Having sold out four nights at the 20,000 capacity venue and several other cities across the UK, it felt pointed that Dave had chosen to perform in arenas rather than stadiums.
The set-up felt deliberately intimate, with a large central platform that allowed Dave to spend most of his time as close to the audience as possible.
Where this really worked was during performances of some of his older tracks – Screwface Capital and Psycho, which could have easily been swallowed up in a stadium environment.
Clever staging was also used to showcase his live band on the evening, who appeared on a raised platform behind the Brixton-born artist.
They provided a steady soundtrack for Dave’s stream of rap hits, including Location and Verdansk, but also elevated his Afrobeats tracks System and No Weapons.
The platforms also allowed Dave to show off his multitude of talents, providing opportunities for him to play the grand piano and then transition to the guitar for one of several duets with album co-collaborator James Blake, who called him “the greatest” during a performance of History.
Much of the evening felt like a sing-a-long, with the audience even starting chants of ‘Thiago Silva’ to the tune of The White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army – something that has become a tradition at Dave’s festival performances in the last few years.
Luckily for them, Dave did then perform the track – which basically proves that peer pressure does indeed work.
Professor X and No Words provided genuine moments of joy for the star, who grinned throughout as the London audience rapped along and in some instances, screamed a bit too.
The evening was light on special guests, which could have been an obstacle for the performer, who boasts a back catalogue with a large number of feature artists.
But the solution came in the form of several large screens, which floated across the stage with holograms of the likes of Stormzy and Tems.
This worked particularly well for tracks such as UK Rap and Trojan Horse – which came from his highly acclaimed collaborative album with Central Cee, Split Decision.
And when the lead single from that 2023 album, Sprinter, which has since broken several streaming records, was played towards the end, the holograms were teamed with graphics to provide a truly electric experience.
He ended his set with two of his UK number 1s – TikTok favourite Raindance and 2022 hit Starlight – telling fans: “It’s been 10 years but it feels like it’s flown by”.