A Rihanna cameo, Drake on a gondola and four more moments you missed at OVO

A Rihanna cameo, Drake on a gondola and four more moments you missed at OVO

Photograph from Instagram

The seventh OVO Fest—Drake’s giddy Caribana weekend gift to the city he so fiercely represents—may have moved indoors to the Air Canada Centre and featured one more night than festivals past, but it featured all the surprise appearances, extravagant theatrics and energy that have become synonymous with OVO. Here, six of the best moment from Drake’s first of two shows in the 6.

Dvsn covers Michael Jackson

1 Backed by a trio of female backup singers, Dvsn frontman Daniel Daley was handily the most polished of the OVO Sound opening acts. Warming the crowd for the man of the hour, Daley took a brief break from his debut, Sept. 5, to bust into two sweet odes to R&B stars lost: Aaliyah’s “One in a Million” remix and a cover of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.”

 

Drake is out for “revenge”

2 The man of the hour—bearded and dressed in all black—made his grand entrance with a thunderclap explosion of fire and a triumphant trio of tunes: “Summer Sixteen,” “Still Here” and “Started from the Bottom.” The word REVENGE, in all caps, popped from an all-black set and set the tone for the two-day homecoming party.

 

“Hotline Bling” and an army of glowing purple balloons

3 Just less than halfway through his set, when Drake dropped the Nineteen85-produced pop smash that spawned a million parodies, hundreds of illuminated balloon-style lights bobbed above the arena, flashing purple as Drizzy did his silly little steps and lamented a booty call past.

 

Hold on, we’re going on a gondola ride

4 During “Hold On, We’re Going Home,” the balloon lights switched hues to a brilliant blue. Drake hopped aboard a one-man gondola and crooned his Billy Ocean–styled single some 30 feet above the screaming crowd, giving a few lucky fans individual shout-outs.

 

Future injects energy at halftime

5 Midway through Drake’s two-and-a-half-hour circus, the lanky Future—dressed head to toe in white—joined him onstage for “Grammys.” The duo also ripped through collaborations “Big Rings” and “Jumpman,” and the Atlanta artist got the ACC riled up by running though his own anthems like “F*ck Up Some Commas” and “Same Damn Time.”

 

Surprise: it’s Rihanna

6 It’s hard to believe that Drake’s (girl?)friend and frequent studio partner Rihanna had never appeared at an OVO Fest before. So when the Barbadian singer rose up through the stage floor and sang “Bitch Better Have My Money,” the roar was deafening. Fittingly, Drake joined RiRi for a pair of recent duets: “Work,” the steamy Real Jerk–set single, and Views’ “Too Good,” which summed up the moment. “You happy now, right?” a smiling Drake asked the audience. He was being rhetorical.