Mavado Sells Out Toronto's Scotiabank Arena in First Canadian Show in Nine Years

Jamaican dancehall star Mavado performed at Toronto's Scotiabank Arena on the evening of November 5 for 'The Return of the Gully Gad', drawing a sold-out crowd of more than 19,000. It was his first Canadian performance since 2017 and his first time ever playing the venue.

Sold out in a month, without a major company behind it

According to promoter Skip2Fame, the show sold out in just one month — and it did so without a major entertainment company behind it. Skip2Fame, which maintains close ties with Toronto superstar Drake, celebrated the sellout on Instagram afterwards and credited the city's support for making the night happen.

More than an hour of hits, with a strong undercard

Backed by a live band, Mavado held the stage for more than an hour, running through the songs that built his name — 'Gangster', 'Touch Di Road', 'Hope and Pray' and 'I'm on the Rock' — before slowing things down for the women in the room with 'When You Feel Lonely' and 'Come Into My Room'. Rising dancehall name Armanii opened the night, and Masicka arrived as a draw in his own right, mixing older favourites and current hits including 'Whites', 'Tyrant', 'They Don't Know', 'Leader', 'Mute' and '20 Matic', and performing 'Moments', the track originally featuring Stefflon Don.

Dancehall demand in Toronto runs deep

Mavado is not the first dancehall act to prove the point at this address — Vybz Kartel sold out Scotiabank Arena for three consecutive shows last year. As DancehallMag put it, filling a 19,000-seat arena in a month without corporate muscle shows how deep the appetite for dancehall runs in the Canadian market. With Mavado already on a busy run this year, the obvious question now is how long fans will have to wait before the Gully Gad comes back.

(Source: DancehallMag.)