OVO FEST with DRAKE, LIL WAYNE, STEVIE WONDER, NAS, RICK ROSS, J. COLE & THE WEEKND at the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre, Sunday, July 31. Rating: NNNN
During an extended outro to his hazy morning after lament Marvin’s Room, Drake stood on the Amphitheatre stage shrouded in purple mist and rhymed off a list of resolutions. “Maybe you should be a little more proud of being from Toronto for once in your life,” the 24-year-old rapper said.
The line could’ve also applied to the 16,000-strong audience that snapped up tickets to Drake’s second annual OVO Fest, a summer hip-hop festival that is fast becoming a joyous love-in for a city more often inclined to self-deprecation than hip-hop-style ego stroking.
After Jay-Z and Eminem’s surprise cameos at last year’s inaugural OVO, word on the street was that Drake would out-do himself this year. Rumoured guests included obvious A-listers like Rihanna, Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne, but also one unexpected name: Stevie Wonder. Sure enough, the soul icon was indeed on the impressive star-studded guest that helped Toronto’s biggest rapper elevate his hometown hero status.
Celebrity guests aside, Drake delivered a charismatic but slightly uneven performance. He hit the stage after 9 p.m. amidst a storm of percussion and launched into Up All Night. A guitarist, drummer, violinist and two keyboard players kept the music coming continuously, playing loudly as Drake stoked the crowd with a mix of new and old material as well as guest verses on pop hits like Rihanna’s What’s My Name and Nicki Minaj’s Moment For Life.
An introspective MC, his music is often about capturing a particular mood, but the transitions between slow-burners and big, epic bangers didn’t always work ? like when an overwrought violin solo ushered in a snoozy soft rock segment that ended with a Santana-esque bass guitar solo.
However, whenever one of those much-hyped guest stars appeared, the pacing issues felt like distant memories. After Roc Nation rapper J. Cole appeared to perform the ladies-centric In The Morning, Nas strolled out and made it look effortless with classic joints Made You Look and If I Ruled The World.
The mood turned from raucous to reverential when Stevie Wonder and his band took over with laid-back renditions of Sir Duke, Signed Sealed Delivered and My Cherie Amour, among other hits. If many in the young crowd seemed at a loss during the legend’s call-and-response commands on Ribbon In The Sky, they knew exactly what to do when Lil Wayne bounded on stage in a frantic fury and tore into four songs, including a triumphant rendition of DJ Khaled’s ubiquitous summer jam I’m On One with Drake and Rick Ross that capped off the night.
The officially billed opening acts were The Weeknd and Ross. A week after his crazed Mod Club debut, R&B up-and-comer The Weeknd opened OVO with another solid set. Although singer Abel Tesfaye’s voice is enormous, he’s still too much of a wallflower to hold down a sizeable venue like the Amphitheatre.
Ross, on the other hand, quite handily filled out the stage with his self-made “boss” rhetoric. The Miami rapper hyped up the crowd with hits like 9-Piece, BMF and MC Hammer, sweating so much his bald head resembled a disco ball.
When the show ended just before midnight, there was an overwhelming sense that Drake, OVO Fest and the audience had lived up to his resolution, if only for one night.
