Snoop Dogg headlines AFL Grand Final launch party as Melbourne's A-list stays away

Snoop Dogg delivered a late-night encore in Melbourne, headlining a VIP launch party for his AFL Grand Final headline set. The rapper performed as DJ Snoopadelic, taking the decks at St Kilda’s Espy (Hotel Esplanade) and launching into a high-energy set close to midnight, about two hours after the scheduled start time. The appearance marked his first Australian performance since arriving in Melbourne this week, and it framed the Grand Final weekend as much as the sport itself.

According to columnist Lucy Manly, the guest list for the Espy event skewed away from Melbourne’s traditional A-list circle. The night showcased a different mix: suits and marketing executives, along with a sprinkling of AFL players—Collingwood’s Isaac Quaynor, St Kilda’s Jack Steele and Callum Wilkie among them—and a cadre of reality-TV and media personalities. Absent were familiar fashion and social figures such as Bec Judd, Nadia Bartel and Rozalia Russian. Manly noted the shift in crowd dynamics, suggesting the event reflected a broader trend in Grand Final Week festivities where star power sits alongside corporate presence rather than just the city’s glossy social scene.

The mood inside was one of controlled celebration. Snoop Dogg, in full showman mode, teased the audience with his signature charisma and seamless crowd engagement. He moved between DJ decks and the floor, tossing a joint to a lucky fan mid-set and conversing with attendees as he worked the room. The set list leaned on his enduring catalog—Drop It Like It’s Hot, Nuthin’ but a G Thang, and his Katy Perry collaboration California Gurls—interspersed with crowd-pleasers that kept some sections of the venue singing along at full volume. He also slid in nostalgia-tinged moments, including renditions of Sweet Caroline and Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams, to keep the energy buoyant as the room glowed with neon and alcohol-fueled excitement.

The Espy party served as a preface to the momentous show scheduled for the following day: Snoop Dogg’s estimated 100,000-strong audience at the MCG, with reports noting a roughly $5 million payday for the performance. In the days leading to the AFL Grand Final, the lineup and the atmosphere around the Espy sparked debate about the league’s approach to celebrity involvement. Critics argued that Snoop’s history of controversial lyrics and his recent remarks about same-sex couples could complicate the league’s public-relations posture during one of Australia’s biggest sports spectacles. Supporters, meanwhile, framed the appearance as a global star bringing attention to the Grand Final weekend and contributing to a festive, spectacle-driven event calendar.

Inside the venue, the crowd reflected a cross-section of Melbourne’s current cultural moment. A handful of fans camped for front-row space, with one person reportedly offering as much as $1,000 to swap spots with a friend. The mix of attendees painted a portrait of Grand Final Week as a convergence zone for sport, entertainment, and commerce: eshays in bum bags shared space with suburban mums who had perhaps sequenced their Saturday radio-show appearances with a post-party wind-down. The VIP section featured a boomer wearing earplugs and dancing along, a reminder that even the most high-profile events can become a mosaic of audiences with different relationships to pop culture and nightlife.

Snoop Dogg’s presence on the Espy stage and his forthcoming MCG performance highlight a broader pattern in Melbourne’s entertainment landscape, where global acts intersect with major sporting events to generate attention, tourism, and conversation. While some voices questioned the alignment of a hip-hop icon with a traditionally family-friendly Grand Final weekend, others celebrated the energy and international spotlight that big-name bookings bring to the city. The AFL and its partners have defended the strategy as part of a broader effort to elevate the spectacle surrounding the Grand Final and to attract diverse audiences to Melbourne’s late-September festivities. As the dust settles on a weekend defined by flash, it remains clear that Snoop Dogg’s appearance gave Melbourne a talking point—whether critics see it as authentic cultural celebration or a calculated branding moment.

In the wake of the Espy’s party, Melbourne’s cultural circles will likely watch closely how the city balances sport, celebrity culture, and local taste during the Grand Final weekend. Snoop Dogg’s double bill—an intimate VIP showcase and a massive stadium performance—illustrates how the line between entertainment and sport continues to blur in Australia’s cultural center, drawing both scrutiny and applause for the way these events shape the city’s image on the global stage.