September 29, 2021
Rapper J. Cole was supposed to perform Wednesday night at the Wells Fargo Center, but his "Off-Season" tour has been forced to move a pair of dates in Philadelphia and Detroit because of unforeseen production delays.
The North Carolina artist kicked off the tour Friday in Miami with a guest appearance from Drake and openers Morray and 21 Savage.
Ahead of his show in Greensboro, North Carolina on Tuesday night, Cole explained that the concert was running behind schedule because the production setup was taking much longer than expected. Cole took to Instagram to tell fans why the Philly and Detroit dates had to be moved preemptively for similar reasons.
"When we came out on the 'Off-Season' tour, we wanted to do this s*** big," Cole said. "We got a big-a** goal, bigger lights than we ever had ... We had a court on the stage. I spent days programming the lights, hours and hours programming the lights. And while the show is amazing, we didn't account for the fact that it takes way longer to load this s*** into the house, so we're experiencing delays in opening the doors to get people in."
With a nine-hour drive from Greensboro to Philadelphia planned after last night's show, Cole and his crew decided that it wouldn't be feasible to make the Wells Fargo Center work when factoring in the production times involved.
The Philadelphia date has been moved to Oct. 27, while another Oct. 5 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit has been moved to Oct. 25. All tickets to both shows will remain valid.
Cole apologized to his fans and acknowledged the planning wasn't up to par.
"I apologize for the inconvenience. I know people done hired babysitters, some people drive in from out of town, I hate this s***," Cole said as he waited for the North Carolina show to start. "Even the fact that people (are) waiting outside right now in Greensboro ... that s*** is A.) embarrassing and B.) I think about people's time. This is the first time this ever happened to us. So I apologize for this s***."
For what it's worth, Drake heaped praise on J. Cole during the Miami show, calling him one of the greatest rappers ever to touch a microphone.
#Drake giving #Jcole his flowers on stage in Miami đŸ’¯ pic.twitter.com/1Qr1Uk4s6c
— No Jumper (@nojumper) September 25, 2021
Philly fans will have to wait another few weeks to see J Cole at the Wells Fargo Center. Masks will be required for everyone except when actively eating or drinking.
