Last night, Montreal’s Club Soda was host to a capacity crowd that was more than eager to see Reflection Eternal, the duo made up of Talib Kweli and DJ Hi-Tek.

DJ Manifest kicked off the festivities with a strong warm-up set filled with his signature blend of Golden-Era classics and New School hits.

Narcy (The Narcicyst) was Narcy. A strong set that never felt like it was dragging, very good command of the crowd to go along with his superior lyrical skills. Nuff Said.

I will blame technical difficulties for Toronto’s Sean Boothe’s set… Maybe I couldn’t hear the lyrics right… I dunno… Maybe the vimeo trailers I’d seen had escalated my expectations… Maybe next time?

Now onto the Main Event. DJ Clockwork, “straight outta the Natti”, took over warm-up duties to provide Reflection Eternal with the type of intro a duo of their stature deserves. I’d read and heard about Talib Kweli’s showmanship skills… But what I witnessed last night by far surpassed the expectations!

As it turns out… Talib Kweli is a MONSTER! The performance lasted about 1:45hrs, without a single drop in energy, and included songs from both Reflection Eternal and Talib’s catalogues.

My personal highlights of the night were Talib’s accapella while the tech crew was dealing with some cabling issues, the duo simply vibin’ to Bob Marley’s Jammin, In This World, my song of the moment SO GOOD, Move Something, a song that couldn’t be more a propos right now with the BP fiasco: Ballad of the Black Gold, a moving tribute to Guru of Gangstarr and other fallen soldiers of Rap such as J.Dilla, and The Blast.

15 So Good (Album Version) 1

The crowd, an awesome (and honestly unexpected) 50/50 mix of ladies and gents, was insane, hands in the air singing all night long.

Now, you know you just murdered the show when the Montreal crowd gets into the “Ole Ole Ole Ole’ chant normally reserved for the City’s revered Montreal Canadiens hockey team, just to get an encore.

All smiles, the duo came back for a 4-song encore that included an extended “thank you very much and God Bless you” crowd-love fest, morphing into Never Been In Love, culminating with the Kanye West-produced Get By. As if all this wasn’t enough, Talib then decides to call all the ladies on stage, just to get himself behind the tech 12′s for an insane 30-minute DJ.

This article wouldn’t be true to WRG? if I didn’t take a few seconds away from writing like a groupie (lol) to mention Talib Kweli’s absolutely gorgeous HAITI print tshirt, a modest and respectful nod to the City’s dense Haitian population. Nice to see not everyone has forgotten that Country’s pain. So real.

Yep… Last night, I caught it like a cough… Cuz the Flow’s so Ill but now I feel So Good. Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek, my friends, is What’s Really Good.