On his 27th birthday, it became readily apparent that Drake wasn’t going to be sharing the spotlight. Where his annual OVO Fest at the Molson Amphitheatre has come to be a Pavlovian exercise in anticipating who else might make an appearance, Thursday night at the Air Canada Centre was unmistakably Drake’s show.
The end result was probably his most inspired and personal show among the many he’s served up in his home city. Those who were let down by the absence of rumoured guests like Jay-Z and Wiz Khalifa can be forgiven for their disappointment: four years of OVO had conditioned them to expect the unexpected. But they missed the central appeal of Thursday’s heartfelt effort.
For most of the 13,700 in attendance, this was a chance to celebrate Drake’s birthday in the one place he wanted to be celebrating. That truth couldn’t have been more plainly evident than when he opened the proceedings by stating, “My name is Aubrey Drake Graham. I was born on Oct. 24, 1986, and I was born and raised in the greatest city in the world — Toronto, Canada!” If that wasn’t a sufficiently personal address to his hometown, he also included references to Brampton, Mississauga and even Yorkdale mall.
After arriving about 20 minutes late due to technical issues (the only indication of the problems that have plagued the early dates of his bumpy Would You Like A Tour? tour), Drake emerged to an explosive ovation on a catwalk atop a white ring-shaped stage that was framed by a giant, circular video screen.
Doing his best to sustain the energy from his introduction, Drake quickly jumped into “Headlines” before settling into some tracks off the newly released Nothing Was the Same, including “Furthest Thing” and “Wu-Tang Forever.”
The 29-song set list hit a few lulls along the way, only to jump back to life with appearances by the emerging Jhené Aiko and Atlanta rapper Future, whose three songs with Drake seemed to be a direct counterpoint to earlier reports of on-tour friction between the two.
The hometown star was left to bring things to an end on his own, jumping into a hit-laden show-closer that featured “Hold On, We’re Going Home,” “Worst Behavior,” “305 to My City,” “All Me” and “Started From The Bottom” before wrapping things up with a rather redundant blast of fireworks that seemed more hokey than spectacular.
Before Drizzy hit the stage, Miguel opened things on a high note by dazzling the crowd and getting them worked up in preparation for the main attraction (a feat that earlier, listless sets by Future and Mississauga-based newcomer PartyNextDoor could not achieve). Noting that he had celebrated his own a birthday just a day earlier, the R&B star showcased an array of skills (singing, dancing, guitar work and a couple of splits) and even led the crowd in a rendition of “Happy Birthday” during an action-packed 45-minute set.
But this night belonged to Drake, who showed that he knows how to entertain all by himself.
