Kanye West sent Coachella into a frenzy last night by making a guest appearance during A$AP Rocky’s set, but things did not quite go according to plan. With an allotted time slot of 7:30 to 8:20 p.m., A$ASP Rocky announced that a “legend” would be joining him on stage towards the end of his set at the Indio, California, based festival. Kanye West then walked onto the stage to a rapturous applause, but the celebrations were soon cut short as the Coachella bosses cut their microphones off after running past the allotted time.
Father Stretch My Hands pic.twitter.com/9wj2A1n2QV
— Coachella (@coachella) April 16, 2016
Playing on the Outdoor Theatre stage, Kanye West came out to perform his own “Father Stretch My Hands Pt.1” much to the delight of the crowd. A witness then told Hollywood Life how the applause was soon replaced with anger as West found himself involved in yet another controversial incident.
“They were about to announce the last song but because of the mics getting cut off, Kanye walked off stage and then so did A$AP — people were really angry. Everyone was chanting their names and then cursing. The energy was so high before the technical issues cut in, so people were really upset.”
While it was the Coachella bosses who made the decision to pull the plug on A$AP Rocky and West despite the magnitude of the guest appearance and ecstatic crowd, it was Kanye that fans were blaming for the ultimately underwhelming appearance. The organizers at Coachella are known for their strictness when it comes to allotted time, and Kanye took to the stage an entire 12 minutes later than he was originally scheduled to. Surfjan Stevens took to the stage at 8:45 p.m, before Jack U headlined the Outdoor Theatre stage later in the evening. Kanye West blamed the high winds that were circulating the desert based festival for his lateness, claiming that the festival demanded that he lower a large video screen as a safety precaution, the L.A Times reported.
While some may question Kanye West’s reasoning for appearing late on stage, the high winds had a big impact all around the festival throughout Friday. Many artists battled the winds, with Years & Years front-man Olly Alexander having to make a wardrobe adjustment halfway through the set while many punters also struggled with the high winds all throughout Friday.
Although West’s short-lived guest appearance created a somewhat sour atmosphere on Friday evening, A$AP Rocky will be taking to the stage once again on April 22. It is expected that Kanye West will appear once again, but this will do little to appease fans that have tickets for this weekend.
As Mashable reported, it is not the first time that Kanye West has stunned the crowd by making an unexpected performance , as The Life of Pablo rapper appeared at the end of The Weeknd’s set only last year. This saw many fans sprint towards the main stage to see West perform, and fans were talking about his brilliant guest appearance for days to come after. Unfortunately for West, fans will be speaking about him once again after last night’s appearance, but this time for all the wrong reasons.
Saturday at Coachella sees the likes of Run the Jewels, CHVRCHES, Disclosure, and Ice Cube perform, all before a reunited Guns n’ Roses, a band notorious for appearing late on stage, headline the main stage. After seeing a legendary performer of Kanye West’s calibre cut off by the organisers and the consequent reaction of the Coachella crowd, it is hoped that Guns n’ Roses have taken note of the strictness of the organisers.
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