Over the weekend, Chance the Rapper treated his hometown fans with the Magnificent Coloring Day Festival in Chicago, featuring performances from John Legend, Tyler the Creator, Alicia Keys, Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz, and more. By pretty much all accounts, the event was a success, with audiences celebrating and enjoying the show on a beautiful day. But it seems safe to say that the crowd of tens of thousands was most hyped when Kanye West made a surprise guest appearance to perform a medley of songs, including “Black Skinhead,” “Gold Digger,” and the rappers’ Life of Pablo collaboration “Ultralight Beam.”
As the New York Times described it, Kanye’s arrival triggered “mayhem”: “On the left side of the stage, a row of porta-potties became a makeshift staircase supporting scores of young people who hopped the guard rail, landed atop the stalls, then slid their way down to the field.” Eventually, the security guards, who were supposed to keep fans in their designated sections, began to help those who fell down in the swarm toward the stage. The Chicago Reader compared it to a Michael Jackson concert, as some folks apparently fainted or were carried out on stretchers.
When West and Chance performed “Ultralight Beam,” he barely had to sing a word on stage, as the audience screamed the chorus rapturously. It was a charming performance, as the young protégé and the legendary vet, both proud Chicago natives, basked in each other’s beaming glows.
