Kanye West Storms Off Stage At Tampa 'Yeezus' Show Because Of Lighting Issues

Kanye West Storms Off The Stage

Do not mess with Kanye West's lighting.

West allegedly stormed off the stage at the Tampa Bay Times Forum in Florida on Nov. 30 because he was displeased with some of the technical aspects of the show, according to the Tampa Tribune. Apparently the "Blood On the Leaves" rapper had issues with a variety of things: He thought the lasers shooting out of the fake mountains "suck[ed]," an LED screen showed his face in color instead of in black and white, his mic didn't give him the "deep voice" and the lighting was wrong.

Seconds into his third song, West had the music stopped and left the stage because he wanted the lights turned off, the Tampa Tribune reported. He returned a minute later to perform "Send It Up," but not before offering some "harsher language for his technical crew that can’t be repeated here," writer Christopher Spata notes.

"He screamed at his tech crew; he barked at the audience," the Tampa Bay Times' music critic Sean Daly reported. "But just try looking away: The local crowd would sing along one minute, collectively hold its breath the next, worried the star would storm off (or perilously writhe off) the stage for good."

West's outburst might have unfolded in front of a crowd of more than 7,000 (although the theater seats around 20,000 at full capacity), but Daly noted the overall performance was impressive. He described it as "confounding," "rewarding" and "unpredictable," in true Kanye West style.

On Nov. 29, during a concert in Miami, Kanye accused Nike of "extortion" over his Air Yeezy shoes, New York Post's Page Six noted.

The 36-year-old's Yeezus tour, which kicked off in October, has been marred by cancellations due to damaged equipment. He was forced to skip shows in Vancouver, Denver, Minneapolis and Chicago. The tour concludes in Toronto on Dec. 23.

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