Take it from me and Adele: Drake’s show at Staples Center on Friday was really something special, from the powerful, focused performance of the Canadian hip-hop superstar to the dazzling design and visuals that reinvented the way an arena stage might be used.
The British pop star might have been a bit more effusive in her tweet than I’d have been in mine: “Oiii Champagne Papi,” Drake’s Instagram handle, “blew my mind tonight,” she wrote, going on to call it “the best production I’ve ever seen hands down,” and one of her favorite, excuse me, “favourite,” shows of all time.
(For his part, Drake posted after the show that he’d not known Adele was there: “Thank god nobody told me I would have been SHOOK,” he wrote on Instagram.)
But even if I’m not all the way there with Adele, Drake’s hour-and-45-minute show, which included a mid-set showcase with opening act Migos and a surprise appearance by singer Chris Brown, was truly strong from start to finish, a huge improvement over a lackluster headlining slot at Coachella in 2015.
Drake slipped on stage in the darkness, a massive four-sided scrim enclosing the basketball court-sized stage on the Staples floor, starting to rap as images of a lightning storm — coincidence that the same was happening outside? — were projected on the transparent curtains.
The opening song, “8 To 10,” has a line about taking a helicopter from “Will Smith crib straight to the stage / Three Forum shows, but I played Staples today,” and while I can’t say whether he borrowed the Fresh Prince of Calabasas’ chopper to the show or not, I do know the rest of it isn’t accurate. The Aubrey and the Three Migos tour has seven arena dates in Southern California, twice more at Staples followed by four at the Forum, a sign of just how massively popular Drake is right now.
The first half of his night focused on hip-hop tracks, with highlights such as the new “Mob Ties” and “Elevate,” two of perhaps a dozen played off his summer double-album “Scorpion” alongside older hits including “Started From The Bottom” and “Energy.”
But while Drake’s vocals were strong, and his performance energetic, the show soared thanks in large part to the creativity of its design. The stage that was completely bare at the start quickly revealed itself as a huge video screen onto which visuals were projected beneath the rapper’s feet.
During “Jumpman” orange-red lava flowed from cracks in a volcano as he skipped from side to side on stage. For “Know Yourself” the floor turned into a rolling ocean surface so that Drake was literally walking on virtual water.
Lasers and blasts of steam and showers of fireworks all accompanied songs during the night, too, as did a swarm of small twinkling lights on tiny drones that flew in formation over the stage once or twice, and a life-sized flying Ferrari that drifted above the crowd during “Yes Indeed.”
And that was all in the first half of the night. A medley midway through blazed through older hits such as “Forever,” “Headlines,” and “Blessings.”
Migos returned to do another half dozen songs, including “Walk It Talk It” and “Versace” with Drake, before he ducked off stage for a rest, leaving the Atlanta hip-hop trio to do a few more on their own as well as “Taste” with guest rapper Tyga.
Mirroring the two moods of “Scorpion,” which featured hip-hop on the first record and R&B on the second, Drake returned to run through a number of slow jams including “Don’t Matter To Me,” a duet with a posthumous Michael Jackson vocal track, “After Dark” and “Jaded.”
Energy picked back up with songs “Controlla” and “Hotline Bling.” Lasers traced a basketball court on the stage and a fan was plucked from the crowd to try his luck at winning Drake’s cash by shooting a free throw ($250), three-pointer ($500), or half-court shot ($25,000), all of which he missed.
Get the feeling there’s a lot going on here? We’re not done yet. Chris Brown, with whom Drake has rapper-beefed for years — bottles thrown in a nightclub, social media dissing, the works — came out to sing “Party” with him, hatchet finally — peacefully — buried.
But it was Drake’s night all night. His charisma far outshines that of Migos members Offset, Quavo and Takeoff. Chris Brown might sing or dance better but there are well-known reasons why he lacks the warm personality of Drake.
When the show wrapped up with “God’s Plan,” the first single released from “Scorpion,” Drake preached his message just a little bit more — love each other, remember how we all came together for this night — before letting the crowd head back out into the rain, the real stuff, not the fancy visuals that started us on the night’s journey.
Drake
When: Friday, Oct. 12
Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles
Next: The tour continues Saturday, Oct. 13 and Sunday, Oct. 14 at Staples Center; also Tuesday, Oct. 16, Wednesday, Oct. 17, Friday, Oct. 19 and Saturday, Oct. 20 at the Forum in Inglewood.
Tickets: Saturday, Oct. 13 is sold out; Sunday, Oct. 14 seats are $79-$630; Forum shows are $59.50-$229.50
Information: axs.com (for Staples); ticketmaster.com (for Forum)
