Vanessa Carlton made a dreamy surprise appearance during Drake’s headlining set at Wireless Festival in London. There was barely enough time for the crowd to take in this scenic moment of surreality before the sweet, piano-led melody of “A Thousand Miles” wafted skyward from Finsbury Park, instantly sending us right back there to 2002 in the best way imaginable.
The 44-year-old Carlton settled down gently behind the piano, as Drake, clearly just as giddy as the rest of us, delivered her a wholesome intro. As they hit that iconic intro note, the energy changed. It wasn’t just a performance for the audience; it was a collective reflective exhale, soon leading to thousands of voices in the audience singing along with wide-eyed smiles on their faces. Drake, of over-the-top hip-hop braggadocio, acted like a superfan with charming sincerity, shouting her on, inciting the crowd to belt it out like it was the early 2000s all over again.
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“Thank you to the one and only @champagnepapi for inviting me to participate in his show and for the amazing introduction. I am swept away and I am a fan since Day 1. And thanks to everyone behind the scenes who pulled this one off for us. So now I would like to let you know thanks to @wirelesssfest for now making that possible #betterdrakeconcert #losangeles #justintimberlakevoice.”
The moment was a high point in what had already been a weekend full of surprises. Drake’s three-night residency at Wireless Festival became something of a revolving door of musical royalty: Lauryn Hill, 21 Savage, Giveon, PartyNextDoor, Skepta, Latto, and Sexyy Red all took turns lighting up the stage. But there was something magical about Carlton’s appearance in particular. Maybe it was the novelty in terms of a genre-blend, maybe it was the memories, or maybe it was just the actual glee between the two performers.
Drake himself characterized the weekend as a celebration of melodies and R&B favorites, telling the crowd on Friday, “Here we are, this is the first time in my life I’ve ever done three different shows on three different days. You came to a very particular evening…All things melodies. All classics.”
And classics, they were indeed on full display, even if the festival’s last night did not go entirely as it was supposed to. However, as a result of a strict curfew by the local authorities, fans were left wanting more as the Sunday set was reduced to an all too brief 40 minutes.
Yet the duet at least provided fans with a once-in-a-lifetime experience and a reminder that even in a weekend chock-full of hip-hop heavyweights, it can sometimes be the gentle piano intro of a beloved ballad that renders them all mute.
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