Madonna Booed at Philly Gig, Later Apologizes to Audience
This is not how Madonna wanted to kick off the U.S. leg of her MDNA World Tour. The Material Girl was on the receiving end of boos and expletive-laden chants for showing up fashionably late last night in Philadelphia, but she later won back the crowd and apologized for her tardiness.
Madonna was supposed to take the stage at 8PM for her concert at the Wells Fargo Center, according to the Philly Post. Now, a diva like Madonna has earned the right to operate on whatever time schedule she wants. But when it reached 10PM, after endless microphone checks and with still no sign of the ‘Girl Gone Wild,’ restless fans began showing their frustration by chanting “B.S.” and booing.
Madge finally arrived at 10:24, turning the jeers into cheers with her high-energy stage show featuring machine guns, marching bands, helicopters and videotaped Nicki Minaj cameos.
She blamed her late arrival on being too much of a perfectionist and told fans to appreciate their freedom given all the human rights abuses around the world:
It’s so good to be back home, and I want to apologize for being late. We had many changes to make from Europe to America, and I wanted the show to be perfect for you because my fans deserve it and quite frankly I deserve it. This is the city where the Declaration of Independence was signed. We are in the land of democracy. We started the word, motherf—ers. Well, actually, some Greeks did, but … In my country, we have freedom of speech, freedom of expression, even though it’s far from perfect. But in Moscow, there are three girls in jail. Yes, free Pussy Riot. In St. Petersburg, there are gay men in jail for exhibiting that they are gay. How f—ed up is that? Never forget how lucky you are to live where you live. Don’t get fat and lazy and take that freedom for granted, or your fat, lazy gay a– will land in jail.
The MDNA Tour heads to Canada this weekend before returning to the U.S. next week with shows in Boston and New York City. Madonna will be performing in NYC the same night as the MTV Video Music Awards.