Rap artist Lil Yachty had to cancel his concert in Vancouver on Saturday night for safety reasons after just a few songs when spectators in the stands stormed the floor and towards the stage.

Videos posted on social media platforms show the rapper urging spectators to move to the standing area of ​​the arena and urging them to “fill the arena.”

The concert took place at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre at the University of British Columbia (UBC).

In a statement released Sunday afternoon, UBC said that arena staff and concert promoter Live Nation had jointly decided to cancel the concert.

“During the performance, the artist had invited audience members from their reserved seats in the stands to move to the dance floor. This caused the dance floor to become overcrowded, so UBC and Live Nation staff paused the show to direct audience members back to their seats,” the statement said.

However, it says that when Lil Yachty reappeared, the dance floor filled up again and staff decided to cancel the show “out of an abundance of caution and with the safety of concertgoers in mind.”

“We are not aware of any significant medical or police incidents resulting from the cancellation of the show,” the statement said.

Sebastian Stratford, 18, says the energy of the crowd changed when the rapper invited people to the dance floor.

“In the heat of the moment, everyone started storming the wall,” Stratford said. “Everyone started jumping over the wall.”

Although Stratford was disappointed that his first-ever concert was canceled, he said he understood the reasons behind the decision.

“It’s just unfortunate, but not the end of the world,” he said.

The artist posted on Instagram footage of concertgoers streaming from the stands into the hall and wrote: “They shut us down last night in Vancouver.”

In the video, he can be heard shouting to the crowd: “Get down here! Come on!”

CBC News has reached out to Live Nation to ask if attendees will be reimbursed for the event.