Kanye West's Surprise Concert in NYC June 2016
Kanye West's Surprise Concert Causes Absolute Chaos on the Streets of NYC
After unhappy Governor's Ball attendees were told Kanye West's set at the music festival was being canceled due to inclement weather, the "Ultralight Beam" rapper attempted to make it up to them with a surprise performance at Hot 97's Summer Jam in New Jersey, as well as with another show in NYC later on that night. As Kanye took the stage at the Summer Jam, his creative director, Virgil Abloh, posted an Instagram photo that was originally captioned, "Summer Jam now. We're doing PABLO at 2 am in Manhattan. Sorting out where now." Word quickly spread that they'd chosen Webster Hall in the East Village as the venue, prompting approximately 4,000 fans to mob 13th Street in hopes of seeing him perform.
It didn't take long for the situation to turn into a "near riot," with people climbing on cars and dumpsters and getting arrested by police. Kanye did eventually show up to wave to fans, but by the time he'd arrived, everything was too out of control and Webster Hall shut it down due to safety concerns. "There is no late show at Webster Hall tonight. Please get home safely," the venue tweeted. Kim Kardashian also chimed in on her husband's attempts at pleasing his fans on Snapchat. "We tried. He tried so hard, but it was just bigger," she said in a video posted around 4 a.m. "The cops just really wouldn't allow it." Luckily the city of NY seems to be taking it all in stride, with Mayor Bill de Blasio sending Kim and Kanye a cheeky tweet saying, "Great block parties are planned. @Chirlane & I can throw one w/ you to benefit NYC kids." Check out pictures and footage of the insanity surrounding Kanye's almost-show below!
