M.I.A had her set cut short headlining the Big Chill Festival on
M.I.A had her set cut short headlining the Big Chill Festival on Saturday, Aug. 7, after hundreds of fans invaded the stage 30 minutes before she was due to finish.
The ‘Paper Planes’ star had invited members of the audience up to join her for ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ track ‘O Saya’ during the encore, but the avalanche of people rushing up to the Deer Park Stage caused security to shut down the show before the singer had a chance to perform her most popular tracks.
A spokesperson for M.I.A last night “thanked the wonderful audience at the Big Chill for the fantastic reception and apologized for having to cut the set short due to overwhelming demand for fans to come on stage when only a few were expected.”
M.I.A was heard to continue to incite the crowd to carry on climbing up on the main stage saying “help each other up” — with security swiftly stepping in to control the surge — when fans started climbing on equipment and a monitor was broken.
Precise numbers of the stage invasion are not known, but reports estimate up to 500 people may have managed the three-meter-high climb to get onto the stage. One fan was treated for a sprained ankle by festival medics.