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Coachella 2011: Cee Lo Green goes long, gets cut off (maybe during a cover of ‘Don’t Stop Believin’’)

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Cee Lo Green started his main stage set late at Coachella on Friday evening. And he apparently played over his set time, because after he rocked his megahit ‘ ... You’ and launched into what sounded like a cover of ‘Don’t Stop Believin’,’ his sound was suddenly cut at 5:40 p.m. What appeared at first to be a technical glitch turned out to be intentional. His band continued to play for a minute or so more but Cee Lo shook his head and walked off stage as the confused crowd dispersed.

‘I know he went on late, but they should have at least let him finish his set,’ said a fan as she walked away.

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-- Jessica Gelt

[Updated 6:47 p.m.: Gerrick Kennedy saw the entire Cee Lo set, and has this to add:

Showing up late to your own gig at Coachella only gets you so far. For Cee Lo, it got him nothing but grief.

Restlessness and anger quickly spread through the swarm of fans that had convened to see the singer on the main stage Friday afternoon. With the heat pounding the crowd, it wasn’t long before profanity-laced queries of when he’d show started to ring out. And then came the boos.

“If we’re coming to your show and you don’t even show I’m like ... you!,” a shirtless fan sang to the tune of Cee Lo’s breakout hit. After nearly half an hour, and plenty of walkouts later -– Green arrived.

“Sorry guys, I just landed. Y’all still gonna party with me? I only have 20 minutes,” Green said. “It ain’t my fault. They should have ... given me a better time slot.”

The statement got him nowhere, as people piled out and shot him single-fingered gestures. It was a drastically abbreviated set. He was able to tackle five songs, including hits “Crazy” and his signature tune, which took on a new meaning.

“It’s all my fault. Blame me,” and then his sound was cut, leaving the audience -– and a confused band -– to attempt to finish what was thought to be an encore (a cover of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’”). Green exited the stage amid boos, clearly angry, as the band played on -- though no one could hear a note.

-- Gerrick D. Kennedy
Twitter.com/gerrickkennedy

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