Madonna fans have been left fuming after the star cut short the London shows of her Celebration Tour after starting late.
The 65-year-old singer was performing at the O2 Arena on Sunday night when she suddenly stopped performing at 11pm, ditching four songs on her setlist.
The show was cut short because the Material Girl singer turned up late and the show ran over the venue’s 10.30pm Sunday curfew.
The performance abruptly ended following a performance of Rain, meaning fans missed out on Like A Virgin, B***h I’m Madonna, Holiday and show closer Celebration. She also rocked up late at her Saturday show, which had a curfew of 11pm.
After Sunday’s show, angry fans vented on social media.
Taking to X, one attendee wrote: “@Madonna please start a bit earlier for your next two @TheO2 shows! Cutting the end of your show is short changing your loyal fans! We all know you’re a rule breaker, so if you run over break the rules and pay the fine!”
Another said: “The show was the best thing I’ve ever seen. However, she had to cut the show short and ended with rain due to curfew #MadonnaCelebrationTour.”
A third commented: “It was so disrespectful The tube ends at 1130 and the O2 has a 1030 curfew. They knew these things yet she still went on late She didn’t even apologise.”
A fourth added: "Very mixed feelings about #MadonnaCelebrationTour last night. The show we got was great but it started v late & therefore we were robbed of a finale /encore. Rain was a terrible song to end on & I left feeling deflated. Not what I & the fans paid a lot of money for.’’
Same
— Just Browsing 🇺🇦 🌈 🇺🇸 🇬🇧 (@justbrwsing1) October 16, 2023
It was so disrespectful
The tube ends at 1130 and the O2 has a 1030 curfew. They knew these things yet she still went on late
She didn’t even apologize
While a fifth fumed: “@Madonna get on stage on time, especially in London with the curfew. You can not be charging 1000s for tickets then doing part of the show. @guyoseary get this under control.”
It was the second show to not go to plan. Saturday’s concert was halted after the fourth song, due to technical problems with the sound, which forced the singer to kill time with a monologue.
“This is exactly what you don’t want to happen on your opening night, so this wasn’t planned, I’m sorry,” she told the sold-out crowd, before launching into a long speech about her youth and difficult upbringing.
She described her early days seeking superstardom in her first band as leaving her “broke and hungry and making zero cash”.
“I’m pretty damned surprised that I made it this far and I mean that on so many levels,” she continued. “How did I make it this far? Because of you. I’m going to take a bit of credit too.”
The Celebration Tour will take Madonna through Europe until December 6. She will then return to London’s O2 Arena for two more shows before heading to North America and Canada.
She will end the tour in Mexico City, Mexico on April 24.
The Standard has contacted representatives of Madonna for comment.
