Madonna’s first show in Vegas this year was met by boos from the crowd as she arrived two hours late.
The star was set to bring her Madame X tour to The Colosseum at Caesars Palace at 10.30 pm but was greeted with 500 refund demands when she rolled on at 12.30 am.
A similar late appearance reportedly took place at her show in San Francisco the week before, where she complained that people were opening the rear doors of the theater to go to the bathroom. She also accused them of having attention deficit disorder.
Fox 5 Vegas reported that some fans booed and chanted “refund,” while others finally took to their phones to complain after retrieving their phones from locked pouches at the “no cellphone” show.
The American singer addressed the crowd during the show, saying, “Here’s something you all need to understand … and that is, that the queen is never late.”
Madonna has maintained a reputation during her 40-year career for turning up to shows late, with her reps now telling unhappy concert-goers that her delayed appearance should have been “expected.”.
The show didn’t wrap up until about 2:45 am, leaving a crowd of mostly over 35-year olds scrambling to get home.
Afterward, Madonna posted a video of herself onstage to Twitter, captioned “bringing the (fire emoji) to Vegas.” While some superfans were quick to step in to support the star, the majority criticized her appearance.
One Twitter user wrote, “I am so very disappointed that the show started at midnight, in a super hot venue? Wow, I even felt so stupid for buying your Tour Program Book and a pricey concert ticket. No more Madonna shows for me after this Tour… NO MORE!”
Another chimed in, “We walked out of the concert!! The guy next to me was snoring louder than her songs and a lot of people were chanting for a ticket refund… It was a disaster.”
Some fans complained the singer didn’t perform her hits, talked too much about politics, and even went claimed that the superstar belittled the audience at one point by calling them “poor.”
500 refunds were reportedly issued before and during the Vegas show and, according to TMZ, a Florida fan is now suing for a refund after paying $1,024.95 for three tickets. He claims the original start time of an upcoming December show was 8:30 pm, which was pushed back to 10:30 pm. The ticket holder and plaintiff Nate Hollander claims the change “significantly lessens” the value of the tickets.
Hollander said he no longer wanted to attend the concert because of the late timing, but Live Nation refused to refund his money.
Madonna’s other two shows at The Colosseum, however, seemed to go according to plan (and schedule).
On Twitter, one fan wrote, “I think people need to understand that Madonna is 61 yrs old, probably traveling from differing time zones and her shows are well worth the slight imposition of being a little late starting. Grow up and stop trying to get money for nothing.”
