Concert Review: Drake, Miguel, Future @ Air Canada Centre

By: Mehek Seyid (@whatthemehek) –

Perhaps performing to a sold-out audience at the Air Canada Centre is not everyone’s idea of an intimate birthday party, but for Drake, the attendance and venue was the perfect way to celebrate everything Aubrey Graham. Last night he brought his Would You Like A Tour? to his hometown to share the entirety of Nothing Was The Same in a live setting, a choice that proved to make an exciting and fresh set that would have been even more successful if it contained more of his older hits.

Given Drake’s persistent efforts to make his OVO Festival a central hip-hop attraction for Toronto, it makes sense that he would save all of his special guests and performances of his major hits for future incarnations of the event. OVO Festival is his marketable product where he provides a unique experience for its limited attendees. Unfortunately, its existence created the catch for last night’s event. Even though Drake was home to celebrate his birthday, he approached the event using the same formula he has and will use for the remainder of the tour. Outside of a few Toronto-oriented quips, such as Drake’s shout outs to various exits off of the 401 in Ontario, probably the only time the major highway has ever received positive screams, last night will likely be fairly undistinguishable from others.

That is not to undermine the quality of his performance or the opportunity to hear every single track from his new album live. From the moment he first appeared on stage dressed in a simple black jacket and grey tank, masked in the darkness against the brightly coloured LED screens behind him to open the show with “Tuscan Leather”, Toronto welcomed their ambassador with nearly as much enthusiasm and love as he tends to express for the city when he is abroad. He quickly transitioned into “Crew Love” and “Headlines”, two of some very rare glimpses into the older pages of Drake’s catalogue. The reception for these two songs was probably some of the largest of the night, but in the grand scheme of things, it was very hard to say that anything Drake said or performed was not enjoyed.

This was best exemplified when Drake ran through a few of his more recent features, including “Pop That”, “No New Friends”, “Fuckin’ Problems”, “Love Me” and “Tony Montana”, of which the last two included an appearance from opener Future. When Drake busted out his verse on Migos’ “Versace”, a mediocre, purely party-oriented track, the stadium exploded with everyone behaving as if they were drenched in the designer wear, probably breaking a swag meter or two as they pumped their fists. At one point during the show, Drake’s DJ Future the Prince took the reigns to spin a set packed with Drake hits, including “Forever”, “Successful”, and “Take Care”. On one hand, it created a club-like atmosphere which encouraged audience members to dance, serenade their companions and remind them just how tremendously huge Drake has become over the years, but on the other, it made you wish that Drake took the time toperform them instead of changing into a button-up shirt with a sky imprint, similar to his Nothing Was The Same album cover.

His third release boasts a lot of R&B, which was present over the course of the night. On some songs, like “Connect” and “The Motion”, his vocals were consistent, but on others, such as his lead single “Hold On, We’re Going Home”, there appeared to be some strain on the chorus. There were, however, some very special sonic moments. Jhené Aiko appeared on stage in front of a glitter-laden screen, dressed in a flowy gown to support Drake on “Come Thru” and “From Time”, the latter of which she delivered a mesmerizing chorus featuring one of the record’s most poignant lines, “I love me, I love me enough for the both of us”. Drake delivered his verses from the track sitting down, bouncing along to Aiko’s rhythms before sparks literally exploded from the sky. It was nice to see his appreciation of her talent, but it was even better to see him in his prime as he rapped. One of the highlights of the evening is when Drake jumped into “Worst Behaviour”, his next single from Nothing Was The Same, which he has declared as “Toronto’s anthem”. A questionable choice, but the song’s aggressive flow delivered over the course of the track was even harder hitting live.

Toward the end of the evening, a circular bridge lowered to lift Drake high into the air where he performed “305 To My City” in the air, allowing him to engage with audience members at a closer proximity. He then took the opportunity to walk around, ordering the device to be moved up and down so that he could provide shoutouts to attendees from every side and below, an effort made with the good intention of acknowledging his devoted fans and special members of the crowd, including his mother and a teacher, but became a twenty-minute gimmick that he could have used more productively. It was almost a relief when he came back down so that he could rap “All Me” and close the show with “Started From The Bottom”, which he performed against a montage of various moments from Drake’s career, until the lights came back on and one realized that they needed a ticket to OVO Festival to be fully satisfied.

Atlanta, Georgia’s Future performed a thirty-minute set consisting of his major radio-hits. It was the rapper’s first performance in Toronto, and one that met with a half-filled Air Canada Centre. However, he treated those in attendance to performances of “Honest” and “U.O.E.N.O.”, as well as a quick rendition of his chorus on Rihanna’s “Love Song”, a surprising but especially enjoyable moment. It will be interesting to see how he handles a smaller venue in the future, but he may have to work harder to develop his audience in Canada.

Miguel put forth the impression that his own stadium tour could easily occur in the foreseeable future. Backed by an impressive rock band, blasts of white strobe lights and a slew of provocative dance moves, the “Adorn” singer knew exactly how to satisfy the crowd. Whether it was his rendition of his collaboration with Mariah Carey, “You’re Beautiful”, his bridge on J.Cole’s “Power Trip”, or “Pussy Is Mine”, Miguel made audience members swoon with his smooth vocals and his brand of sultry R&B that has been absent in the genre in the last few years. Of course, his closing performance of “Adorn” put everyone in the right mood, just in time for Drake.