When you go to a concert, you expect it to start on time, but what will you do when it doesn’t? Apparently, you can sue the artist. Two Madonna fans are doing just that after the singer was more than two hours late for her show on Wednesday, December 13, 2023, at Barclays Center.
The Claim
The case was brought by Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden for starting at 10:30 PM when it was supposed to start at 8:30 PM. The show ended around 1 AM. Fellows and Hadden state that “many ticketholders who attended concerts on a weeknight had to get up early to go to work and/or take care of their family responsibilities the next day.”
The lawsuit claims, “Defendants failed to provide any notice to the ticketholders that the concerts would start much later than the start time printed on the ticket and as advertised, which resulted in the ticketholders waiting for hours.”
History of Tardiness
We did some research and found the setlist through setlist.fm, which is a wiki-like source where multiple people at the concerts list what songs played, when her concerts started, and when the concerts ended.
When looking at her setlists for various dates, it appears that Madonna regularly starts her United States shows at 10 PM or even later. What makes matters worse is that the audience in that particular show was cut short by a single song, which was an acapella snippet from her 1987 song, “Causing a Commotion.”
This fact is also mentioned in the court papers, saying Madonna “has a long history of arriving and starting her concerts late, sometimes several hours late.”
Previous Legal Troubles
This isn’t even the first time a fan objected to the singer being late to her show, either. In 2019, another fan in Florida sued Madonna for being more than two hours late. Nate Hollander (the fan suing Madonna) alleged the change in start date prevented him from attending and was a breach of contract made between the singer and the ticket buyer.
Later the next month, Madonna played a show in Las Vegas and started her concert with, “There’s something you all need to understand. And that is that a queen is never late.” Around that same time, Hollander voluntarily dismissed his suit, according to court records.
Ticket Prices
Is there a claim that can be made here? Starting a concert late on a Wednesday with little to no notice is certainly not professional by any means, especially when Madonna’s concert tickets can cost anywhere from $100 to $1,200 each. Naturally, this depends on where you see her and how quickly you can get the tickets.
Maybe all this links back to the fact concert ticket prices are spiraling out of control due to re-sellers, making the loss of value go from $100 to thousands in mere minutes. We all remember the chaos that was caused when Taylor Swift and Beyonce tickets were immediately sold out and then were resold for anywhere between $800 and $5,500.
Legal Standing?
We’re not sure if the fans have legal standing or not. That’s something only legal professionals can answer. What we can say is that delays in the live music world aren’t uncommon. It’s extremely common for live concerts to start later than intended, but where do we draw the line? Is two hours a little excessive?
Regardless of all this, Madonna’s shows continue to sell out, so she’s not missing out on anything. Fans still flock to see her shows and will likely continue to do so.
