Drake goes Sicko Mode on Rogers Place

If there’s one performer who never fails to go above and beyond for their fans, it’s Drake — not only in terms of his music (see: every song of the summer for the past 10 years) but also in his showmanship.

As one of, if not the biggest artist in the world currently, this should come as no surprise. Drake’s performance perfectly embodies an artist at the top of his game. Continuing the untouchable success of his chart-topping, record-shattering 2018, Drizzy brought an unparalleled energy to the Rogers Place stage on November 7 on the last Canadian show of his tour.

To warm up the crowd, Migos brought an explosive performance to the stage. Only Quavo and Takeoff were present, but they still managed to perform their entire set without Offset. They delivered their signature blend of autotune and ad libs against a chaotic backdrop of towering flames erupting out of the stage, a blinding light show, and nearly as many gunshot sounds as there were words in the whole set.

To finish their performance, they played their biggest hit, “Bad and Boujee.” As the lights burst into a red and blue frenzy resembling police sirens, the crowd was more than eager to rap along to their famous line “rain drop, drop top” as they took us on a Culture ride right into Drake’s performance.

Dressed in head-to-toe white, Drake rose up out of the stage like an angel (if angels wore bulletproof vests). The audience was in the palm of his hand. Drake performed hit after hit, while never forgetting to remind the crowd that it was the loudest of the whole tour. Similar to Kanye announcing his presidential campaign, I knew it probably wasn’t true, but I wanted to believe so badly that it was.

The stage doubled as a screen, displaying crystal-clear water, lava, lyrics, and a giant scorpion. It even transformed into a basketball court for one lucky fan to shoot hoops on to win money (unfortunately he missed all three shots and left empty-handed).

The most creative use of the stage was when Champagne Papi performed the crowd favourite “In My Feelings.” The entire stage beneath him transformed into an iPhone scrolling through Instagram videos of fans doing the In My Feelings Challenge. Given how many people were on their phones recording most of the concert, their screams indicated this really resonated with them.

Perhaps the most amazing spectacle of the show was when a yellow Ferrari literally soared above the crowd during “Yes Indeed.” (The gimmick is a reference to Lil Baby’s line “yellow Ferrari like Pikachu” from the song.) Doing such an extreme stunt to coincide with a single line that he doesn’t even rap truly shows Drake’s commitment to making each performance unlike anything the crowd has ever seen.

Yes, the 6 God does it all. He’s a singer, rapper, dancer, preacher, motivational speaker, and proud Canadian. I almost expected him to be my Uber driver after the show.

The show concluded with the summer jam to end all summer jams: “God’s Plan.” Drake invited fans to sing in his place multiple times throughout the concert, but none were as exuberant as the infectious “she said do you love me, I tell her only partly, I only love my bed and my mama I’m sorry.”

The crowd exploded. Confetti danced in the air. Bras and panties flew onstage. Fireworks rained down. It was an exquisite finale to an unforgettable show from a true Canadian icon.