The last day of Drake’s UK tour was here, and I think the whole of Nottingham was looking forward to Drake making his final appearance on stage at the Capital FM Arena on the 24th April. Drake aka Drizzy had girls queuing up from 9.30am and the doors wouldn’t open until 6.30pm; bear in mind the weather was awful and chucking it down with rain all day. I don’t know whether to say if these ladies were true Drake fans or the rain had got to their heads and they were totally bonkers.

I got to the arena at around 7pm and was astounded when I had my bag thoroughly checked by security! Being sly I had already maneuvered my drink up my coat sleeve. I mean to be fair who wants to be paying £5 for one drink!? By the time I got to my seat I was well and truly feeling the vibe. The arena was packed and the adrenaline from everyone there was amazing. It was a total sell out and I didn’t see any empty seats, which shows how big Drake actually is in the UK now.

Having waited to see him for over an hour and a half while Labrinth kept us busy, Drizzy was finally ready to show Nottingham what he was made of. We didn’t even have to see him on stage – the crowd screeched, girls were going crazy screaming and shouting; that was our cue to tell us that Drake was here. His whole performance was absolutely outstanding. He sounds exactly the same as he does on a recorded track and there was no way he mimed. His audience interaction was really good and it allowed the audience to feel involved. He pointed out girls and complimented them regularly, which definitely shows that he is a ladies man.

To my surprise, lingerie was being flung at his face throughout the show and Drake clearly loved this. As he was reading out the girls bra sizes and telling them they had ‘good sized titties’ I felt like I was watching Girls Gone Wild. He had the crowd going and when he was on stage there was never a moment of silence. A woman sat in front of me was even brought to tears and comforted by her friend. She was obviously star struck by his manly charm.

Drake performed many popular songs from his latest and debut albums. I personally think the best song on the night was ‘Shot For Me’ because the way he performed the lyrics came across to everybody in the Arena, as if he was talking directly to them. His mellow tone and soft Canadian accent were complete perfection and he sounded exactly how he does on his latest album ‘Take Care’. Drizzy smashed this song to pieces as well as ‘Crew Love’ and ‘Buried Alive’, both of which which he totally destroyed! In a good way.

The only downfall I have to say about the concert was that Drake’s attire and dress sense in general was very bleak and dark. He wore black trousers, black shirt and a black vest top with some Reeboks. A bit of colour wouldn’t have done him any harm. To me he looked very plain Jane and could have done with hiring a stylist on this tour. I understand that he is a rap artist but come on, a change of garments wouldn’t have gone amiss for a big arena show like this.

Overall though I think that he smashed all the tracks from of his Take Care Album and I would definitely go to see him again. If you didn’t go, you missed out on a very good night on the Club Paradise Tour.

************** Check out Ashton‘s Drake live review from Birmingham Arena on April 20th 2012 **************************
Photo: Dominic Henry