Death Grips, the alternative hip-hop group that made headlines by mysteriously not showing up for a Lollapalooza pre-show concert and the canceling their performance at the festival, evidently did so with the intention of creating an act of performance art.
Grips was scheduled to play an officially sanctioned after-show last Friday at Chicago's Bottom Lounge. The stage was set up with a drum kit and the band's music was playing on a loop while fans waited for the group to appear. More curious was the image projected on the back of the stage, which appeared to be a suicide note addressing the band. Fans, when discovering that the band wouldn't be performing, rushed the stage and destroyed the drum kit.
DNAinfo Chicago found out from Erin O'neal, the marketing director for the Bottom Lounge, said she found out after the incident that the band never intended to perform, but rather wanted to present a piece of performance art.
"It appears to us that despite having signed a contract, they never intended on performing Friday night and instead wanted to leave a room of disappointed fans," she said. "It's unfortunate that this was what Death Grips wanted to do with their fans' time and money."
It was later revealed that the band planned on pulling the same stunt at a show in Boston on Tuesday, but the venue axed the concert when it caught wind. Concert halls in Montreal, Baltimore and New York have followed suit. Death Grips decided to try something new, but in this case, creativity killed the cat.
