Drake @ Sound Academy - Photos

May 14th, 2009

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Drake. Drizzy. Young Lion. Aubrey. Call him what you like, but don’t call him an up-and-comer - the dude is already a star. How else do you explain a sold-out show at Sound Academy for an unsigned artist? How else do you explain 2300 people spending $40 A POP, clamoring to see an artist who has yet to drop an album? Up-and-coming, please. Drake is already here.

To be purposely corny, you could feel electricity in the air before the show kicked off. Drake calls Toronto home and this was his hometown crowd, chanting his name 45 minutes before he appeared. The tiny backstage was sardined with supporters including Kardinal Offishall, everyone anxious to see what could one day be spoken of as a legendary event.

With confidence in his step (and a fresh pair of Yeezys), Drizzy bounded onstage to thunderous applause and the opening bars of “Congratulations”. From there, he gave the crowd a bit of a history lesson, powering through a few of his earliest tracks (”this is how it all started!”), throwing his leather jacket into the crowd and then bringing out Bun B of UGK for “Uptown” (later, local rapper Page joined Drake to perform “I’m Still Fly”).

Sticking mainly to his So Far Gone mixtape with some earlier material thrown in for spice, Drake proved to his hometown that he’s more than just hype. Right now the stage formula is simple: DJ, Drake, a smile. He’s already toured with Lil Wayne and collaborated with the likes of Kanye and Jay-Z. He’s already got a summer tour lined up with Jay, Wayne and Young Jeezy. Despite the self-assured flow and strut, his stage presence still exudes a humbleness that emanates from someone who is astonished by his own success. But when something happens this fast and this organically, wouldn’t you be too? One day, when he’s got a full band behind him and his swagger speaks of a man who has sold millions, 2300 of us can say that we saw how it all started.

But about the crowd - I think I was expecting more? After seeing the incredible footage from Houston, I was almost certain that his own hometown would show somewhere near the same level of mania. Not to say it was a bad crowd - there were some sing-a-longs and a whole lotta love - but I guess I was hoping for something bigger. I can’t discredit the fact that the place sold out, and the pre-show line-up was intense .. but Toronto needs to get louder and start dancing more!

The show was short and powerful, but the encore was a little off I thought. Drake came back onstage to sift through a handful of songs in a random fashion - he’d start a track but then stop dead in the middle to move on to the next. But I was so stoked to be there that it didn’t even matter to me (seriously, I had been waiting months for this. Look at my Lastfm stats and tell me I’m not obsessed):

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You can bet I’ll be at the Jay-Z/Lil Wayne/Drake/Young Jeezy show if it rolls through Toronto - add Yeezy to the bill and it’s one step closer to being a dream.

PS: I was lucky enough to roll with the News team before the show, when Sarah interviewed Drake backstage! There are some photos here from the interview, as well as the show (from a backstage perspective… I went to the floor to take some from the audience too, but it was so jammed that I couldn’t budge anywhere close to the stage!). I’m bummed that I didn’t have my SLR, but I managed with a point & shoot thanks to my hero Zack!