We reported last night that Chief Keef's "Bang 3 Hologram Fest," also the release party for Bang 3 Pt. 2, had run into some trouble at its scheduled venue, the Henry Fonda Theater, located in Hollywood. Keef and Alki David, the CEO of FilmOn, Keef's label and the company responsible for putting on the festival, soon made plans to move the concert to a parking lot adjacent to the Fonda Theater. Well, they were initially able to kick off the event, but everything was shut down less than one song into Keef's hologram performance -- the exact scenario that took place in late July at Craze Fest in Hammond, Indiana.
Perhaps virtual Sosa should try a different opener than "I Don't Like" next time.
It's still unclear as to why the Fonda Theater called off the event in the first place, though reports hint at an altercation between event staff and the theater's security during pre-show rehearsals. A spokesman for FilmOn said that a security member had "attacked" a festival employee for "drinking the Fonda's water."
A Billboard reporter claimed that the crowd was relatively sparse in the parking lot at around 9 PM, two hours after the festival had officially started and soon before it would be shut down. She reported that the grounds were filled with artisan food trucks, arcade games, and a stage designated for rap battles. Tupac's hologram reportedly performed on the "hologram stage" before that of Keef took the stage. As mentioned, the entire thing was called off before the Sosa hologram was able to finish "I Don't Like."
The aforementioned reporter was able to speak to one of the cops who shut down the event, who told her that Keef and FilmOn "didn't have the proper permit."
"They had some, but not the one-day event permit. They didn't give enough notice to our captain. Our captain will never approve a one-day event with one-day notice. He needs time to review what it is, what kind of people will be coming," said the officer.
Hmmm..."what kind of people will be coming"? Sounds rather sketchy.
As he has in the past when Keef's hologram performance has been disallowed, Alki David has released a scathing public statement -- this time, directed at the LAPD, the Fonda Theater, and its owner company, AEG:
"Just pathetic. The city of Los Angeles was clearly doing the dirty work of corporate giant AEG by shutting down Chief Keef's festival. It was shaping up to be a great night at the lot and we had 80,000 fans watching on FilmOn.com. We are so pissed off we are planning to build a permanent venue for hologram concerts next to AEG's Fonda Theater."
You gotta respect Keef and David's determination to make this thing happen.
