The 'Dude' moniker oozes certain character traits; the man who goes by Dude tends to be a funny, laid-back, good-natured, likeable, marijuana smoker. On Saturday night, Devin the Dude lived up to his title.

On the recommendation of a friend, Torontoist was on hand to witness the Houston emcee sing, rap, joke and smoke at the Reverb on Saturday night. And maybe it was the weather, or the recent TTC fare hikes, but we thought the performance to be completely flawless. It feels slightly perverse to type that, but the concert was just about perfect. Absolutely everything worked - from the slowed down rap beats to the venue to DJ Rapid Ric to the friendly giant WWF-looking bouncer. At the least, it was the best we've seen this year.

Behind an omnipresent cloud of weed smoke, the Dude showed himself to be a marijuana enthusiast and old-school romantic (like grade 6). These romantic leanings even earned him some female admiration, as a young woman jumped on stage to provide a little late-set bump and grind (pictured). The RnB jokiness continued til the closer, a prelude to Valentine's Day called "Too Cute" (which will now find its way onto our V-Day music mix).

Part of the reason we were so enamoured with the slinky Dave Chapelle look-alike was the crowd engagement factor. In his own understated way, Dude demanded attention. Granted he comes to Toronto in the midst of a Houston/screw music mini-craze - where cohorts like Paul Wall and Mike Jones can be heard constantly in Big Slice pizza - but a good chunk of credit is due here. In other words: For a music that is the rap equivalent of dub, the crowd was extraordinarily lively.

Download his last album, To Tha X-Treme, off of this blog.