Tyla performs during Outside Lands Music Festival in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco on Aug. 9, 2024.

SAN FRANCISCO — South African superstar Tyla was so late to her own performance that she only got through four songs before calling it a day at Outside Lands.

The artist, who won the inaugural Grammy for Best African Music Performance in February, spent about as much time on stage as her crew did blowing up a giant inflatable tiger (which she sadly did not ride). Her set was one of the prime time slots at the Sutro Stage, scheduled for 6:05 p.m. She finally arrived at 6:38 p.m. with about 10 minutes to go in her slot.

While a growing crowd listened to a lengthy playlist that included Toto’s “Africa,” a few crew members milled around setting up a staircase onstage, and then the tiger. There are no tigers outside of zoos in South Africa, by the way, but the size of the thing still made it look cool. After they finished, with seemingly plenty of time to spare before her performance, nothing happened for more than half an hour. A voice over the loudspeaker announced she would be performing shortly, but again, nothing happened for an additional 10 minutes.

Tyla performs during Outside Lands Music Festival in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco on Aug. 9, 2024.

Finally, Tyla Laura Seethal arrived, making no mention of the delay, at the top of the staircase, with the video screen behind her showing a brilliant red sunset. She kicked off with the bass-laden “Safer” at the top of the staircase before making her way down at the end. Throughout the extremely short set, she sang and shook her behind to backing music and vocal tracks, supported by a handful of dancers.

Her denim outfit was attention-grabbing, but Tyla clearly hadn’t considered that she was performing at Golden Gate Park in the evening.

“San Francisco, why is it so cold here?” she said.

Next came sensual dance number “Truth Or Dare” and another booty shaker, “Jump,” during which she thrusted her body to the beat.

That her best-known song, “Water,” came next was a big red flag. The crowd loved every minute of the three-minute tune, and afterward there were many stunned faces as she said thanks and left the stage.

That was it.

As of Friday evening, neither she nor the festival had explained her tardiness and quick exit.

The South African is on a hot streak, but this is the second consecutive time a Bay Area performance didn’t go off well. Tyla canceled her stop at the Regency Ballroom, along with her entire North American Tour, due to health concerns earlier this year, as well as several festivals earlier in July, citing a persistent back injury.

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter. Follow photographer Mariana García at instagram.com/marianagphoto.