Reneé Rapp’s main stage performance at Reading 2024 today (August 25) was cancelled due to technical problems and water falling on her.
The star made her first appearance at the festival after her show in Leeds on Friday (August 23) was cancelled due to extreme weather.
Rapp’s performance in Reading was immediately problematic, as the singer’s microphone was not working when she came on stage. She left the stage while the problem was fixed, with the crowd chanting her name as she waited. “Good false start!” she laughed after returning and opening the set with “Talk Too Much” and “Poison Poison.”
During the third song, “Bruises,” water that had collected at the top of the stage during yesterday’s rain was blown onto the stage by strong winds. Rapp and her band’s equipment and instruments were soaked by the sudden downpour, forcing her to leave the stage again. “Oh, you bitches in Britain!” she shouted as she left the stage.
“Someone should call me a damn good sportsman,” Rapp said when she returned. “Guys, I really, really, really want to give you a good show. We’re soaked. Some of our equipment is broken, so thank you very much, that was really damn helpful. But we really want to give you a good show.”
“So if it’s okay, let’s start ‘Not My Fault’ again. And if I slip and fall, that’s not my insurance. I’m not paying for that shit.”
As promised, Rapp delivered a version of her Megan Thee Stallion collaboration “Not My Fault,” but was soon caught in another downpour. “Nah, not today, not today,” she said. “How are you guys? Personally, I’m doing great.”
“All of our equipment is definitely in good condition,” she continued sarcastically before adopting a British accent. “I need to take someone aside for a quick chat. I need to talk about this. It’s fucking ridiculous.”
Renéé was in Reading during the “Not My Fault” festival and accompanied him during the scenario. 😭
pic.twitter.com/RPg18EmOdx— Reneé Rapp Argentina (@ReneeRappArg) 25 August 2024
A few minutes after Rapp left the stage, the stage crew began clearing her band’s equipment from the stage and replacing it with that of the follow-up band Pendulum. The big screens read: “We have to stop the show for a few minutes and hope to resume soon. Thank you for your patience.”
“Girl what the hell,” Rapp wrote in an Instagram story shared backstage. At the time of writing, she had not commented further on the cancellation.
Lana Del Rey also had to contend with technical problems in Reading when she headlined the main stage last night (24 August). The star’s performance was cut short due to a production error, for which the festival “unreservedly apologised”.
Meanwhile, in Leeds, Storm Lilian brought “extreme weather conditions” to the festival site, leading to the cancellation of several performances on the first day of the event. The festival’s health and safety team deemed the BBC Radio 1 and Aux stages too unsafe to use at all this weekend.
Some artists whose sets were affected by the stage closure, including Jorja Smith and Ashnikko, were later added back to the lineup and given slots on other stages.
Check out NME again here for the latest news, reviews, interviews, photos and more from Reading and Leeds 2024.
