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Original poster

To think Adele’s been shockingly unprofessional?

664 replies

AngeloMysterioso · 22/01/2022 08:31

Adele was due to start a Las Vegas residency at Caesar’s Palace this weekend and cancelled the entire thing less than 24 hours ahead of time, saying they weren’t ready for a number of different reasons.

FIL had bought tickets to the opening night for himself and MIL as a 40th wedding anniversary present, they had pretty much just checked into their hotel when she announced it wasn’t going ahead, and the cost of that and their flights is now money down the drain. DH and I and BIL and SIL were planning on taking them away for a family weekend at Easter but have instead offered to pay for travel and accommodation when (if?) it gets rescheduled.

I get that covid is fucking a lot of things up for a lot of people, but surely they could have faced reality a bit sooner? Even one more day’s notice would have saved so many people taking flights and checking into hotel rooms that they could have rebooked or been refunded for.

OP posts:
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Frazzled2207 · 22/01/2022 09:17

Is not great but I don’t believe it would have been her decision.
It’s crackers though that people have paid so much money to travel etc and will have no way of getting that money back

Sparklingbrook · 22/01/2022 09:17

It would have been better if the announcement had no tears or nails looking at the pics. I might have to watch it to see just how bad it was.

sanbeiji · 22/01/2022 09:17

Also genuinely wondering…surely a pared down version would have let her keep the money and solved stuff?

People are there for Adele, they can’t sue for Adele singing on a barstool as people have said.

Again - she has an expensive management team, they’re paid to sort things like this.

ilovebrie8 · 22/01/2022 09:18

It’s appalling by Adele to cancel so late, her video apology was so poor. She’s lost touch with her roots and she ain’t up to the job of performing ...

thebellagio · 22/01/2022 09:18

I think the biggest thing is the location, for two reasons,

1), Vegas is a destination, there would have been very few “locals” going to see her, so every fan will have been screwed with accom and flights. If this was somewhere like London, most people would be cross but it wouldn’t have cost them annual leave, flights, hotels etc because they would have been coming straight from home.

But

2), are they seriously saying with all the theatres in Vegas they couldn’t pull together a makeshift crew and stage? Surely you would borrow from another show or potentially pay that performer (if someone low key) not to perform than cancel completely?

Chishnfips · 22/01/2022 09:18

She bought up the entire global vinyl manufacturing capacity to pump her album sales in time for Christmas forsaking every other artist who had already been waiting for production to start again after the 9 month wait. Her fans are not even likey to buy her album on vinyl She just wanted to beat the record sales for the year. Her team could easily have pulled off the show if she really wanted to but whatever staffing troubles she had, announcing 24 hrs before gates open is not on.

BeenHereForAges · 22/01/2022 09:19

Terrible way to treat her fans.
I don't cop the covid excuse either. I think she's got cold feet & I think she could have addressed this days ago.

RedToothBrush · 22/01/2022 09:19

[quote Lockheart]@RedToothBrush you'll have to quote me where I said it was professional, because I must be temporarily blind and I can't see that in my post.

Of course it's not professional. But the way people are going on you'd think Adele had just said "nah, can't be arsed", completely forgetting the huge legal and financial ramifications for her, her management and label, and the hotel. They will have done everything to try and avoid this, which is probably why it was so late in the day. There will be legal contracts coming out of her ears and there will have been many, many people behind this decision, but as she's the face of the concert she was always going to be the one to have to make the announcement.[/quote]
Or because there is a handy covid get out clause. At which point the whole thing will be panned rather than rescheduled.

She's already got another pile of commitments to reschedule. Which is why binning off the first weekend only would have been the obvious solution if it was just covid.

Instead trying to get a new block of residency dates she can fulfill without getting hit for a bunch of other cancellation clauses is going to be tricky.

The whole show, if it does go ahead, will be revamped. Its questionable if it will be this year if it does go ahead. Again if ticket sales are a factor and nothing to do with covid then next year would be very nice for tshirt sales and the venue...

aspectinputmenutext · 22/01/2022 09:20

Apparently she is a 'perfectionist' thebellagio 🙄, and so the show would never go on unless it was 'perfect'.

I think it is stage fright, I don't appreciate her music, swearing or public carping though so I am unlikely to give her much slack!

Fetchthevet · 22/01/2022 09:20

Sorry but every time this woman speaks it annoys me too much, and I come from Essex so I hardly speak like the Queen myself. I haven't seen her video but I can just imagine her saying "It ain't appening babes" or something awful like that. I'm hoping there weren't any f words in her apology, but I wouldn't put it past her.

Dasher789 · 22/01/2022 09:20

@MrsTrumpton

Also, Covid absences aside, do you honestly think Adele's management and Caesar's Palace between them couldn't overcome the delivery issues? She's Adele! She's worth £160million! You pull in every favour, you make it happen. And surely the stage should've been built already for rehearsals 30 hours before going live? What kind of deliveries were so crucial to the staging that they weren't in place weeks ago?

Sorry, but it all seems very fishy to me, and I say that as a huge Adele fan who paid the equivalent of a monthly mortgage payment to see her perform in London a few years ago.

Complete agree
Eleganz · 22/01/2022 09:21

@sanbeiji

Also genuinely wondering…surely a pared down version would have let her keep the money and solved stuff?

People are there for Adele, they can’t sue for Adele singing on a barstool as people have said.

Again - she has an expensive management team, they’re paid to sort things like this.

This is her first Las Vegas residency, I am not surprised that she didn't want to do a "pared down" show. She would mostly likely have been severely criticised for it anyway. You can't win with that one.
Pawprintpaper · 22/01/2022 09:21

I personally think it does women a disservice when prominent women resort to crying to deflect criticism and turn it to sympathy (a bit drama triangley for me) I thought the same with Allegra Stratton. It’s one think to have an uncontrolled wobble in the voice (which happens to men and women at times) but the elaborate tearful videos are just for effect. Likewise Sam Smith filming one’s self crying on the doorstep in lockdown.

Whinge · 22/01/2022 09:21

Why could she not have done a pared down version of the concert?

I think this is why a lot of the fans are frustated. They don't go to an Adele concert to see backing dancers or flashy wizz bang sound / lighting. They go to hear her sing. If she sat on a chair in the middle of the stage and sang then most fans would be thrilled.

I agree with the posters who say there must be more to it, such as unsold seats.

ElftonWednesday · 22/01/2022 09:22

@Blinky21

Can't bear Adele and don't get the national obsession with her. She should have cancelled a week ago, there's no way she didn't know then the liklihood she'd have to cancel and like PP can't believe they can't rustle up staff in Vegas to step in
She is popular and famous but I think national obsession is a bit much.
WeAreTheHeroes · 22/01/2022 09:22

I'm going to go against the grain and say it was incredibly risky to pay for flights, hotel, tickets for something like this in a global pandemic. No it won't be the same, but those who are in Vegas can see something else instead and there's plenty of other stuff to do.

edel2 · 22/01/2022 09:22

@MoiraNotRuby

I really do feel for her. We have all had those times when work is far too much to handle.

But I also really feel for people like your ILs who have wasted loads of money and annual leave and won't be compensated.

I totally agree with this. It's all just awful.
FromEden · 22/01/2022 09:22

Vegas is a destination, there would have been very few “locals” going to see her

The locals couldn't go to see her because the tickets were prohibitively expensive and also gone in minutes. Plus the covid vaccine and testing requirements were completely out of line with how things are here. This whole thing is very strange and just comes off like a massive scam

JohnStonesMissus · 22/01/2022 09:22

@Nitgel

Her message was like a teenager calling in sick to their Saturday job.
Covid is becoming "the dog ate my homework" excuse...
Lockheart · 22/01/2022 09:23

@sanbeiji *What legal ramifications?
The tickets are refundable.
She should have insurance to cover contingencies like this.

Why could she not have done a pared down version of the concert?*

Yes, they probably do have insurance, but it's not like regular old house insurance that we take out and the contract will be specific and protracted. They'll have had to check very carefully.

I don't know what is in her agreements, of course, but as a few generic examples: there is the prospect of being sued by the hotel which has just lost a huge residency, or the fans. There is the prospect of being dropped by her record label if she doesn't perform. There will be contracted staff now losing employment and who may be losing money and very angry. There will be orders placed for food, drink, supplies for the concert which are now useless.

Just a few examples off the top of my head.

It's really not as simple as just giving the fans their money back. Especially when many fans bought tickets outside official channels and may have no recourse.

Sparklingbrook · 22/01/2022 09:24

It seems an odd decision to sign up for a Las Vegas residency when you don't like singing live that much and are sick with stage fright etc.

draramallama · 22/01/2022 09:25

@aspectinputmenutext

Terrible conduct from Adele. I'm tired of the whining Adele show, no need for the next chapter to be aired around the world.

Apparently she suffers from dreadful stage fright which has been muted to be a factor. I read an article about it yesterday, sure it was in the Times that talked about her being a recording artist not a performing artist.

I bet it isn't rescheduled. She is flaky and I have got zero sympathy.

If that's the case then she needs to accept this is not the right career for her and move on instead of fucking people about.

This is a business. I don't like the way that because her customers are known as fans it is used to excuse this behaviour - like she was doing them a freebie favour on a personal level rather than the reality of selling them something commercial that she's reneged on.

That's the deal in the industry she's chosen. If she doesn't like it anymore she didn't have to make another album or do all the PR shit to sell it or market this residency.

Everything about her public image is heavily curated for PR and to sell her brand. It's all fake and performative. Like her manipulative crying video.

ElftonWednesday · 22/01/2022 09:26

I may be wrong, but I don't think you could put a show on in Vegas which involves sitting on a chair on an empty stage. And it isn't just "Adele fans" that would be watching with a residency, it's people who have gone to Las Vegas for a holiday and would like to see a show. There are lots to choose from, apparently, and presumably they have certain expectations as to what a Vegas show looks like.

DressingPafe · 22/01/2022 09:26

Adele isn’t to my taste, but I agree that she could have just sat on a stool and sang. No big preparations needed. So I just don’t see that she has any excuse.

If she gets stage fright you can do something about that. I used to get awful panic attacks and took beta blockers which helped. With all her millions she could get some kind of therapist to teach her calming techniques etc. Maybe even have them backstage to calm her down ready to go on. I still had to work when I was having panic attacks. I don’t think my boss would have taken well to a sobbing video saying I couldn’t come!

I feel for the people who have lost money and time on this. But I think they should vote with their wallets and not rebook.