On Queen Street West, deep into the city, you’ll find the Drake Hotel. A hotel like no other. Finished with contemporary artwork, eccentric furniture and mid century light fixtures.
Nested under the Drake Hotel lies one of Toronto’s most infamous concert venues, The Drake Underground. A legendary venue where many of your favourite artists such as M.I.A, Sampha and Beck once shook the stage.
The narrow venue filled up quickly as the doors opened for 7PM.
First up was an artist we featured on our Montréal website earlier this year. NAIIM stormed onto the stage as a natural. He played well known tracks such as Dark Side and Dusty Winds. For the first time, he performed his new single Twice which only came out merely a week ago. The energy from the crowd proved to NAIIM that it was a hit.
NAIIM also gave a taste of the new sound we’ll be seeing in the future. Singing unreleased tracks titled Overkill and Midnight Warrior. Closing out his set to Bad Lil Bae, another unreleased song. Where he brought out the track’s producer Tee, also known as artist Polun.
Zach Zoya closed the night with over an hour of heart-written melodies. It’s difficult to describe Zach’s sound, which is likely why he was picked up by a massive label early into his career. He is able to encapsulate the lyrics of heartbreak into melancholic, yet upbeat melodies.
As he started his infamous song “Start Over” the verse was cut short after the first few lines. To his surprise, the Universal Music Canada team presented his Gold Plaque for the track, a first of many for the artist. Shortly after he restarted the song, but the emotion behind the track was much more dramatic than the others.
The night signified a rush of emotion for him, as it was also his first headlining show within Toronto. Zach finished his set by thanking each member of the audience in the crowd from the bottom of his heart, as it was a night that both the audience and him will never forget.
Fans at the Drake Underground witnessed history on December 7th. The performing artists witnessed the deep support that the city has for them. Without a doubt, each performer of the night has a very exciting future for themselves within the industry.
