Fresh off his New York City show, Drake arrived at Binghamton University Friday with guns blazing.
Drake, who appeared with opening rapper Tyga, filled the Events Center by 7 p.m. for the sold-out show, as part of their ‘Light Dreams and Nightmares’ tour.
Francine Ndjatou, a junior majoring in accounting, spent all day waiting in line for the concert and got there early enough to be the first person in line.
‘I’ve been here since 5 a.m. taking shifts with my friends just to make sure we were in the front,’ Ndjatou said. ‘I’m very excited.’
Immediately asking the crowd to scream ‘Free Weezy,’ Tyga hit the stage full throttle. He continued to woo fans, particularly the ladies, by calling out and singing to specific girls in the crowd and taking off his shirt to expose his slender, tattoo-covered frame.
However, it was during the wait for Drake that the crowd began to get riled up. Nico Meyer, the event lead for the concert, said that the cops were called.
‘People are calling 911 from the crowd,’ Meyer said during the event. ‘The students can’t breathe because they are getting crushed.’
Nelia Rodriguez, a freshman majoring in biology, stood in the front row at the concert, and felt similarly.
‘It’s a pain because people are being pushy and getting crazy,’ Rodriguez said at the concert. ‘It’s worth it though because it’s Drake. I mean I waited two hours on line for it.’
Sporting army pants, a jean jacket over a black T-shirt and sunglasses, Drake finally took the stage at 9:09 p.m. He introduced himself as Drake, Drizzy and Aubrey Graham from his early ‘Degrassi’ days. He also acknowledged his mentor and ‘brother’ Lil Wayne.
‘I almost cried because he was so dedicated to Weezy,’ said Kristen Briggs, a sophomore majoring in psychology.
Playing an hour-and-a-half set, Drake started with ‘9 a.m. in Dallas’ and then segwayed into his popular hit ‘Forever.’
‘Binghamton, I know it’s only been 20 minutes, but Binghamton is my new favorite school,’ he said. He continued to reference Binghamton at least a dozen more times.
Drake, who is 23 years old, was very interactive, calling out specific people in the crowd and even pulled one girl on stage. Crystal Rodrigo, an undeclared sophomore, never thought in a million years that it would be her.
‘Dancing with him and having him kiss me on the cheek was just so unbelievable, even though he really didn’t kiss me on the lips,’ Rodrigo said. ‘Who would have thought that he would choose me out of 7,000 people?’
This was the first sold-out show since the Foo Fighters played at the Events Center back in February 2008.
‘It was an audio-orgasm,’ said Keith Levinson, a junior majoring in psychology.