With less than two hours notice, American singer Lizzo announced Thursday that she had to postpone her concert at the Bell Center the same evening, due to health problems. Admirers of the artist, met by The Press when they heard the news, they were torn between disappointment and frustration.
In front of the Bell Center, Thursday evening, the mines are low. Little girls are in tears. Fans of Lizzo exchange incredulous glances, their ticket in hand, not sure what to do. Others are downright frustrated and let it be known. Security guards announce to them all, when they arrive at the entrance to the arena, that the concert of the singer has just been postponed, to a date still unknown.
The announcement was made by the artist around 6:30 p.m. An email was sent to ticket holders “within twenty minutes,” according to evenko. “By doctor’s order, Lizzo will be unable to present her show tonight. A new show date will be announced shortly,” said the Montreal promoter around 7 p.m. Thursday, the time the doors of the Bell Center were to open. The concert was to start at 8 p.m., with a performance by rapper Latto as the opening act.
“I understand that artists have to cancel, but I don’t understand that it’s done when everyone is on their way to come. Not everyone lives in downtown Montreal. People spent, paid for parking, paid for hotels. We didn’t know [que le spectacle était reporté]. We received the email, but I just saw it and, anyway, we were already gone a long time,” explains Christine, who came from Mascouche and met just after she heard the news.
At his side, Nathalie explains that the email had gone to his unwanted anyway. Between the two women, Alexis, 10, and Zoé, 9, look sad. The youngest then begins to cry.
“We have just rented a hotel right next door so as not to have to pay for parking and so that the girls do not lack sleep”, continues Christine, consoling the little one.
It was for our parties. We will be reimbursed. We are no longer tempted.
Christina
Other people interviewed by The Press share this feeling of disappointment mixed with frustration. “It’s ordinary, says Mélanie, who arrived from Quebec to attend the concert, surrounded by her group of friends. I’m not going to come back, I’m going to give away my tickets. »
evenko asks fans “to keep their tickets which will be valid for the new show date”, but some people are already thinking of reselling or getting a refund for their tickets. “We will see if we can resell them. We are very disappointed and sad about this experience,” says Addie. The young man and his friend come from Toronto. They spent five hours on the train Thursday expressly to attend Lizzo’s concert and are due to leave the next morning. “With all the logistics involved and the money it costs to come here, we won’t be coming back,” he adds. We’ve been planning this for months, we don’t even know what we’re going to do with the rest of our evening. Montreal is a very beautiful city, but we came for Melissa [le vrai prénom de Lizzo]. »
A Lizzo too sick to perform
“This is the second time in my entire career that I have had to cancel a performance due to a health problem. I’ll pick myself up, I promise you, Montreal. I’m sorry, ”said Lizzo, lying under a blanket, a mask on her face, looking weakened, in a one-minute video she shared in the evening on her Instagram account, a few hours from the moment when we was waiting for him on the Bell Center stage.
Sick since the day before, she woke up with even more severe symptoms, and was forced to rest, she said.
The popular interpreter ofAbout Damn Time was to take the Bell Center stage as part of his tour Specialwhich has taken her to many cities in North America and Europe in recent months.
“Hi, Montreal. I had a headache yesterday, I went to bed. But I woke up this morning and it was worse, I had chills and my head hurts,” Lizzo also explains in her Instagram video, gasping for air.
“If it’s just a cold, normally I wash, eat and it gets better. But it got worse. I think it’s the flu. I have to make the sad decision to cancel [le concert] Today. I want to find a date to reschedule. But I can’t perform tonight. »
It is a disappointment that adds to that already experienced by the singer’s admirers in 2020, when the Osheaga festival, where she appeared as a headliner, was canceled due to the pandemic.
In response to his video on Thursday, many people, including Montreal fans, wished him a speedy recovery. At the entrance to the Bell Center, Jillian and Leah also say they are compassionate, five minutes after learning that there would be no show. “It’s a shame, but we saw her Instagram and she looks so sick… What can she do? Being sick on stage? says Jillian, who was going to attend her first concert at the Bell Centre.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Leah and Jillian
The latter, originally from the United States, is leaving Montreal soon and knows that she will not be able to come back to attend the concert when a new date is announced.
She had bought the tickets for my birthday. It was our last big date together before she left. The tickets come from a resale site, so we don’t know what we’ll do with them.
Leah
Resident of Ottawa, Melissa is in Montreal with her friends Marie-France, Kimberly and Stephanie to see Lizzo, but decides not to let the bad news ruin her evening. “We’re going to have a good time with friends we haven’t seen for a long time… and it’s about damn time “, she laughs, in reference to the song of Lizzo. “It’s okay, we’ll try to come for the next concert, even if it’s difficult because we all have children. »
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Kimberly, Melissa, Stephanie and Marie-France
Montrealer Laila Chaudhry, whose birthday was Thursday, is another Lizzo fan who takes the news with a smile, despite the disappointment. Surrounded by her friends, she says the group will surely embark on a pub crawl to make up for the evening. “It would have been nice to see her, but too bad. According to the new date, we would like to come back. »