West performed the song for a pre-game concert held during VH1's Pepsi Smash Super Bowl Bash on February 2, 2006. Wearing a Detroit Pistons jacket, West introduced "Heard 'Em Say" by telling the audience it was "my favorite song I ever worked on." West provided a performance of "Heard 'Em Say" at St. James Theatre in Auckland, New Zealand on March 17. He wore a glittery Adidas jacket and large sci-fi shades, later pausing to change into a bolero jacket, and a preppy white shirt. The complexity of the live arrangement required a string section, back-up singers, and a disk jockey and featured a surprise guest from fellow rapper Common. He played "Heard 'Em Say" during his appearance at the first day of Coachella 2006 in Indio, California, where he later on had A-Trak spin A-Ha's "Take On Me" while he danced onstage to the delight of the audience. Backed only by a DJ and two backup singers, West performed "Heard 'Em Say" during his gig at Wango Tango on May 8. During his headlining performance on the second day of Lollapalooza 2006 in his hometown of Chicago, West did a live rendition of "Heard 'Em Say" before an audience of 60,000 people. Though consisting mainly of indie-rock bands, the festival featured more hip-hop artists than the previous year, including Common, Lady Sovereign, Lyrics Born and Blackalicious. After performing "Diamonds From Sierra Leone," West shifted into "Heard 'Em Say," during which his DJ A-Trak provided some turntable scratches.