F U Busta Rhymes!

If you aren't going to get your sorry self on stage on time, don't force the second act and those waiting to hear them to sit back and wait 30 minutes while you mix your shit. Seriously. What was up with that?

The quick explanation: At Bluesfest Thursday, July 16 and Busta Rhymes is set to play the Bank of America stage at 7 p.m. Live is set to play the nearby Rogers stage at 8 p.m. Busta Rhymes didn't show up on time and instead hit the stage around 8 p.m. So fans at the Rogers stage had to listen to his crap mix for about 30 minutes with NO explanation as to what was going on. Needless to say, the crowd was getting restless waiting for Live while having to listen to something they didn't want to hear. Chants for Live got a quick appearance from Ed, who waved at the crowd and seemed to encourage the chanting, but no announcement, although most surmised Live had to wait because there'd be too much bleed between the competing stages. And at some point during Busta Rhymes attempt at a performance, someone went out, whispered in someone's ear, and then the audience was told he'd have to cut it short. It was a mercy to those gathered for Live when he did, in fact, shut up.

A couple of songs into Live's set, Ed confirmed what everyone had guessed when he thanked Busta Rhymes for getting the hell off the stage so Live could play. That garnered a cheerful response from the crowd. Unfortunately, it meant Live's encore bled into the beginning of Styx's performance. Despite that, it was a great show. Would've been nice to have had those lost 30 minutes. As an aside, Lawrence Gowan as Styx covering Gowan's Criminal Mind was freaking awesome!

The bigger issue is Bluesfest organizers, though. They really weren't in top form Thursday night. Mike Taylor cancelled and they still had him listed on the screens that night. When 8 p.m. rolled around they still had Busta Rhymes set for 7 p.m. and Live set for 8 p.m. I get that they changed the schedule on the fly, but seriously, if you're going to do that, at least make an announcement and don't leave the crowd hanging. Or, better yet, tell the latecomer he didn't make deadline, don't pay him, and run with the next act as scheduled.

I've yet to see an explanation for Busta Rhymes' late appearance. Rumours suggest he got held up in Montreal or was having a fit because he wasn't headlining. Whatever it was, it's not very professional and ended up being just a major fuck up all around.