Madonna’s chronic lateness shows she doesn’t care about her fans

The Queen of Pop’s constant tardiness has been a point of contention with her fans for many years, writes Adam Bloodworth. Why should fans pay for a full show when they might only be able to see half of it?

As Madonna had come on stage over half an hour late, fans who lived out of London had to miss half of her show to catch their last trains home (WireImage for Live Nation)

We were getting into the groove: it wasn’t long after she’d played “Vogue”, and the Queen of Pop was warming nicely into her set – one of last year’s 02 concert dates earmarking Madonna’s first ever retrospective.

But away from the pyrotechnics I was engrossed in a murkier show: the first of a flurry of people climbing the gangway and making for the exit. Two elderly fans were guided by their walking sticks, watching carefully and concentrating on the steps as shards of stage lighting shone the exit in and out of darkness.

She was only just over halfway through her set and so much was to come. She hadn’t played “Ray of Light”, “Like a Virgin” or “Don’t Tell Me”, and there was a drag show as part of the concert, with Julia Fox making a guest appearance. But as Madonna had come on stage over half an hour late, fans who lived out of London had to leave to make their last trains home, missing a huge chunk of what they’d paid for.