As I’m sitting casually in my seat, all of a sudden the lights go out and music starts playing.
All I can hear is screams and the crowd going wild!
Then, everyone goes silent, and the screens turn on. Music starts playing, and you can see Drake walking down through the crowd with Kevin Durant.
Drake’s Set
On September 11th Drake had his first Texas show in Austin. Drake opened the concert with a fan favorite, “Look What You’ve Done To Me.” You could immediately feel the vibe and knew it was going to be a good night. Everyone was singing and the lights dimmed.
Drake then proceeded to show love to the audience and continued on with his setlist with a major classic throwback “Marvin’s Room”. As soon as the first beat of the song played the crowd started yelling with excitement.
The first few songs were a lot of his chill throwbacks. Listening to the throwback songs was surreal to me as it brought back memories of me listening to those songs years ago and never did I think I would be able to hear them live.
When Drake started singing “Jungle” the crowd went crazy. “Jungle” is a really slow, chill rhythm song, and hearing it live with other people surrounding me who also love the song felt like a warm blanket over me, it was comforting. Hearing everyone sing their heart out was really relatable but also a feeling of peace.
After “Jungle”, an interlude played, then Drake proceeded to come out again for his second set of the concert, starting it off with “Over.” At that point, the crowd was very hyped and energetic.
Throughout this set, the songs are very high and energetic.
A really memorable moment I had from this set was the transition in “Know Yourself”. The performance started off serene and slow and then proceeded to transition into this powerful and active atmosphere. The lights, the crowd, the visuals, everything smoothly shifted at the same time.
Drake carried on with his show, but this time he played a mashup of some of his classics in the DJ booth. They were all sped up since he wanted to make it feel like a club. One of my favorite songs by Drake, “Passionfruit” was in that mashup. Hearing it live was obviously really nice to me, but I just wish it would’ve been the original beat rather than the sped-up version.
Prior to his DJ session, Drake expressed his love for Texas and how it has inspired his music career.
“I was writing music about Texas before I even got to come out here, I’ve been so inspired by everything you have to offer, all your contributions to music and culture that comes from Texas, so I want you to know there would be no Drake without Texas,” Drake said.
21 Savage’s Set
Drake finished off his set and gave his spotlight away to 21 savage. His entrance was very similar to Drakes, walking down through the crowd of people.
21 opened his set with “Red Opps”, one of his most popular songs. His music is very high energy and upbeat, so his whole set was very fun, everyone dancing and yelling out the lyrics.
One of my favorite songs he performed was “Don’t Come Out The House.” If I’m being honest, I just really enjoy screaming out any 21 Savage song that hypes me up.
His set was shorter than Drake’s, but it was just as enjoyable and fun. I was really looking forward to hearing “Runnin” live, so when that moment came, I made sure to appreciate and take in every second.
Joint Set
After 21 Savage’s solo performance, it was time for their collaborative performances. Drake came back out and the first song they performed together was “Knife Talk,” a very upbeat, electrifying song, which made the atmosphere go crazy and loud.
The night went on as they continued to perform songs from their joint album Her Loss.
One song I wasn’t expecting for them to perform was “Hours in Silence” and considering that it’s one of my favorites I was really excited when I first heard “Leave your phone, come to mine.” The beat of this song is really calm, and flowy but still upbeat, so the scene was really mellow and it was just so enjoyable.
As the concert sadly came to an end, he continued to thank the audience for coming out and sending everyone love. He also paid his respects to his good friend Virgil Abloh who passed away in late 2021.
I didn’t expect anything less than epic from this show. Being able to hear some of my favorite songs live and not from a speaker is truly life-changing. I really enjoyed this concert, from the music and the guests to the lights and visuals. Everything complemented each other so well and made the atmosphere so pleasurable.