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Madonna Responds After Fans Slam Wembley Show

In London last night...

  • by Jason Gregory
  • Friday, September 12, 2008
  • Photo by: Carsten Windhorst
  • filed in: Indie
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A spokesperson for Madonna has defended the singer's performance in London last night, which has come under attack by fans.

A large proportion of the pop stars fan base have criticised the sound quality of the concert at Wembley Stadium, while others have complained about Madonna's late arrival on stage.

In a statement to the London Paper, a spokesperson said: "Stage times are only guidelines. I was at the gig and the sound was fine."

Despite enjoying the concert, one fan told Gigwise that transport problems afterwards had “completely ruined” her evening.

The concert, the second of only two UK dates on the singer's Sticky & Sweet world tour, was watched by 90,000 people, including a host of celebrities.

The elaborate show featured four sections: 'Pimp', 'Old School', 'Gypsy' and 'Rave'.

Madonna, who will play a total of 27-dates, honoured her latest album, ‘Hard Candy’, during her two hour set.

But also played a number of tracks from her back catalogue, including ‘Vogue’ and ‘Music’.

Join our debate on last night's gig HERE.

You can see highlights from last night's show below, or more extensive coverage here.

Madonna Live at Wembley

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(57)
  • I was in blk 103 on the side (I’m not a granny,I’’m 27!)Good view of a speck on stage.However, screens should have been bigger n more of them. With all that money how about a middle stage next time huh? The sound was pretty crap, so couldn’’t hear clearly what she was singing/saying. Not enough banter with her adopted country either.Unsure my seat was worth the 100 quid plus and 25 quid for a programme?...behave dave! Apart from that, great dan

    ~ by cat 9/12/2008

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  • hi i agree with all of the disappointing comments.I with my friend are massive fans travelled from ireland.iv never been so excited to be so let down and we were stranded as well

    ~ by carol k 9/12/2008

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    • This concert was all about ££££££££££££££!!!!! I saw Madonna’’s ’’Confessions’’ tour 7 times at Wembley Arena, they were great shows, expensive but worth it. Last night Madonna, her management and Live Nation, took the p*ss out of at least 70,000 of us!! The tiny video screens on each side of the stage, mean&

      ~ by Paul Jameson 9/12/2008

    • first of all you traveled from all the way from god motherfuckin god damn ireland what the hell is wrong to see some old lady dance with flab that must suck ass

      ~ by uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu suck ass 11/24/2008

  • I saw the opening concert in Cardiff and was very disappointed but I hoped that my Wembley experince would be better. It was not, I could hardly her sing and there was a delay in the music. It was probably the worst concert I have been to. I cannot believe I saw it twice. It is a pity as all other Madonna concerts have been brilliant.

    ~ by James Landon 9/12/2008

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  • I must have been at another concert. Madonna really is the BEST and her concert was fantastic.

    ~ by Emma 9/12/2008

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  • what a waste of money i have seen madonna several times and was taking my partner for the first never have i been so dissappointed as you all are saying the sound well thats all it was saound and as for the stage where we was sat u could not see anything that was going on on the stage at all we never saw her come on or any of the dancers doing there stuff any of the screens or setting my friend had a sapphire ticket and he said teh same 400 quid for nothing give us our money back

    ~ by yorkie1 9/12/2008

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  • Sorry folks but what the hell did you expect? Go to some proper gigs and then you might think twice about wasting 100 nicker on Madonna.

    ~ by The Yak 9/12/2008

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  • OH FOR HEAVENS SAKE STOP MOANING. YOUR ALL SLATING MADONNA, ITS NOT HER FAULT IS IT, SHE DIDNT HAVE ANY SAY OVER THE WEMBLEY STAFF AND THE TRANSPORT, SHE WAS THERE TO ENTERTAIN, AND I THINK SHE DID A FANTASTIC JOB. WELLDONE MADONNA WERE STILL HUGE FANS

    ~ by sha40 9/12/2008

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    • I agree.....if you cant afford front row or floor tickets ...well, I hate to say it but thats the way it goes.....the same applies to any other entertainer. But lets be fair....70+ thousand fans in attendance roaring at the top of their lungs would probably drown out any song..

      ~ by Mario  9/12/2008

  • Part 1 of 2 - I love Madona as it was my first concert, I’m bitterly dispointed with what we saw. I was there with two friends and we span different generations but we all thought it was awful. A number of people around us left early. We were at the back of Wembly and the sound was awful u couldn’’t hear her sing or speak for most of the concert, the 2 ’’big screens were tiny if u were at the back (where we were). Im sad to say so many of the son

    ~ by whiddy2004 9/12/2008

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  • Part 2 of 2. - Most people in the back were actually sitting down for Vogue (????) with far more up dancing for ’4 minutes’’ only i think because they recognised it. I have been to Wembley before to see George Michael (the 1st concert at Wembley) and it was excellent no problems with sound or atmosphere or anything like that. I love dance music but it was all just a bit too weird im only 27 and not some old whingeing gitt - just a young one who was really disappoint

    ~ by whiddy2004 9/12/2008

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  • after spending 320 on tickets for myself and my partner to go watch this show very disapointed, whoever the spokesperson was for Madonna must have had exclusive access to their own set of headphones then, as ourselves and everyone around us sat in dismay as we couldnt understand a word she was saying. We watched her in confessions and Also Reinvention both where amazing but this latest show was just ordinary REM where better and only cost 40.

    ~ by Mikey 9/12/2008

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  • Part 2 The screens looked like 30 year old style tvs with the tube almost gone. from the angle we was sat at so all we could see was a milky white outline of madonna and what was going on on the stage. was unhappy at no manchester gig last time but was happy as the concert was amazing, this time however its one step too far out of touch with the fans so never again and transport after was horrific with taxis refusing to run us to our hotel as it was only 30 mins walk away! what an evening of fun

    ~ by Mikey 9/12/2008

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  • Easily the best tour of her career, despite petty Mariah fans saying how bad it was when they werent there. The late start and sound wasnt Madonnas fault. Paul Oakenfold blew the left speakers (people at the front saw the smoke). She could choose - cancel the gig, or try as best she could. The Metropolitan Police were useless and caused the delay which meant 30,000 people were stranded. Idiots sat on horses just smiling. Pitiful Policeforce. God help the Olympics. Madonna 10/10 though!

    ~ by Clubjunike 9/12/2008

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  • we paid 185 per seat in club area. we couldnt see stage properly. screens were too small,sound very bad. extremly dissapointed !

    ~ by bigspender 9/12/2008

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  • What a fantastic night - apart from the car park exit!!! Madonna was just awesome - so fit - and so much energy - her music just made you get up and dance. We were on the side and seven rows from the front - sound was fine - perhaps a little too much base - but Madonna made up for that. Thank you for such a wonderful time Car Park - crap - took four hours to get home - in at 3.00 - up at 7.00 - I am tired - but happy

    ~ by kb2 9/12/2008

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    • where you at the same gig? there was no atmosphere. the stage was ridiculously small as were the big screens. she murderd hung up, borderline and ray of light. the only ones dancing were the people who could actually see and hear her which seems to be very few. i saw her on the confessions tour at wembley arena 2 year ago and beleive me it was 200 times better than this farce for the mony people expect alot more. madonna has let alot of fans down

      ~ by wade87 9/12/2008

  • the wembly concert last nite was a huge let down. i was standing just outside the gold cicle to the right of the stage and expected a brilliant veiw however when the concert started the giant 40 foot M completley obstructed the veiw as all the action was set too far back in the stage. the stage was ridiculously small for the venue and i can only wonder how the people up in the gods must have felt. this was an arena concert (and even then a poor one!) staged in huge stadium killing any atmospher

    ~ by Anon 9/12/2008

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  • It was dreadful. It could have and should of been an amazing show, but everybody in stand 524 was up in arms as we could barely make out the songs - whatever the official line was I think there’s truth in numbers here - the sound was like listening to a party in a flat below yours. It was a huge embarrassment for Madonna, and I think that it’’s being handled very badly by her and team indeed. I’’m very unimpressed and I think the response has bee

    ~ by Matt, London 9/12/2008

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  • I was in a fairly reasonable seat but unfortunately found the sound disjointed and my hubby had binoculars and caught Madonna lipsyncing and not in time too. The dancing was good what I could see from the small video screen but is was frenetic. I have just watched the Confessions tour and was amazed at the difference, it looked far better. The concert was expensive, the venue too large, anyone who was near the stage appears to have had a good time and am pleased some people did. Never again!

    ~ by macalla320 9/12/2008

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  • We paid 110 each for our tickets and The Legend Herself " was no bigger than half a centimetre! Hugely dissappointed! The atmosphere was non-existent, the venue was awful, and the screens were totally out of sync! Thank god, we had no problems getting home. Left as soon as the last song finished and didn’’t even care whether there was an encore or not! Expected a lot better from M-a-d-o-n-n-a!!!

    ~ by whatyouaremaeof1@hotmailc.o.uk 9/12/2008

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  • Have 2 say that I am a huge madonna fan, have been to 5 different tours + this one was a great disappointment - I agree with everyone. Even though I was right up at the front, it had no atmostphere and the stage was designed for an arena not a stadium. madonna danced her butt off but i think she needs new designers and producers to come up with something completely new fresh, its all begin to look a bit the same. dont know about the sound but not surprising no-one’s admitting anythin

    ~ by Mick H 9/12/2008

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  • went to madonna with pitch standing tickets. Was dead centre with a perfect view of the stage. Her performance was spot on and the sound was perfect. In fact, my friend commented on how good it was during the concert. Tube ride back into central london after show also shockingly swift and smooth. Gave me admiration for TFL (rare). For those in seated tickets, seats are a LONG way from the stage.. light travels faster than sound, vision and sound simply can not be in sync over distance.

    ~ by Aaron 9/13/2008

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    • Thankyou Dr Science,

      ~ by Umustafa Earingchek 9/13/2008

  • DISAPOINTED, DISAPONINTED, DISAPONTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a waist of time and money!!!!! Crap sound, crap stage, CRAP MADONNA....

    ~ by luis 9/13/2008

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  • it was clear from the first number that the sound system was totally useless for the top tier but seats at the top were absolutely abysmal as there were inadequate speakers in the stadium or they just weren’t working the only noise was from reflected base so much so that you couldn’’t hear any lyrics despite knowing all the words this was a huge disappointment but compounded by the extremely small screens and long range shots madonna rarely appeared as an image lar

    ~ by Mark Huber 9/13/2008

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  • I am sure you have been deluged by complaints as we were not the only people to walk out , I had to spend the best part of half an hour queuing for a complaint form as there were so many disgruntled people there who had paid good money to hear madonna live . The que at the information / complaint desks were about 3 times longer than lines at either the toilets or the bars had been so as you might day the complaint desk was the most popular attraction on the 5th floor many people gave up and lef

    ~ by mark huber 9/13/2008

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  • As you are probably aware there was an apology give out before the stadium actually opened stating that the sound engineers had problems I can only assume they were doing their best to rectify the situation as best they could but without any success I can only assume this was the reason the tens of thousands of people were kept waiting until arround 9.30 for any music at all , had anyone put a cd on to keep the crowd entertained Im sure our level would have been deserted before Madonna set foot

    ~ by mark huber 9/13/2008

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  • on stage . The venue comment forms that were being handed out as pacifiers at the information/makeshift complaint desks as the thing to fill out in lieu of any representation from Live Nation ( the promoters ) at the event were more popular than the pies.

    ~ by mark huber 9/13/2008

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  • ITS NOT MADONNA’S FAULT AT ALL!.

    ~ by madfan 9/13/2008

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  • Had to leave early to meet connection train back to Kent from Charing Cross. All that money spent and having to leave early because the diva was late!!! What a let down and what happened to the support act??!!!

    ~ by KTGirl 9/13/2008

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  • you all shouldnt be sitting you boring tossers!

    ~ by andrew 9/13/2008

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    • i wasnt and it was still crap!

      ~ by wade 9/13/2008

  • I was in block 502, left of the stage and high up. To the people saying what did we expect in the ’cheapest seats’’, I knew she would look like an ant but I expected to be able to hear which song she was singing! The sound quality was truly awful where we sat. I’’’’ve been to other shows and there’’s no other way to describe it. Madonna - I’’’’m still a fan. Get a bet

    ~ by Mary 9/13/2008

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  • This was the wort concert I have attended, Madonna has lost her touch, the sound was unacceptable

    ~ by geogre 9/13/2008

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  • It is withregret that I too complain. I am a HUGE fan but the sound was appalling and the bass too over powering which distorted and drowned out her vocals completely. I am sadenned to say I did not enjoy in the slightest. Madge - please listen to your fans, your true critics, everything in the garden was not rosy by a long shot!

    ~ by Mark Evans 9/13/2008

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  • In the past Madonna has defended the high cost of her tickets as representative of staging an intricate and technically complex show. As a self professed perfectionist, involved in all aspects of her career and performances, Madonna must presumably be aware of the total inadequacies of her Wembley show. It seems a shame that the hundreds of pounds spent by fans on tickets has failed to deliver value for money and to date doesn’t appear to warrant any form of explanation or apology from

    ~ by Paolo 9/13/2008

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  • what do people expect when they go to a huge stadium like that your just not going to be face to face with the star, it was an awsome night!! sound could have been better tho madonna hates performing in stadiums this is why, i think madonna will go back to arenas now

    ~ by shaun 9/13/2008

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  • I went to see madonna in wembley with 3 girlfriends and we paid only 85 (standing pitch!) and we had a brilliant view of madonna and thought the sound was perfect - we had a fab time - sorry to rub it in peeps.....maybe next time pay out less????

    ~ by amy 9/13/2008

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    • i am pleased that some1 managed to hear her,i am suprized, altho i was sat far away i was aware she would be tiny but i did exspect when i pay a lot of money for a ticket not to be able to hear her the sound was apauling! , and as for being 40 min’s late on set with no apoligy at all i think this is awful! come on madonna sorry not that hard to say,having to wait around at the venue thats not such a big deal but when 1000’’s (including my self) miss there train and

      ~ by Ella 9/13/2008

  • Myself and my friend was dissappointed with the sound as it was terrible which I feel not to have that acknowledged is a real shame as people paid a lot of money for these tickets to see and hear the queen of pop and that we could not hear. I feel that people deserve to have there money reimbursed as that seems fair, and I am sure madonna would agree.

    ~ by Barbara Hibberd 9/13/2008

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  • being a great fan of madonna myself. me and my wife had the best night ever and would go again.the sound was not the best but it was worth the 6 hour journey

    ~ by thomas 9/13/2008

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  • I was @ gig thought all was fine. We were in block 118, about 2/3 from stage. Sound was good, could see BOTH screens stage.The show was slick, funky & vibrant. Madonna danced almost non-stop for 2hrs & did double dutch too! She looked amazing. I drove down from Lincs & parked for £20 beside Wembley because experience at other gigs has taught me that trains can be crap @ nite in London. We had a fab nite & heard no complaints. Sound @ Foo’&

    ~ by sarymclary 9/13/2008

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  • i was very disapointed her energy was good but at times it was obvious she was not singing live and the sound quality was appauling, we were sat in the higher block and at times it was hard to work out what song she was playing, the sound was very distorted. also it is terrible when you pay so much for a ticket,then she is 40 min late on stage and doesnt even attempted to apoligise,we all missed trains i had to get taxi, it took us 4 hours to get home and not cheap! i was very dissapointed =[

    ~ by chloe 9/13/2008

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  • I’ve had a gold circle ticket and I must say that it was great. The sound was good, light show amazing, screens were not high enough to see but I had a great time anyway s.

    ~ by Martyna 9/13/2008

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  • After totally enjoying the gig in Amsterdam I decided to treat my Mum by taking her to Wembley, with what I thought was going to be the same experience as Amsterdam, I am not taking anything away from Madonna’s performance but there was clearly a problem with the speakers, one had blown, this should have been fixed, it sounded like you were outside the stadium where we were and the screens should have been a lot bigger in a stadium of that size, very disappointed, my Mum never got that

    ~ by kels75 9/13/2008

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  • I was there with three friends we were in seating area 552, the sound was awful i personally think it should have been louder with alot less base or more speakers directed at the seating areas. We left early because we were not enjoying it, we could hardly hear it. I have made a complaint to the organisers via emal: info@livenation.co.uk We feel really ripped off. Perhaps Madonnas spokeman should have sat in the seats were we sat!!! then would he comented the sound was fine?

    ~ by Debbie 9/14/2008

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  • I was just as dissappointted. Why can’t Madonna sing more of the old hits, that’’s what got here today. She should take a leaf out of Janet’’s new concert where she sang songs from way back in 1982 all her hits to the delight of her fans. Hope she brings this how to the UK. Madonna remember your fans, we are why u r still here today!!! Please sing more of the old hits!!

    ~ by Jon 9/14/2008

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  • The Concert was fantastic! She should have come earlier though! The after expirience was scary! They should have put extra trasins! Good luck with the olympic!

    ~ by Dario 9/14/2008

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  • I took my 2 daughters (it was one’s b’’day) grand-daughter to see Madonna @wembly stadium. DISSAPOINTED is an understatement!!! There was obviously a problem with the speakers!! The screen was to small, as was the stage. THE WHOLE SHOW WAS TO SMALL. Tickets & Travel costs wasted £500 & ruined my daughters b’’day. also MADONNA LEAVE THE GUITAR ALONE.

    ~ by lynn 9/14/2008

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  • I was sitting in block 502,ok view as screens small but expected this as it was in a stadium.But the sound was terrible.I saw Madonna in 93 at the old wembley and the gig was great and was expecting the same.what a let down.no explanation of the delay and no support act ? waste of money.An apoligy or statement from the organisers would go some way to ease my dissapointment.

    ~ by Rid 9/14/2008

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  • The show itself was good but the sound was really bad in the nosebleed seats. The only speakers I could see were on the stage and so the sound did not carry. I think it is really annoying and quite short sighted of her spokesperson to say I was at the gig and the sound was fine when I am quite sure she was not sat in a block towards the top/back of the stadium. Fine they were the cheaper seats but they were still £65, which is loads more that most people charge for their best seats.

    ~ by Ben 9/15/2008

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  • I was in block 527 row 39 and the sound was dreadful, as for the spokesperson for Madonna saying the sound was fine, I bet she was in the standing area! Apparently the sound was fine there! I won’t be seeing her in a stadium again!

    ~ by nathan 9/15/2008

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  • the sound was dreadful couldn’’’t see the screens and have never been to a concert and seen so many people get up and leave we should all be given refunds the tour promoter should give everyone who complained there money back

    ~ by karen 9/16/2008

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  • I saw her in Rome and the gig was fantastic, it started on time, sound was good and the crowd went wild. It is a pity that in London did not work. Surely, it is livenation and its technicians responsibility. She’s great!

    ~ by Warren 9/17/2008

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  • I was also at the gig having travelled all the way from galway,ireland.We were in row 33 seat 5,6,7,8. Madge was brilliant from what i watched on you tube the following day.Sound was terrible.You could still hear people talking.From the view we had she looked like a lego man.Very very dissapointing after looking forward to seeing her for so long.Livenation should put on another gig in a smaller venue for us dissapointed fans.

    ~ by nicky 9/24/2008

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