and copped-in my opinion & you can’ t tell me differently-the dopest long sleeve out of all the merch. I’ mma call it the 9 shirt, regardless of how idiotic it sounds. But yeah with Summer Sixteen Tour in all caps and a red and blue encircled 9 on the front, the shirt seems simple. Flip it over to the back though, and you see why I had to cop it without question. Topped with lyrics from“ 9,” one of my favorite cuts from Views, bright red letters in all caps read“ Momma hit my phone and said Rap’ s no good.” Following those lyrics is a giant encircled 9 that directly resembles the one on the front left breast, and under it are more red words in all caps:“ Six Upside Down.” And they’ re literally upside down. So in all honesty, I could tell by the merch that this concert was about to be huge and well thought out because the merch often indicates to me whether a tour is truly dope or not; think Yeezus Tour 2013 and its accompanying merch. Alexa got a cool alternative: a classic Views shirt with a lot of creepy eyes and“ Summer Sixteen Tour” on the back in script. Happy with our dope merch, we headed to our seats.
Perhaps, I’ m a dub. Or a broke boy. Whatever it is, I have no problem with nosebleeds. Call it whatever you want though because ya boy can enjoy a concert from anywhere in a venue. It was kind of embarrassing though taking Alexa to her first concert and seeing binocular rentals available outside our entrance. Regardless she didn’ t seem to care, so she gained hella cool points. We waited, snap chatting and practically buzzing from excitement, and then the lights dimmed.
Enter: Roy Woods, the first artist to grace the stage and open up the summer’ s hottest tour. He came out to“ Get You Good,” and I was pleasantly surprised that seeing him live was such a positive experience. His vocal performance wasn’ t spectacular, but he had heart where he didn’ t have the experience. Opening up for a crowd that was thirsty for Drake and Future must have been nerve racking, but Roy didn’ t crack under pressure. He stuck to his MJ influenced tracks, sung to his best ability, and danced his heart out which made“ How I Feel” and“ Gwan Big Up Yourself” really shine. The definite highlight from his set was how true and epic his lyric“ It’ s OVO right now!” was at it rang through the crowd and returned with massive applause. From time to time, his stage presence would sort of disappear for a few minutes; it’ s like he would forget that he’ s performing in front of a packed out basketball arena. Then he’ d realize that he had remained stagnant for too long and bust out his best dance moves. At his best, Roy Woods made me really enjoy his music, especially giving life to his latest project, Waking at Dawn. He ended his set with a song that everyone new by heart:“ Drama.” Although it was Drakeless, Roy Woods came through with a very solid performance, especially considering he literally had no experience touring prior to this epic show. He exited the stage modestly, but he definitely left the impression that he is much more than a Drake cosign.
Fast forward past the unnerving transitions and waiting in between sets, and the lights dim once again. The instrumental to“ Too Deep” started, and the crowd went crazy. As the smoke cleared, and the chorus began, the stadium was formerly introduced to the seemingly faceless member of OVO, dvsn. Undoubtedly the best vocalist in OVO, dvsn gave a true R & B show that anyone will remember for the rest of their lives. He sounded better than he did on record, really proving to everyone in the crowd how well he could actually sing. photo cred: Greg Noire