Drake, Wireless Festival, review: Drizzy shows Kanye how it's done

The Canadian delivered a compelling show overflowing with scope, wonder and ambition
Master at work: Aubrey “Drake” Graham
Elliott Franks foe LIVEPIX - NO CREDIT
John Aizlewood30 June 2015

In its 10th year, Wireless still has the air of a runner-up prize for those acts who couldn’t get a Glastonbury slot, but its second year at Finsbury Park opened in spectacular fashion on Sunday night.

The rain held off and the bizarre booking of Wireless 2012’s headliner Aubrey “Drake” Graham for both last night and the next Wireless this Friday meant there was space to breathe and roam. Better still, 24 hours after fellow hip-hopper Kanye West struggled at Glastonbury, Drake — sporting a full beard rather than his usual half-hearted stubble — delivered a compelling show overflowing with scope, wonder and ambition. With a drummer and keyboardist exiled to the very edge of the stage, this was almost a one-man show, albeit one enhanced by fireworks and a giant plastic tree.

Bolder and more thoughtful (“I’m not here to change your life,” he admitted, “I just want to be part of it”) than the pack and as magnetic as a box of iron filings, the 28-year-old Canadian was unafraid to break into song during the romantic Take Care and Hold On We’re Going Home (which, to Drake’s bemusement, provoked an audience punch-up rather than a love-in) or to up the pace on HYFR and Worst Behaviour.

His real strength, though, lay in his capacity to brood and enthral, most effectively on the menacing All Me and the dreamy No Tellin’. The crowd including Little Mix, Leona Lewis and Lewis Hamilton knew they had seen a master at work.

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Before that, rap giants Public Enemy were marooned on the second stage playing the still-furious Fight The Power and Bring The Noise to diehards. On the main stage, a far-from-overdressed Rita Ora, right, left nothing to chance. Her crisp set featured up to 16 dancers and opened with the Drake-penned RIP. She sat upon a throne to deliver the gospel-tinged Kingdom Come which suggested her troubled second album might be worth the wait, while guest rappers Krept & Konan gave her the hint of an edge on Freak Of The Week. She may yet surprise us all.

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