Melbourne rapper Illy had to cut his set short last night after being bottled on-stage. The MC was only five songs into his show at the Kay Street Entertainment Complex when a glass, thrown in his direction by a hostile crowd member, narrowly missed his eye.
Illy abruptly cancelled his set, to ensure the safety of himself and his stage family, much to the dismay of hundreds of fans who were gathered to watch him perform.
¡°There has to be a zero tolerance for that shit,¡± Illy wrote on Facebook following the incident. ¡°If me or my crew get hurt and have to cancel shows, there¡¯s a group of people I¡¯m responsible for who are directly effected. It¡¯s bigger than just me. We¡¯re on stage to smash, but not at the expense of personal safety. If that hit me square in the eye and broke, who knows? It wasn¡¯t far off.¡±
Despite the venue insisting the stray projectile was plastic, Illy sustained a ¡°small cut¡± and black eye from the impact. He assured fans not to worry, before apologising for abandoning his performance.
¡°I apologize to you guys, and everyone who missed out because of one f**kwit. It takes a lot for me to not put you guys first, but this was one of those times. In fact, it¡¯s the first time in my music career.¡±
He went on to say that he is already trying to reschedule a Traralgon date to make up for the abandoned performance. ¡°This doesn¡¯t reflect badly on the rest of you,¡± wrote the ¡®Tightrope¡¯ rapper. ¡°So, we are already trying to reschedule a Traralgon show with the venue, that your tickets from last night will be valid for at no extra cost. From my side of it, I¡¯m pushing for that.¡±
Meanwhile, the venue posted on social media to apologise for the unfortunate incident, and to inform people that the glass-hurling culprit was identified and barred from the venue.
Illy¡¯s Trarlgon show marked the final show on his five-date regional tour of Victoria. The Aussie hip-hop heavyweight will embark on his One For The Cities national tour this November to promote his new album, Cinematic. Tickets are on sale now through various ticket outlets.