Summer Sixteen tour worth travelling for
Drake’s Edmonton stop leaves fans hyped
By Amber McLinden, Staff Writer
It’s a safe assumption that most people in Calgary have experienced disappointment at the hands of an artist who decides to stop in Edmonton and not here at home. As a die hard Drake fan, I was ready to fly to Vancouver to see him, so Edmonton was a pretty good consolation. As part of his Summer Sixteen tour with Future, Drake’s Edmonton show was placed in between Vancouver and San Jose, but to the fans in attendance, it felt like the only stop on the tour that mattered.
When I say Drake fan, I mean it. I’ve been listening to Drake since Thank Me Later, and was not surprised that Views was just as amazing, literally representing Aubrey Graham’s appreciation for his hometown, Toronto, and more figuratively representing his transformation since his role on Degrassi. With that being said, you can imagine my expectations were astronomical. A vital part in my investment in hip-hop music, I expected the 6 God to be just that.
I can honestly say my expectations were met. Visually, the concert was more than impressive. Pyrotechnics were part of the show, with flames shooting up every time the beat hit hard or Drake fist bumped. During “Hotline Bling”, pink-lit balls dropping attached to strings flowed in a wave above the floor seats. At one point he made it clear he appreciates everyone in the audience, and did so by hopping on a moving platform to greet the rest of the crowd.
Yet the best part of seeing any long-running musician is getting to listen to their newest album, as well as all their past hits. So while Drake played newer songs like “Feel No Ways” and “Faithful”, he also took us back to the early days with “Headlines” and the “The Motto”. Heading the show with “Summer Sixteen”, fans could immediately tell that it was going to be one to remember.
Future made an appearance, but definitely not for long enough that the show could be referred to as “Drake and Future” when it was more “Drake featuring Future”. Yet nobody is as better hype man for Future than Future, so for the short amount of time he did appear, the crowd was even more pumped up when Drake came back out. Arguably some of the best collaborative work Drake has done is with Future, so to see songs like “Jumpman”, Big Rings”, and “Grammys” performed by the duo was absolutely unreal.
Drake loved Edmonton as much as we loved him. Playing in the Roger’s Place, or as he put it, “this fancy new stadium,” Drake claimed this stop had the best energy so far on his tour. While most musicians say that to just about any crowd, he stayed way past the set time and instagrammed later that night with the caption, “EDMONTON LIKE NO OTHER”. I’d like to believe every person in the crowd was just as big a Drizzy fan as I am, and that he was a fan of Edmonton.
