On Monday, November 3rd, Drake announced he would be going on tour once again, once his It’s All a Blur Tour finished. This tour would be performed alongside J. Cole, who Drake has a handful of songs with, including the Billboard hit, “First Person Shooter.” The tour earns the name Big As The What? from a lyric in this infamous song.
The tour featured nearby cities like Columbus, Pittsburgh and Cleveland. The tour is an “edition” to Drake and 21 Savage’s It’s All A Blur Tour. The Big As The What? Tour began on January 18 in Denver, Colorado, and ended on March 27.
The tour was done with a 360 stage and a variety of effects and props, making the concerts entertaining and enjoyable to many of the concert goers. The set list for both Drake and J.Cole featured many of their most popular hits and older, less well-known songs to appeal to older and more recent fans.
The concert itself began at 8 p.m. This is when opener Lil Dirk began his performance. The performance featured around seven songs including the hit song, “All My Life” which features J. Cole. For this song, a children’s group was brought out to sing background melodies of the song which was an exciting creative addition. Lil Dirk also returned to the stage later in the show to sing his portion of the song “Laugh Now Cry Later” with Drake.
Drake took the stage at around 9 p.m. His performance opened and closed with a band playing his song “Trophies.” The band also played in portions of other songs Drake sang. After this song, Drake performed a popular song from his new album, For All The Dogs, titled “Virginia Beach.” This song and the next few were played on a separate stage different from the 360 stage the rest of the concert had been on.
After over 30 songs from Drake, J. Cole took the stage. He started with “Middle Child,” and performed many songs from early in his career. Before he left the stage, Drake joined him where they played the previously mentioned hit song “First Person Shooter.”
After this, Drake ended the night with around ten more songs and the song “Slime You Out.” The concert length varied depending on the show, as well as the particular ways the performance was done. The Pittsburgh show, in specific, lasted just under three hours.
The overall atmosphere at the concert was very high energy. Both Drake and J. Cole rapped and performed for the entire time, not just letting their music play alone as many artists now do. The concerts had a wide variety of people in their audiences, from teens, interested in Drake’s new albums, along with parents, who have listened to Drake since the beginning of his career.
Drake also made a point to bring kindness to others on his tour. He reminded fans multiple times of the importance of helping others and even told fans to give each other hugs during the show. Drake also gifted select audience members $2,500 to some audience members who have served time in the U.S. military or simply people in need.
The tour merchandise has been a hit at each concert and many HHS students who attended the concert have worn the sweatshirts and t-shirts. Although the merchandise has been popular, it has raised a lot of complaints for the prices. The sweatshirts were sold for $220 and this high price isn’t reasonable for the low-quality of the hoodie. The other merchandise prices are not as high but could still be considered overpriced.
The concerts always feature high performance levels and demonstrate amazing audience engagement. The price of tickets and transit to concert locations is most definitely worth it. Whether you are a new or old fan of Drake and J. Cole, the concert would be enjoyable.
