Rap artist Lil Yachty was forced to cancel his Vancouver concert on Saturday night after just a few songs due to safety concerns when attendees in the stands rushed onto the floor and toward the stage.
Videos posted to social media platforms show the rapper encouraging audience members to join the venue’s general admission section on the floor of the arena, calling on them to “fill it up.”
The concert was held at Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre at the University of British Columbia (UBC).
<a href=”https://twitter.com/lilyachty?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@lilyachty</a> just had his show in Vancouver cancelled after 5 songs for inviting everyone into the pit, people then refused to leave the pit forcing the venue to shut it down.. <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/lilyachty?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#lilyachty</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/fieldtriptour?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#fieldtriptour</a> <a href=”https://t.co/HgFkNyj97Q”>pic.twitter.com/HgFkNyj97Q</a>
—@IceTiltHero
In a statement released Sunday afternoon, UBC said arena staff and concert promoter Live Nation made the joint decision to cancel the concert.
“During the performance, the artist had invited attendees from reserved seating in the stands to join the floor area. This put the floor area over capacity, so UBC and Live Nation staff paused the show to direct audience members back to their seats,” said the statement.
But it says when Lil Yachty reappeared, the floor began to fill again, and staff decided to cancel the show “out of an abundance of caution and with the safety of concert-goers top of mind.”
“We are unaware of any significant medical or police incidents arising from the show’s cancellation,” says the statement.
Yachty !!! Cmon bro Vancouver needs another dates…please was waiting for this for months <a href=”https://twitter.com/lilyachty?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@lilyachty</a> <a href=”https://t.co/mww8SeIvW0″>pic.twitter.com/mww8SeIvW0</a>
—@BrownAct07
Sebastian Stratford, 18, says the energy of the crowd changed when the rapper invited people to the floor.
“Heat of the moment, everybody started storming it,” said Stratford. “Everybody just started hopping the wall.”
Although Stratford was disappointed his first-ever concert was cut short, he said he understands why the decision was made.
“It’s just unfortunate, but it’s not the end of the world,” he said.
The artist posted to Instagram footage of concert-goers flooding down from the stands to the floor section, writing “they shut us down last night Vancouver.”
In the video, he can be heard shouting to the crowd, “Come down here! Come on!”
CBC News has reached out to Live Nation to ask if attendees will be refunded for the event.