The blistering heat in Las Vegas didn’t stop hip-hop fans from heading to the Lovers & Friends Festival on Saturday. Held at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds, the two-day Live Nation event features headliners Lauryn Hill, Usher, Ludacris, Lil Jon, Monica, TLC and Mario.
While many of the day’s performances went off without a hitch, the end of the night seemed to be falling into chaos, social media reports.
Concert-goers described an influx of people around 10:30 p.m. as thousands rushed to the exits and some were trampled. Several attendees reported hearing a gunshot, although that was debunked shortly afterwards.
Something happened at the Lovers & Friends festival. Sounds like it was a false alarm. pic.twitter.com/2SFIGr1kw0
— Las Vegas Local 🌴 (@LasVegasLocally) May 15, 2022
Local Las Vegas news reports that a “security incident” interrupted the festival but no gunshots were fired, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police, according to News 3.
The event organizers attribute the incident to fans rushing the barricades, adding that the show has resumed with the headlining set of Usher, Lil Jon and Ludacris.
Earlier in the day, the most newsworthy incident was Brandy pulling out of the bill (she had to cancel due to illness), and Timbaland bragging about how early Drake was.
Taking the stage with his vast catalog of hits, Timbaland had fans singing along to every word.
During his set, Timbaland noted that he was one of the first to co-sign Drake, way back in 2009’s “Say Something”. The song was first released on Drake’s “So Far Gone” mixtape and reached number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100.
“That was one of the first times anyone heard Drake,” Timbaland said from the stage. “So I was part of — I feel like I knocked on the door very early. I see greatness very quickly, and I had a pleasure working with all the great people.”
timbaland played “say something” and said he was the first person to debut drake in the world 👀
— Shirley Ju (@shirju) May 15, 2022