Drake at The O2 by Dave Kelly

Drake at The O2, Tuesday 18th March 2014.

As The O2 fills up slowly, The Weeknd takes to the stage. The Canadian R&B singer has good stage presence  and gets the crowd going with some between-the-songs chatter (although there could definitely be a little bit more interaction). However the thing that comes out most in his performance is his incredible voice. There is a bit of a Michael Jackson sound to it, while his dancing on stage is equally bit Jackson-esque at times. Better known songs like High For This, House Of Balloons/ Glass Table Girls and Wicked Games manage to draw a good reaction from the crowd. Overall it’s a very good warm-up performance that starts the night on a high.

When Drake takes to the stage the atmosphere in the arena is ridiculous. The Canadian rapper is incredibly charismatic. He works the stage with ease, and his antics on stage makes it seem like he is loving every second of the show just as much as the fans. He may have said that at times performing can feel like a job, but tonight he makes it seem like “the greatest job in the world”.

The Weeknd joins Drake on stage for a fun, cute rendition of The Crew,  which allows both of their individual  personalities come across. The crowd consistently scream out the words to every song, so when it comes to Drake’s bigger songs like Hold On, We’re Going Home, the experience is incredible.

When Drake takes a girl from the audience and drags her on stage, singing directly to her and cracking jokes, the sheer amount of fun he’s having make him seem genuinely likeable. He devotes more time to interacting with his audience that most, something that lends his shows a very personal atmosphere.

There was hardly a single moment when Drake didn’t impress musically. Instead the one fault  was the fact that sometimes his antics went on slightly too long. He even threw in a a song about Dublin, which, although fun at first quickly became a bit stale; as did his interaction with the crowd at times and the DJ’s interlude where he wasn’t even on stage. 

But the show still finishes on a high with Started From The Bottom, accompanied by videos of him from when he was younger – a perfect end to an almost perfect night.

Drake proves how well he can rap on songs such as Worst Behaviour,  but the thing about tonight that shines through is the strength of Drake’s singing voice. One might not immediately think of him as a strong vocalist – but tonight he shows his true ability, especially with his cover of Rihanna’s Stay.  He skips over many of his better known songs (including Take Care), leaving them for his DJ to play during an interlude. But this hardly matters, as Drake’s performance goes a long way to proving that he has more to offer than his more famous songs.

It’s easy to be sceptical of Drake, casting him off as someone who simply produces radio-friendly chart songs with little artistic credibility, however tonight he shows that this could not be further from the truth .

 

Drake Photo Gallery

Photos: Dave Kelly