Drake's Australian Concert Crowds Seem More About Money Than Music

Despite his recent pivot into online gambling degeneracy, Drake has still shown he's capable of "God's Plan"-level generosity in awarding sizeable chunks of change to fans at his shows. Now, a photo from his current tour has listeners wondering if fans are filling seats for the money more than the music.

This February and March, the Canadian is in Oceania for his Anita Max Win tour, marking his first performances in Australia and New Zealand since 2017. The trek is named for a cartoon owl character Drake revealed on a gambling livestream hosted on Kick in December 2023, its name a play on the phrase "I need a max win."

Fan-shot concert footage shows the artist pausing a performance in Sydney to scan signs in the crowd, eventually awarding $25,000 to a fan who was recently let go from their job, and $30,000 to a mother of three.

It appears concertgoers at other Australian dates have taken notice. A still image from Drake's concert shared by Complex shows audience members holding signs aloft hoping for a financial assist with real-life issues (vet bills and mortgage payments) and more trivial asks (vacations to Greece and bachelorette parties in Ibiza).

"Help my BF buy me an engagement ring," reads one sign, while another reads, "Help him buy my mum a Birkin [bag]." Attendees holding up a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey and a sign reading "I got hit by a car and I left hospital," respectively, are clearly beyond help.

Reaction to the viral image on X (formerly Twitter) ranged from "genuinely dystopian" to "sad as hell," while others pointed out the hypocrisy of paying Live Nation arena floor seat prices to go and beg a benevolent megastar for money.

At least for the remainder of the Anita Max Win tour, a Drake concert stub is effectively a high-priced lottery ticket, and maybe that's what the artist boasting an online casino sponsorship wants. In any case, his charity should serve him better than bullet holes in his post-"Not Like Us" pivoting. Australia is just Hot Canada if you think about it (large swaths of land deemed uninhabitable, high cost of living).

Drake recently teamed with PARTYNEXTDOOR for collaborative album $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, while it was also announced that his History venue would be opening in Ottawa.