This past Friday, I witnessed the spectacle that is Drake's Summer Sixteen tour at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. It was, for lack of a better term, lit. I've never been apart of a more energetic and exuberant environment. Two days later, my ears are still ringing from the roar of the crowd. Here a some thoughts that my friends and I had during the concert that I'm sure my other woes can relate to.
1. "Who are these opening performers?"
Nothing against the opening acts, but we were there to see Drake and Future. But mostly Drake. They could've ridden in on a fire-breathing dragon and we would've still been impatiently waiting for Champagne Papi.
2. "I wish I could afford a t-shirt."
I was originally planning on buying myself a tour t-shirt, but set my price limit at around $25 dollars, because I'm a college kid with bills to pay. After buying a $4 bottle of water, though, I realized the prices were a bit above my price range if I wanted to not be homeless. Oh well, gotta save money so I can go to cheesecake.
3. "Where is Drake? Do I have time to go pee before he comes out?"
Funny story: my friend was holding it in all through the openers so she wouldn't miss anything and chanced a trip to the bathroom while they were setting up the stage for the main event when she couldn't hold it anymore. As soon as she returned, the lights when out and the show began. What a time to be alive.
4. "HE JUST POPPED OUT FROM UNDER THE STAGE I'M CRYING!"
You just can't help but lose your mind when you hear the opening of "Summer Sixteen" and a figure appears through the fog onstage. If you're reading this it's too late to save me from fangirling like crazy.
5. "I will never stop dancing. Or screaming. Ever."
With all the excitement of Drake's appearance and the crowd going crazy, the hype was contagious. Pretty sure I burned about 10,000 calories from dancing for 3 hours straight. I bounced my shit like whoa.
6. "Look at those pretty balls!"
Minds out of the gutters, please. The beautiful orbs pictured above changed colors and formation throughout the night, adding a gorgeous visual aspect to the show.
7. "WHERE'D HE GO?!"
At one point in the show, Drake disappears for a few seconds and we all panic. Nothing to fear, though, because he came right back singing into one of the afore-mentioned pretty balls. Blessed.
8. "Good golly gosh, he's frickin' FLYING!"
My language was not quite as clean, but you get the idea. It was an amazing moment when Drake flew over the crowd to say hello to his fans that didn't have the best seats. Nothing was the same.
9. "Those dance moves are worth the ticket prices alone."
Drake has been helping white people feel better about their dancing ever since dropping the "Hotline Bling" video. His distinct moves remind us that it's okay to move however we want, no matter how cheesy we feel. Our moves are the furthest thing from perfect, like everyone I know.
10. "We love you, Future, but when is Drake coming back?"
It's Future's tour too, but we were really all about Drake. Drake went away for a little bit and let Future do a few of his solo sets, which were great, but we weren't feeling it as much. Once Drake came back though, he had us way up feeling blessed.
11. "JUMPMAN JUMPMAN JUMPMAN!!"
Though Future on his own wasn't my favorite part of the night, Drake and Future together is a masterpiece every time. When Drake returned, his sets with Future were some of the best of the night. Break out some really big rings, 'cause this is a really big team.
12. "OMG, is he bringing out a surprise guest?!"
Drake by himself is amazing. With Future he was amazing times two. But with his habit of bringing out special guests to sing at his shows - like Eminem in Detroit - I was half expecting someone to pop out halfway through the show. My money was on Lil' Wayne, a New Orleans native and huge influence in Drake's career, or Rihanna, to whom I sometimes think he's secretly married to. Even though there was no such surprise appearance, I wasn't very disappointed. If you had a twin, Drake, we'd still choose you.
13. "These fireworks are on point, but I hope he doesn't actually catch on fire."
The fireworks and flames used onstage throughout the show were outstanding and really put an exclamation point to the performances, especially in "Know Yourself." The anxious part of me was a nervous wreck, acting as Drake's over-protective mom and praying he wouldn't catch on fire. I'm sure his adorable mama has the concerns, and she voices them in their conversations.
14. "My voice is completely gone."
I know this may come as a shock, but you can only scream out the lyrics to every single song with 13,000 other people until your voice says "just hold on, we're going home," and leaves you. I'm still hoarse, but have no regrets.
15. "He's so precious, how is it over already?"
Sadly, all good things must come to an end. After an amazing show, Drake had to leave. Before he did, though, he of course left us with a heartfelt sentiment and gave shoutouts to specific fans he noticed throughout the night. I'm gonna believe he was referring to me when he gave a shoutout to "the girl in the pink or red top" in the third level, because I was wearing a pink tanktop and jumping up and down like a fool all night hoping he'd see me. Like he says, "You don't worry about fitting in when you were custom made."
15. "Where's the after party?"
Though we didn't want the concert to ever end, unfortunately my friends and I were unable to attend the after party. We were good girls and we knew it, having to get up the next day for responsibilities like work. The show alone was more fun than I'd had in a long time, giving me a ton of great memories to relive - plus an extra long snapchat story. Thanks for the show, Drake, hope to see you next time you come to New Orleans! Maybe we could go to cheesecake, we know you love to go there.