The purpose of festivals such as South By Southwest is (or was) for small unsigned acts to draw attention from labels and media. That's still largely true, but the scene has also become inundated with big names that you've already heard of, and that's who we (media and fans alike) tend to gravitate toward. The unfortunate trend caused Chance The Rapper's set to be shut down less than 20 minutes into his set late Tuesday night.
Chance, a Chicago rapper, has earned respect from fans and critics for his acclaimed Acid Rap EP last year, and a series of guest slots during 2014, including his verse on Skrillex's new album Recess. That sort of draw proved to be too much for his gig at SXSW, and the Austin City Fire Department opted to shut down the show after Chance spent 18 minutes onstage.
According to reports, 350 people tried to fit into Red 7, an Austin bar that's only licensed to hold 300 according to the fire code. Fans that stuck around after the shutdown began chanting for the rapper to reemerge, but didn't have any luck. Fortunately, Chance was the last performer of the night (his set was scheduled for 1 a.m.), and no smaller musicians lost their shot to perform.
Chance was set to perform at the venue's patio stage, while separate performances were going on inside the bar. Miami rapper Milkman was scheduled to start performing at 1:15 on the inner stage, but no word has been given on whether that performance went forward. Milkman tweeted at around 1 a.m. to "Come see ya boy at r7 right now at 1:15!!!" but he hasn't tweeted since to indicate whether the show went forward.
UPDATE
Milkman retweeted a fan who praised his Tuesday night show, suggesting that his set did move forward.
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