Although the doors of the O’Connell Center opened at 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Lil Wayne didn’t take to the stage until 11:26 p.m., to a mix of shouts and boos.
When the lights for the concert went out at about 8:22 p.m., pockets of empty seats were still visible.
Once the two opening acts, BAS and CyHi the Prynce, finished around 10 p.m., the crowd had steadily increased, only to have to wait another hour and a half for the
headlining rapper to perform. Lil Wayne, whose real name is Dwayne Carter Jr., was paid $125,000 to perform, according to Alligator archives.
About 3,000 people attended the concert, which was sponsored by Student Government Productions and the O’Connell Center, estimated Dillon Knox, chairperson of SGP.
Lil Wayne opened the show to the song “Mr. Carter,” wearing a black hoodie and bandana, while the crowd booed and wooed.
At the beginning of the show, Lil Wayne didn’t mention why he was late, instead praising God.
“We all ain’t s--- without the man above,” he said, opening his performance among a sea of colorful lights on stage.
Following the performance, the O’Connell later posted on its Facebook page that the rapper’s plane had been grounded in Atlanta due to high winds.
Karan Sharma, a UF computer science senior, left the concert while Lil Wayne was still performing at 11:50 p.m. He said he wasn’t happy about the rapper’s delay, and he had to leave so he could wake up for his internship Wednesday morning at 9 a.m.
“The show was supposed to close around 11, not start,” the 23-year-old said. “I think they treated us like s---.They shouldn’t have done that.”
Prior to Lil Wayne going on stage, Omar Noble, 21, was frustrated that there was no sign of the rapper, and the DJs were playing the same songs.
“I knew he’d be a little late, but I expected he’d be here at like 9 p.m.,” the UF mechanical engineering junior said. “It’s not ‘07 anymore. But I still got love for him.”
Asharib Khan, a UF computer science sophomore, said he expected the concert to end around 10:30 p.m. so he didn’t finish a class assignment that was due at midnight. The 19-year-old had to run to Marston Science Library to submit his homework.
“It would’ve been nice if he came out ear- lier, but it is Lil Wayne,” Khan said. “He is a big star. If it had started an hour earlier, it would’ve been way better.”
Contact Jimena Tavel at jtavel@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @taveljimena
Rapper Lil Wayne performs at the O’Connell Center on Tuesday evening.
