Toronto February 18th Danforth Music Hall
A beloved artist, a Palestinian woman, and a pro-Palestinian activist. Nemahsis, an independent artist, hit the stage in Toronto at the Danforth Music Hall and left the crowd speechless.
A crowd, jumping and dancing around filming with Palestine’s Flags and Kufiyyehs in the air. A true space for peace, freedom, and love.
Her opening acts, underground artists Seago and Harper
GarageBand sang their hearts away with their original music, talked to the crowd lots and got everyone pumped up before Nemahsis took the stage. They are yet to get their names out there,
but they truly are blossoming in the industry!
Moving towards Nemahsis, she started off singing her famous songs “i wanna be your right hand”, “furniture killer”, and “you wore it better”. With the crowd dancing and singing along to her captivating and lively performance, she made just the right amount of time to sit and chat with them. She even brought up four lucky members of the crowd to the stage and gave them free merch, specifically one fan who drove six hours just to see her!
She stunned the crowd with an emotional story tied to the reasons behind her songs “immigrant’s tale” — dedicated to her mother and all immigrant mothers around the world (but leaning specifically toward Palestinian immigrant mothers). The second song “what if i took it off for you” is a tribute to all the Hijabi-wearing women all around the world who battle mistreatment and worries in their everyday lives simply for wearing their hijabs. Lastly, “chemical mark” had a longer message that she regularly talks about in interviews. The message falls under the weight of intergenerational trauma, specific to how trauma has effects on the body and is transferred seven generations down before it fades away. She took a moment to discuss the trauma that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip endured whilst fighting the genocide of October 7th 2023 to the present day.
With a crowd full of Palestinian descent everyone went wild throwing their Kuffiyehs (Palestinian scarf) in the air and chanting “Free Palestine!”. A truly touching moment for a Palestinian such as myself.
To end the concert, she sang her most well-known song “stick of gum”. This had the crowd jumping and dancing, practically flying with their phone flashlights waving in the air! Once the song ended the stage went black and Nemahsis and her band ran off the stage, the crowd screamed for an encore moments later she was back on stage with a big Palestine Flag that said “Free Palestine” on it.