French Montana at Palace Theatre | May 24, 2026
Albany opens the Wave Gods: Narcos Tour — and by “opens,” I mean exactly that: the Palace Theatre on Sunday, May 24 is stop one of twenty-two, the first night of a run that will carry French Montana and Max B through Boston, Buffalo, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and most points in between before the final date closes July 3. That the Capital Region gets the curtain-raiser is notable, though the more significant detail isn’t the tour geography — it’s that Max B is on that stage at all.
French Montana and Max B: A Reunion Worth Marking
Max B (Charly Wingate, Harlem) spent sixteen years in prison following his 2007 arrest and 2009 conviction on charges including manslaughter, armed robbery, kidnapping, and felony murder — a New Jersey state case that removed one of hip-hop’s more distinctive voices from the culture at the very moment it was gaining traction. He was released November 9, 2025. The Wave Gods: Narcos Tour represents his first major run of concert dates in over a decade. Albany will be in the room when that return officially begins.
French Montana, born Karim Kharbouch in Casablanca and raised in the South Bronx from age 13, has spent more than two decades building a catalog that spans the mixtape circuit, major label runs with Bad Boy Records and Maybach Music Group, and global chart crossover with tracks like “Unforgettable.” His partnership with Max B predates all of that — the Coke Wave series began in February 2009, when neither artist had crossed over and the sound they were developing hadn’t yet been named. The two reunited the moment Max B walked free; they were in a recording studio that same evening. The result, Coke Wave 3.5: Narcos, arrived in January 2026 — a 22-track mixtape recorded in approximately eight days with Metro Boomin, Harry Fraud, and an array of producers that suggests neither artist treated this as a nostalgic cash-in.
About the Venue
The Palace Theatre is the right room for this. The 2,807-seat theater on Clinton Avenue — opened in October 1931, its orchestra and balcony built for the kind of show that fills every tier — handles hip-hop bookings with the same seriousness it brings to everything else on its calendar. It is one of the Capital Region’s defining Albany concert venues, and a billing of this weight belongs there rather than anywhere smaller.
Tickets & Show Details
French Montana and Max B perform Sunday, May 24, 2026 at 8:00 PM at the Palace Theatre, 19 Clinton Avenue, Albany, NY 12207. Tickets are on sale now. No price range was available at press time.