httpss://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zDIw1-DiOg
“We’re doing PABLO at 2 am in Manhattan. sorting out w now,” Virgil Abloh, West’s creative director, wrote online at 10 p.m. Sunday.
West had been set to perform songs from his seventh studio album, “The Life of Pablo,” at the festival.
Though a location for the surprise concert was never disclosed, fans began to gather shortly after Abloh’s announcement outside Webster Hall, a large music venue in the East Village.
West frequently uses social media to connect with fans and often announces on Twitter when he’s dropping new music, most recently Friday with his new single from the compilation album “Cruel Winter.”
Before the performance was even made official, West and the venue tried to deter the waiting fans.
“Show at 2am SOLD OUT,” West tweeted just after 1 a.m. “T is no late show at Webster Hall tonight. Please get home safely,” the concert hall tweeted at 1:45 a.m., just before the event had been supposed to start.
In an updated post on Instagram, Abloh, West’s partner, said the event had been canceled “Due to safety priority.”
Abloh also shared a photo of a shirt with the words “New York” crossed out in marker, and “Yeezy hostage,” added below, referring to West, in an Instagram post that has since been deleted.
Photos circulated online in the 2 a.m. hour show him standing up through the sunroof of a car outside the venue.