My cousin and I watched as lines of people that seemed to never end flooded the inside of the Moody Center in downtown Austin. I had been waiting for Sept. 11 to come for so long because Drake and 21 Savage were coming to perform in Austin for their world tour. Wearing, a black shirt and a shiny silver skirt, I was clearly dressed  for the occasion, and got out of my ride to the Moody Center more excited than ever. I was about to see some of my favorite artists perform right in front of me.

Last year, months before my summer birthday, my parents asked me to start making a list of the things that I wanted for when I turned 17 years old. The first thing on my list in big letters was tickets to the “It’s All a Blur” Tour. When I found out on my birthday that my dad had not only gotten me tickets to the Austin concert in the coming year, but floor tickets, I was in utter shock. The day of the concert really was all a blur for me, no pun intended, from the minute I woke up to the minute I got out of volleyball practice after school. I had a beaming smile on my face in anticipation for the concert, and even though I was scrabbling at the last minute for an outfit and stressed at the time, my excited feeling honestly made me so much more hype for the concert. When we got to the Moody Center, the lines to get in were massive, filled with people decked out in all kinds of amazing outfits. At this point, I had seen so many TikTok videos pointing out that so many girls go to the concert wearing all different types of cargo pants. When I saw everyone’s outfits, I realized that what people were saying on Tiktok was true, and I honestly loved the cargo pants. 

We got into the line for the floor, which was on the side of the arena, and then finally we were in. We rushed to the floor so that we could get a good spot, but found that there was so much room there, and we were able to get spots really close to the stage. It was 8:30 p.m. at the time and Central Cee, the opener, had just started to perform. I had heard a couple popular Central Cee songs on Tiktok recently, but when he ended my cousin and I were so ready to see Drake and 21 Savage perform. The DJ played music as we waited and then suddenly a big spotlight hit the stairs as Drake started to walk down them. Flashlights and cameras filled the arena and Drake’s first song “Look What You’ve Done” started as he sat on a couch on the stage with his “younger self.” He continued by performing all of his older songs first and then he started playing his more recent songs. When I say there was not one song that wasn’t a banger, there wasn’t one song that wasn’t a banger. My phone was fully charged at the start of the concert, and by the end it was almost completely dead. I was in awe seeing Drake and 21 literally a few feet in front of me, I was jumping and screaming the words to almost every song that he played and both artists came to our side of the stage a lot and interacted with their fans.

I loved the big inflated props, some of them were controlled by drones, that he brought on stage which I thought were super cool even though they were a bit strange. I also really enjoyed seeing the small scenes where it showed Drake and his younger self, but I was a bit confused on why it was added to every show, like what the purpose behind it was. He also used fire in some of his super hype songs, and we could even feel the warmth of the fire from where we were standing. 

Next Drake left the stage and 21 Savage started to perform. I am huge fan of both artists so I was still super excited when he came onto the stage. My cousin and I Iisten to 21 Savage religiously when we are in the car together so it was nice to sing along to songs we listen to all the time right in front of him. I really loved all of the songs he played and I knew almost every single one. My favorite part of the whole concert was definitely when Drake and 21 Savage came out on stage together. All of the songs they played together were their more recent songs and I am a huge fan of their newer album together called “Her Loss.” The whole area was filled with screaming fans with their cameras out recording some of the most popular songs on the internet with some of the biggest rappers in the industry. 

Overall, I really enjoyed how engaged Drake and 21 Savage were with their audiences and how full of energy the artists made the concert. Even though I was able to have been on the floor, the artists went out of their way to make sure everyone left the concert feeling happy about their experiences. I might be biased since they are some of my favorite artists, but I a thousand percent say getting a ticket to the concert was worth it.

Performance: 8/10

Music: 10/10

Audience engagement: 9/10

Overall rating: 9.5/10

Bass-boosted songs fill the venue and screams from 20,000 people ripple through the air. As the spotlights move to show his entrance, Drake nonchalantly walks through a crowd of people down to his stage where he is about to deliver an almost three hour performance. He enters the stage and begins his set with a spoken monologue of his song “Look What You’ve Done”. The lights fade out and then Drake begins to sing his older songs, which are mostly slow in pace. Moving through the night, the songs begin to pick up speed and turn into rap that is so fast it is hard to keep up with. As the tracks shift to being “screamable”, the energy of the venue increases exceptionally and it becomes even hotter, louder, and so much more enjoyable. 

Throughout the duration of a three hour car ride, my best friend and I decided to look for concerts in Austin. We came across tickets for the “It’s All A Blur” Tour with Drake and 21 Savage at the newly-built Moody Center and decided to instantly buy them. For about a month, all we could think about was going to see an unforgettable concert in our hometown. As weeks turned into days, our anticipation rose and we were itching to see not only Drake, but 21 Savage as well. 

Sep. 11 finally came, and I stepped out of my car in my black Converse, gray cargo pants, red top, and hair slicked back. Knowing that I was about to face the Texas heat, I tried to dress lightly to avoid mass sweating. I figured the lines to enter the venue would be bad, but I had no clue how truly awful they would be. My friend and I arrived as the doors opened, assuming that the line would begin moving, however, it did not. 7 p.m. shined in bright numbers on my phone and as we slowly crept forward in line, I kept checking to see how much time had passed. 7:15, 7:30, 7:45, 8:00, and finally, 8:15. Considering the Moody Center has eight entries, I was curious as to why only two were opened. After bearing through the 100 degree heat for an hour and 15 minutes, we were finally inside. More and more lines arose for merchandise, food, drinks, or even just the bathroom. This was typical for concerts, but I had never seen it to this extent. Although it was difficult to navigate through the flood of people, we finally arrived at our seats. 

Our tickets were extremely expensive for what we received. We knew we did not have world-class tickets, however we were not expecting to have the second-to-last row. For $400, we expected to be a little lower in the section. Nonetheless, we sat at our seats and patiently waited for the opener, Central Cee, to come on stage. The lights dim and the music begins, and we were in utter shock at the severity of the bass. Maybe the bass was rattling our bodies due to how high our seats were, but we assumed it was that loud for everyone. Although the walls were shaking behind us, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves since loud music is what we enjoy. We didn’t know many songs by Central Cee, but we were standing and dancing anyway. For having nosebleed tickets, everyone in our section had a positive attitude and brought their best energy. As Central Cee performed his last song and the lights became bright again, the nervous-leg-tapping overtook our row. Everyone, I mean everyone, was so excited for Drake to take the stage. 

When Drake finally came to the stage, everyone began to scream and jump. It was amazing to see how nobody cared about other people’s opinions, and were just genuinely enjoying themselves. I decided to do the same. I might not know Drake like others do, but I was still consumed by the pounding music and the thrilling crowds. Drake had such a way of galvanizing the sea of people, and everyone hushed as he began to speak instead of sing. One of my favorite moments was when he told everyone to enjoy the present, and respect the people around you since you never know what someone is going through. We were told to look at those around us and give them a high-five and appreciate that we get to live our lives. I never take a step back and appreciate the world like I should, but when prompted to, I put my world into perspective and was so thankful to realize how great the gift of life truly is. While I was expecting the concert to leave a lasting effect, I was not aware that there would be a moment like this that would positively impact my life for the rest of the week, and even month. 

Even with the furthest seats imaginable, section 212 decided to bring the heat. Every single person was at least standing, if not scream-singing along. Songs that I did not know as well were still enjoyable due to those who surrounded me, making the experience all the better. Our hands were high in the air and we were all jumping and laughing with each other, it was such a great time. Being that everyone around us was about our age, we were able to connect in between sets and genuinely have fun with each other knowing that this would be a once-in-a-lifetime concert that we got to spend with people just like us. 

However, besides the experiences shared between strangers and the crowd yelling over the speakers, Drake’s performance was mediocre at best. He sang his songs at a different tempo than the recorded versions and mashed them all up to where only 30 seconds would be performed. It was hard to sing along since Drake would sing off beat or differently than what was known by everyone. Sure, it is understandable that rappers have to sing their songs at a slower pace or take more breaks since the speed is draining to their body and voice, but I was not a big fan of not being able to recognize a song due to its different beat. My friend and I did not even realize that one song had already been performed since it was sung to such a different tempo. With the songs being both shortened and off-beat, enjoying the actual concert was a difficult task. Trying to scream the words to a song that you do not know is not easy… at all. 

On top of the lousy singing, props started floating around the venue making it nearly impossible to see Drake from the higher seats. As if blocking our view was not enough, these props were certainly questionable to say the least. I was immediately thankful for going to this concert with a friend and not my parents, considering how inappropriate the decor was. To me, it seemed like Drake tried to make the set as obscene as possible with no reasoning behind it. There was no theme around the performance and nothing that connected one prop to another, they were random and changed with every song. At one point, I believed that I was in a fever dream considering the obscurity of all the objects. 

But, while Drake’s set had some moments that made it hard to love, 21 Savage’s set was up next. 21 Savage (commonly referred to as 21) makes his way down the stairs similar to Drake, and I could then physically feel the energy ramp up. Over the course of the next 12 songs, the energy in the venue was double than before, and everyone was able to truly scream the songs at the top of their lungs. This, in my opinion, was what a concert should be like. 21 lived up to all my previous expectations for the tour. This might be heavily influenced by the fact that I am a massive fan of 21, but his set fortunately did not include stage-blocking props and off-beat songs. If 21 was able to perform his songs at the same speed in which they are recorded in the studio, why could Drake not do the same? Be that as it may, 21’s set completely bolstered the tour and made the night all the more enjoyable. 

With Drake and 21 Savage both being in the same venue, it was a necessity that they performed some of their collaborations together. This had to be my favorite part of the night considering the last five songs sounded exactly like how I had imagined, and the energy was just so thrilling. As the crowd got more and more hyped, fire—including flames and fireworks—lit up everybody’s faces. Although the fire came with smoke and heat, the audience engagement shot up through the roof. It was difficult to hear even the speakers with 20,000 screams echoing around. The last 20 minutes of the concert completely overrode the previous two hours, and I felt like I was a part of something bigger than myself. Knowing that everyone around me had a similar passion and/or experience as I did, a sense of connectedness and pure bliss consumed me. 

Despite the performance not meeting my standards, I believe that the crowd positively contributed to the experience and made the $400 ticket worthwhile. If it was guaranteed that the audience would be the exact same as section 212, I would 100 percent go again. 

Performance: 5/10

Music: 6/10

Audience engagement: 10/10

Overall rating: 6/10