Rappers Ice seasoning After arriving almost 30 minutes late to her highly anticipated New Year’s Eve performance at the Wildlands Festival in Queensland, Australia, she was met with severe backlash.
The “Barbie World” singer, who was headlining, was due to perform at the Brisbane Showgrounds on Tuesday night.
However, fans of Ice Spice were left frustrated when the rapper showed up 25 minutes late to her 30-minute set.
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Ice Spice shows up late for her performance
When Ice Spice finally took the stage, the situation only got worse. Just five minutes after her performance, the organizers switched off her microphone due to the impending curfew at 12:30 p.m. Although she appeared to continue performing, her voice could not be heard as the stage was cleared to make way for the next performance.
As boos echoed from the crowd, the “Deli” artist was seen pacing the stage before flashing a peace sign and leaving without addressing the audience.
Disappointed fans, some of whom traveled up to six hours and spent over $350 per ticket, took to social media to express their anger.
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Video of Ice Spice being booed off stage goes viral
Video footage of the short and chaotic performance quickly went viral, with many questioning the festival’s lack of professionalism and time management.
“Being late is just unprofessional. There are music curfews in the UK. So if someone hovers over the microphone, it just cuts out. “I’ve never seen an artist here come late because we just don’t allow it,” one person commented in the comments section.
“Let’s respect everyone’s time and money,” said another.
“I love that she looks like she wants to cry,” said a third.
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The venue issues a statement
In response to the backlash Wildlands Festival The organizers issued a statement about the situation on Instagram:
“We understand that the late arrival of Ice Spice has caused some disappointment. Managing a crowded festival means we have to stick extremely strictly to set times. “We had a strict curfew of 12:30 p.m. and needed to make sure the last act got on stage on time so everyone could enjoy the New Year’s Eve countdown.”
“She’s disrespectful, so good in Wildlands,” one user said after hearing the venue’s response.
“All venues should do this when artists are late,” said another.
“Them pulling the plug on her was iconic,” a third commented.
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Mass visitors speak out
Gold Coast music podcaster and journalist Brenton Larney was in the audience for the short six-minute performance.
“At 11:01 p.m. – they gave her an extra minute… – they turned off the microphone and you could hear the collective sigh of the crowd,” he said The Guardian. “You waited a while and you get two songs? That was a bit ridiculous and it was really disrespectful the way she walked away. She laughed when they tried to give her flowers for her birthday and she shrugged them off.
He noted that Ice Spice seemed subdued and gave the impression that “she didn’t want to be there.”
“It was just really disrespectful to see that, especially given all the cancellations and everything we’ve been experiencing in the Australian music scene,” he said. “It didn’t help.”
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Fans react to Ice Spice’s stance
Mia Sims, a 20-year-old dance instructor from the Gold Coast, said she and many others arrived 30 minutes early to secure a good spot in the mosh pit ahead of Ice Spice’s scheduled performance. The result was that fans were crammed together for almost an hour in total, in what turned out to be an extremely short performance.
“And she came out and played two songs – and they weren’t even two of her most popular songs,” Sims said. “It seemed kind of like a joke, like she didn’t actually care and especially like she hadn’t posted anything on her social media or apologized. So I couldn’t imagine being one of their biggest fans and this happening. I would be pretty devastated.”
