All Summer Sixteen, after the break!
Drake & Future @ STAPLES Center (09/09/16)
Looking for earplugs... All summer sixteen. Yeah. Still looking.
My semi-weekly adventures continue to be HUGE and heaps of fun. The biggest take away from this EPIC Showcase was finally knocking Drake off my Bucket List. Couldn’t have picked a better time to see Toronto’s favorite son live. His current discography is legendary. Tracks from Views are on constant repeat on every radio station here in LA. Kind of annoying, honestly. You couldn’t go wrong with three nights at The Staples Center to cap off Summer 2016. I chose Night 2 (Friday) and we got Drake, Future, and that’s about it. Which I didn’t mind. Cross paths with both Rihanna & Snoop Dogg a few times in my travels.
Saw Future before too. He blew the roof off the Palladium back in March. Loved that show. His short intermission like performance was like a giant medley of his greatest hits or an annotated version of his solo show. DJ Esco joined the party after Drake performed for almost an hour.. Then Drake finished the show with all the slow & dancehall jams that jams up your radio. All the ladies around us loved it. The double billed duo really had only two or three songs together. Making this tour stop; Drake (feat. Future & Special Guests). Friday night didn’t have anyone special. But Drake & Future killed each track of the impressive 30+ song set list. If you know it, they sang it. Even his feature on “Blessed”.
Loved that Drake performed his verse on Fetty Wap’s “My Way” (Remix). Note that as my favorite part.
My biggest complaint of the evening was the fact I was near the giant explosions that went off periodically. Didn’t pay attention to the signs that “THIS SHOW CONTAINS STROBE LIGHTS, FIRE, LOUD EXPLOSIONS, ETC.” when entering the building. Let me tell you, dear reader, learned a valuable lesson when my open right ear felt fatally attacked after the second “KA-BOOOOOOOMMMMM” rang out. I’ll remember that pain forever.
ALWAYS. BRING. EARPLUGS. Major reason why I put up with bored security guards questioning me about my earplug case attached to my key ring every time I enter a show. Never leave home without them. Have to keep my on my hip. Your future self will thank you ten fold. My past self would probably beat me for mishandling my ears since 2010. We live. We learn. Now, I preach.
Oh yeah, I didn’t care to see Roy Woods or DVSN. Even though I was sitting in the comfortable VIP section, hate an unnecessary amount of openers. They are typical of hip hop shows. The entourage gets to warm up the crowd. I get it. Good for them. My sights were set on Drake & Future. Can only imagine being stuck in STAPLES for 6 hours. Yuck.
Drake & Future roll back into town at the end of the month & perform a few more shows in Inglewood @ The Forum. Still deciding to go Back-To-Back. But I rather spend my $ on new acts. Doesn’t mean you should skip it. If this is your one chance to see Drake, go do it. He really knows how to turn on an audience: Rap at the front, R&B in the middle, hip hop to close. Seeing the workaholic, Future, is just an added bonus. Hell, maybe Rihanna might surprise you.
Our next couple shows are with two old favorites. More soon!
PHOTOGRAPHY NOTES:
Easy show to shoot. Learned that stage right (in the VIP) is a great spot to get a plethora of shots during our Adele experience a few weeks back. At this range– you get the crowd/lantern/stadium shot, a few close ups, and artist-fan candid. Drake doesn’t move much. But Future, like before, runs around with SOOOOO much energy. You’re basically chasing a moving target. They will both come to you if you wait long enough. Drake takes this point literally actually.
One thing I failed to mention above was Drake takes a lift around the floor in a circle halfway through the R&B part of the show. He literally comes to you. So have your cameras ready when the machine reveals itself.
