Concert review: Drake, Vector Arena

Drake. Photo/Getty

First came a basic white sports bra. Then a black one was thrown through the air, landing in a neat pile at his feet and catching the rapper's attention.

Finally, a racy red number landed on stage, forcing the man the owners of the underwear were aiming for to do something about the growing pile of laundry in front of him.

Drake, not missing a beat of his hit ballad Hold on We're Going Home, picked each item up and draped them neatly over his microphone stand like one might hang their washing on a clothes rack.

Girls, it seems, love Drake to bits, and it's easy to see why. At his first New Zealand appearance, the Canadian rapper was less gangsta rapper, more supplier of emotionally-charged rap designed to be sung with your arm draped drunkenly over your best friend.

That meant there were plenty of Kiwi fans having the Monday night of their lives, thanks to an energetic two-hour show that kicked off with the horn blast of Trophies as Drake sprayed the crowd with faux machinegun fire and unleashed an impressive pyrotechnic and laser display.

He kept the energy up throughout, whether he was giving the crowd a history lesson with songs from his first mixtapes, to tracks from his last - and best - studio album Nothing Was the Same, like Worst Behaviour's anti-social outbursts, and Started From the Bottom's revved-up revelry.

Proving just how ahead of the game he is, some of the night's best moments were from last weekend's surprise mixtape release If You're Reading This It's Too Late, like the sparse bass thuds of Blessings, or the piano minimalism of Energy - tracks which dial back the pace but showcase a darker, more intimate side to the rapper's personality.

But Drake didn't forget to party like it was a Tuesday, turning ILoveMakkonen's huge single into the night's centrepoint that had Vector jumping and rapping as one. "You are the greatest crowd I have ever seen," Drake declared afterwards. "This might be my favourite show I've ever played."

The standing ovation he received showed it might have been the crowd's favourite too.

Drake, 2Chainz
Where: Vector Arena, Auckland
When: Monday, February 23

- nzherald.co.nz