Drake Performs with Hologram of Younger Self and Nearly Gets Hit by Fan’s Phone at First Tour Stop

The opening night of Drake’s It’s All a Blur Tour with 21 Savage was quite eventful.

Throughout the show at United Center in Chicago on Thursday, the “In My Feelings” rapper delivered more than 40 songs, performed alongside a hologram of his younger self and dodged a fan’s phone thrown toward him from the crowd.

Marking the first of 56 dates, Drake opened the tour stop with a jam-packed setlist including the hits “Marvins Room,” “Headlines,” “The Motto,” “Started from the Bottom,” “Sicko Mode,” “Way 2 Sexy,” God’s Plan,” “Nice for What,” “One Dance,” “Sticky” and more.

The 36-year-old headliner kicked off the performance with a rendition of “Look What You’ve Done,” showcasing the track live for the first time since 2012. While rapping the Take Care album cut, Drake sat on a couch alongside a hologram version of his younger self, which bopped its head along to the beat.

Attendees’ videos show a dumfounding moment where the hologram appears to hand Drake a book, which the rapper physically grabs and opens up.

In an unconventional move, 21 Savage took the stage after the former Degrassi star’s set and performed 12 songs solo. Then, Drake joined him for five tracks from their joint 2022 album Her Loss before closing out the show with “Legend” from 2015’s If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late.

At some point during the show, Drake sang a cover of Ginuwine’s “So Anxious” — and a fan threw their cell phone at him on stage. According to videos filmed by attendees, the rapper appears to try and catch the flying phone before missing and watching it hit the ground.

While Drake didn’t appear to be injured by the thrown phone, the incident comes after stars including Bebe Rexha, Kelsea Ballerini and Pink have all endured concertgoers throwing objects toward them mid-performance.

Rexha, 33, was struck in the face and injured by a cell phone while performing in New York City last month. The “I’m Good (Blue)” musician was knocked to the ground during a show after crowd member Nicolas Malvanga threw the phone forehead in the middle of a song, splitting her eyebrow and requiring stitches.

The New York District Attorney’s Office told PEOPLE that the 27-year-old New Jersey resident was arrested on several misdemeanor charges: two counts of third degree assault as well as second degree aggravated harassment, third degree attempted assault and second degree harassment.

According to the criminal complaint, Malvanga was taken into custody, admitted to throwing the phone and told police, “I was trying to see if I could hit her with the phone at the end of the show because it would be funny.”

His next court date is July 31. The assailant’s lawyer, Todd Spodek, told PEOPLE in a statement at the time: “Nicolas, like many other fans, was hoping to interact in some way with Ms. Rexha as the phone was returned. It was never his intention to injure Ms. Rexha in any way.”

Meanwhile, Ballerini was recently hit in the face by an object during a show in Boise, Idaho. The 29-year-old country star posted to her Instagram Story the following day, writing in part, “Hi. I’m fine. Someone threw a bracelet, it hit me in the eye, and it more so just scared me than hurt me.”

During one of the recent London shows on her Summer Carnival 2023 Tour, Pink was shocked as a fan tossed a clear plastic bag of a powdered substance on stage — and it turned out to be their dead mother’s ashes.

According to a video of the moment shared on Twitter by an attendee, Pink received the bag and picked it up, holding only the corner. “Is this your mom?” the 43-year-old superstar asked the crowd member, who seemed to affirm her query.

The “So What” singer-songwriter made a confused face and slowly placed the bag down on stage. “I don’t know how I feel about this,” she said.

[via]