Kanye West at Webster Hall: Before, During and After the Chaos

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Sam Sheffer‘s vlog of what happened

Day three of Governors Ball was cancelled due to severe weather and chance of lightning. The storm eventually passed, but the event was dead and gone. Vic Mensa, like many of the acts who were meant to perform at the festival (Two Door Cinema Club, Courtney Barnett), announced a surprise show in NYC just hours before. Tickets for his Webster Hall event sold out quickly, but I managed to grab one on Twitter for $12.

I rushed to the subway and got to the venue some time after doors opened at 9pm. The queue went around three blocks as it clashed with fans of Galantis, who were already set to perform in the larger room of the venue at the same time as Vic. As I was waiting, Virgil Abloh tweeted about Kanye West performing a show at 2am after his appearance at Summer Jam, and told people to stay tuned for more information. Due to the fact that he’s pals with Vic Mensa, I knew there was a slim chance the secret location could be Webster Hall.

Security eventually split the two lines and told the Galantis fans to queue from the other side of the building. When the queue moved far enough so that I was on the same street as the venue, a bouncer started letting people who already had physicals tickets through the door of a bar next door. That was my time to move in.

I finally got into the show after about an hour and a half, and Vic Mensa was already performing to a fairly standard sized crowd. Fans and the Webster Hall Twitter account had tweeted about the show going on before I got in, and that Ty Dolla $ign had joined him on stage. I managed to catch half of one song until “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” played and he swiftly left the stage.

Everyone waited around after he left expecting an encore or another act to come on stage. Fans were chanting, but nothing happened. Around 10 minutes later, the venue staff told everyone to leave the building, but I waited around in the bar next door to finish my beer and check Twitter for details of the secret Yeezy show. There were rumblings that Webster Hall was the location but nothing concrete. I was kind of hoping I could stay in there if it did happen.

When security told us to leave the bar, I saw a line had started from the left side of the venue. There must have been around 50-100 people in the queue at early doors before anyone at all related to Kanye sent out a message. I joined it anyway. Someone I was with managed to catch a glimpse of artists entering and it was at that point, we knew something was really going down. People slowly began to join the line and 2 Chainz soon confirmed he was going to be at Webster Hall.

As I was waiting, hundreds of people started to race to the back of line and security were doing a good job of making sure nobody jumped into our spot, with fans in line quick to snitch on those they missed. Around this time, someone told me they had seen Chance The Rapper rush out through the bar earlier in the night. People around me were rushing to ATMs just in case it did cost to get in, as news of the show spread like wildfire across social media and thousands made it to the East Village area of Manhattan.

Soon enough, chaos ensued. A stampede of people rushed behind us and we were quickly crushed and unable to move. I had my arms above my waist to make sure I could find air in the sweaty mess. We could see flashing lights down the street but the police seemed to be doing nothing about it. The street was rammed with nowhere to move.

We were swaying side by side and several people passed out and had to be lifted from the crowd and carried to safety. Those directly next to scaffoldings, cars and vans made use of them to climb out of the chaos. It was a struggle but stuck it out for around 15 minutes, until I said “fuck it” and told someone to lift me up so I could get out and make it to the spacious side of the street. What a great idea that was.

I grabbed some water and walked to the end of East 11th to see the NYPD had blocked it off. That’s all well and good, but where was the help to push the crowd back and help those who were getting squashed and struggling to breathe?

People were on their phones waiting for the next move as I waited. Despite Webster Hall saying the show was cancelled, and A$AP Rocky leaving the venue, artists like Travi$ Scott and 2 Chainz were keeping the hype alive, with people pulling down ladders to climb on roofs to catch a glimpse of what was happening at the opposite end of the street. Kanye was driving nearby the venue on a truck and photos started to surface on Twitter, with an eruption of fans chanting “Pablo” on and off.

I stayed around just to see what was happening, but as soon as Virgil tweeted it was cancelled, I fled. Ambulances were flying down the street while I was making my way to the subway. As I was heading back, artists were tweeting about trying to find a location. I even saw a few people waiting outside Bowery Ballroom in case it turned out to be the spot.

Trump SoHo and SOB’s were the places artists were tweeting about, but it was the latter where Pusha T, 2 Chainz, Travi$ Scott and Desiigner eventually performed. Periscopes were appearing of people sprinting across the city. It was about 14 blocks from me but I was already (thankfully) home and ready to call it a night.

As for Kanye? He was tucked up in bed with Kim. All those kids running around didn’t get to see him perform a single thing. I was one of those guaranteed to get in, but didn’t. You can’t deny he created a moment, as always, though.

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