Madonna ticks off fans by canceling
MIAMI — Madonna fans who showed up for the closing date of her Miami Beach run of concerts on Sunday night were “outraged” to learn that the diva canceled the show with less than two hours’ notice and with little to no explanation.
According to Ticket News and other reports, a reason for Madonna’s cancellation was not clearly given to disgruntled ticket holders who were at the seventh and final date of her Madame X residency at the Fillmore Miami Beach.
Finally, on Christmas, three days after the cancellation, Madonna took to her Instagram account to explain why she had to back out of her performance. A knee injury was causing her great pain. She’s an athletic performer. Bum knee, and the dancer-turned-pop-singer can’t get into the groove like she did in the ’80s.
“As I climbed the ladder to sing ‘Batuka’ on Saturday night in Miami, I was in tears from the pain of my injuries, which has been indescribable for the past few days,” the 61-year-old singer said on her Instagram post. “With every song I sang, I said a prayer that I would make it to the next and get thru the show.”
Just like a prayer, she made it through Saturday’s concert, she said.
“I consider myself a warrior,” she said. “However this time I have to listen to my body and accept that my pain is a warning. I want to say how deeply sorry I am to all my fans. I spent the last two days with doctors. Scans, ultra sounds, x-rays. Poking and probing and more tears. They have made it very clear to me that if I am to continue my tour I must rest for as long as possible so that I don’t inflict further and irreversible damage to my body.”
“I have never let an injury stop me from performing but this time I have to accept that there is no shame in being human and having to press the pause button.”
Madonna did cancel three dates in Boston in November because of pain, CNN reported. And in October she also postponed a concert date in New York because of the knee pain, Madonna’s Madame X tour website posted.
But many fans turned to social media to blast Madonna for a tour in which mistreating fans is as much a part of her concert experience as the encores.
“When you treat your fans like they are disposable, you become disposable. Bye Madonna,” tweeted a woman who said she traveled from Atlanta to Miami for the closing concert.
Another fan who had tickets for a Madonna Madame X concert in Boston that was canceled in November tried again in Miami Beach. She was foiled again.
“My husband knew how disappointed I was to not see you, so for Christmas he bought tickets to your show in Miami, flights, and a hotel for the weekend so I could see you and you cancel AGAIN,” she wrote.
Madonna’s apology comes on the heels of a tour that has led to its share of outrages.
In November, a fan, Nate Hollander, filed a class action suit in Miami-Dade County court suing both Madonna and concert promoter Live Nation, which changed the time of her Dec. 17 show at The Fillmore Miami Beach. Madonna often takes to the stage hours past the printed start time on her concert tickets.
Fans at Madame X dates also were irritated by another Madonna demand — that air conditioners in the venues she performs in have to be turned to a high temperature or off so that she can perform in the heat. She said she needed to perform in warm rooms because of her knee injury. When fans started chanting “AC! AC! AC!” during the Madame X Miami opener on Dec. 14, the star cursed her audience, according to Miami New Times.
“‘F--- you! I’m cold,’ the singer responded. ‘Take your f---ing clothes off,’ she continued.
The Miami concert was the close of the North American leg of this tour. Madonna performs multiple dates in the same city at halls that hold 2,000-3,000 people rather than the 20,000-capacity arenas or football stadiums where she usually stages her concert spectacles. There is no announced makeup date for the canceled Miami Beach date. Fans were offered refunds on their Ticketmaster tickets. The Madame X Tour resumes Jan. 27 for a 10-night run at The London Palladium in England, according to Ticketmaster.