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22nd March 2019
12:18pm GMT

Backed up by streaming stats and freshly broken records, Drake is an unusually dull megastar for a jaded time, and his half-baked medleys simply cannot compete with the Midas Touch that sweeps the Olympia on Tuesday and Wednesday.
You won't catch .Paak in a venue like this over here again, which is a shame in one respect, given the loving communion on display.
As noted, this is a party. The Californian can weave in social commentary where he sees fit, but his chief skill is that of host. There's an undeniable presence here, a superstar aura that deserves to be recognised and sky-rocketed.
"I learned that to be onstage, confidence is everything," he told Rolling Stone last September.
That assurance is everywhere, on every part of the stage, in the crowd, rising to the ceiling. The drum kit doesn't get graced by anyone else. There's no need, not when .Paak trades centre focus for a barrage of percussion while simultaneously singing and rapping so seamlessly.
It's no gimmick. Just another feather in the bucket hat.
Slightly older numbers like 'Come Down' and 'Put Me Thru' are honestly electric, as is a cut from the superb NxWorries collaboration record.
There's another album coming, too. Next month will see Ventura drop, with no seeming end of .Paak's prolificness in sight, even if not everyone is as thrilled as those are in Dublin.
"My wife fucking hates me, I’m not even getting to see my kids all the time because I’m in the studio all the time," he admitted in that aforementioned Rolling Stone conversation.
"This is it. This is everything I have."
Not quite. There's always something more.
The curtain draws as fresh respect is paid to the late Mac Miller, a deafening roar greeting his name and a photograph of both men together, huge smiles stretched across their features.
That's the message. Nobody gets forgotten about or left behind at this celebration. Every moment counts. All the pieces matter. The night is alive.
"Dublin? Are you still there? Dublin, are you with me?" our host asks, more than once.
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