a half-hour set on the turntables and laptop that had the walls shaking with bass-thumping mixes of Kanye, Drake, Waka Flocka Flame, DJ Khaled, etc. The floor was packed too tight for dancing.

Next up was Mac Miller, another Rostrum Records/Allderdice High product, now a national touring act in his own right. When he said, "Can you make some noise if you downloaded the mixtape 'K.I.D.S'," it was pretty clear just about everyone had taken up that free offer.

He worked through some voice troubles to deliver charged versions of bouncy songs like "Nikes on My Feet," "Knock Knock" and "Don't Mind If I Do," which involves doing something Beastie to an Owl City sample. When the beats stopped briefly, the kid also showed he can freestyle.

The lanky, 6-foot-5 Khalifa hit the stage with his Taylor Gang chanting "4-1-2!" and saying, "Light that [expletive] weed up" before launching into "B.A.R. (Burn After Rolling)." Suddenly the room got highly aromatic and it was on.

Coming off this tour, Khalifa, wearing a Taylor hoodie with a Pirates logo, has picked up even more swagger. He's so loose on stage he's almost like a cartoon come to life. And the stoner laugh, of course, is funny and infectious.

His work on stage is fairly effortless, between the Taylors and the crowd both shouting along with him. They helped out on party favorites like "Cabin Fever," "Waken Baken," the hard-driving "Never Been" and the reggae-laced "Still Blazin." You could feel the bass deep down in your chest and rattling your head around, and that was before they even got into the dub stuff.

If you're looking for substance in your hip-hop, or aggression in your hip-hop, this isn't exactly the place. Khalifa's songs are about weed, girls, cars and staying "Up" and positive (if that's any consolation to the parents who dropped their high-school kids off there Thursday night).

By the time he got to "Ink My Whole Body," Khalifa was down to just jeans and the Terrible Towel in his back pocket, which he whipped out for the pep-rally delirium of "Black and Yellow."

Rather than towels the crowd was hoisting cell phones to capture the moment.



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