“4 of Drake’s 16 sold-out shows in Australia and New Zealand will be postponed:” Drake quits his Australia/New Zealand tour early

It’s safe to say that it’s been a fairly odd month (year?) for Drake. And, despite recently fighting back from his Kendrick Lamar-based adversity with a hit, return-to-form album drop while neatly broadcasting DGAF confidence, it seems that all is still not perfect on planet Drizzy.

The global superstar just cancelled the rest of his tour of Australia and New Zealand, quitting the jaunt with four dates to go. Could it be that things are going from bad to great to worse again?…

Drake’s four hastily cancelled dates are – or rather would have been – 4 March in Brisbane (which would have been the final night of three at the venue) an extra 5 March gig scheduled in Sydney (marking a return to the city and fifth gig at the venue) and two gigs across the water in Auckland, New Zealand – his only two gigs in the country and which would have concluded the tour.

Instead the tour – named the Anita Max Win Tour – has wrapped early with Drake on his way to an unspecified but more pressing business engagement and doubtless leaving fans disappointed and – currently – out of pocket.

“Due to a scheduling conflict, four of Drake’s 16 sold-out shows in Australia and New Zealand will be postponed. We are actively working on rescheduling these dates along with adding some additional shows,” his team said in an official release.

Hold On We’re Going Home

Of course, the classic reason for cancelling remaining dates on a tour is due to poor tickets sales – the star has already played four dates at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena earlier this month, after all, and the two Auckland New Zealand gigs – requiring a visit to another whole country – may have become a not-worth-the-cash logistical trek too far.

But with Drake flying high (despite being neck deep in dirty laundry) this seems unlikely.

Indeed, while in Australia the star had played a surprise 90-minute set at Le Club in Melbourne for 100 lucky fans before engaging them in an all-expenses paid party at the hot Bourke Street nightspot. Looks like he’s hardly on his uppers.

It’s more likely therefore that the drop and success of his $ome $exy $ongs 4 U album – which his team rushed out hot on the heels of Kendrick Lamar's 133 million-eyeball diss-fest – has proven to be a bigger opportunity than even they predicted.

After all, there’s no such thing as bad publicity and with all eyes on Drake following Lamar’s superbowl performance, dropping a precise and fan-pleasing album (while seamlessly continuing a successful tour of Oceana) may have proved to be a such genius move that he’s now keen to bust out and capitalise further.

Somebody Loves Me

$ome $exy $ongs 4 U – a collab with PartyNext Door – is scattered with the star making light of his multiple in-progress beefs stressing just how few ‘effs’ he gives in multiple spots across its surface. Perhaps summing up his current plan to shake it off best, on Gimme A Hug he raps: “Fuck a rap beef, I’m tryna get the party lit,” and it’s this stand-back, shoulder-shrug, return to the sexy, untouchable, playa of old coming so hot on the heels of such a public diss, that’s resonated with his fans.

Whatever the truth is, with more pressing engagements than pleasing his Australian and New Zealand fans, it’ll be interesting to see exactly where Champagne Papi does show up on those dates instead.

A full statement, given to Rolling Stone AU/NZ, reads as follows:

“Due to a scheduling conflict, four of Drake’s 16 sold-out shows in Australia and New Zealand will be postponed. We are actively working on rescheduling these dates along with adding some additional shows.

"All tickets for the affected shows will remain valid for the new dates. Refunds will be available for those who prefer, but please note that as these shows are sold out, any refunded tickets will be released for sale.

"We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience. Drake and the entire team have had an incredible time doing these shows and are excited to return soon.

"We look forward to sharing the rescheduled dates with you as soon as possible.”