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The sky falls in for stricken Adele fans

They bet on red. It landed on black. The sky fell in.

They thought they would be listening to Adele open her first concert in five years. Instead, thousands of fans are battling airlines, hotels and ticket agencies after the singer postponed her entire 12-week residency at a Las Vegas casino.

Adele’s announcement on social media that ‘‘my show ain’t ready’’, just 24 hours before it was due to open yesterday at Caesars Palace, has caused frustration and anger among her fan base.

The English singer said half her ‘‘team’’ had Covid-19, which, coupled with ‘‘delivery delays’’, meant the show was ‘‘absolutely destroyed’’.

She added: ‘‘I’m gutted. I’m sorry it’s last minute. I’m so upset and embarrassed and I’m so sorry to everyone that’s travelled again.’’ She promised that the Las Vegas dates would be rescheduled.

Miles Delmar, from Portland, Oregon, said he had lost US$1000 (NZ$1490) because of the last-minute cancellation.

‘‘They could have done a stripped-down, low-key ‘intimate evening with Adele’ or something,’’ he said. ‘‘We didn’t need a huge production.

‘‘So instead, they wait until the last minute and screw over 4000-plus people.’’

It has been reported by Las Vegas newspapers that Adele was due to open her concert with Skyfall, the theme tune for the James Bond film, complete with a 60-strong choir.

Gillian Rowland-Kain, who lives in New York and was on her way to Las Vegas when Adele made her announcement, said the singer must have known earlier in the week that the show was not ready. ‘‘Her lack of notice is astounding.’’

The uncertainty over when – or whether – the concerts will be rescheduled has led to a scramble for ticketholders. Caesars Palace Casino said it was allowing those who had booked rooms, along with concert tickets, for this weekend to cancel. Future bookings ‘‘may’’ be considered, it said. It advised those who had flown in to contact their airlines.

Adele’s Las Vegas residency, which it is reported would have earned her tens of millions of dollars for 24 concerts over 12 weeks, had been one of the most anticipated cultural events of the year.

Ticket prices for the Weekends With Adele shows ranged from US$80 (NZ$120) to tens of thousands of dollars on the secondary ticketing market. It was reported that she would have made US$678,000 (NZ$1 million) per performance, with merchandise sales on top of that.

Prior to this week’s postponement, there had already been concerns about how Adele’s vocal cords would cope with the dry air of the desert climate in Las Vegas. Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott, who did residencies in Las Vegas in 2013 and 2019, told Adele: ‘‘For God’s sake, get a humidifier in your room.’’ She has previously had surgery on her vocal cords, and cancelled her final 2017 gigs at Wembley, her last live concerts.

Adele has insisted that she will reschedule all the dates. ‘‘I’m going to finish my show,’’ she said.

World

en-nz

2022-01-23T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-01-23T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://stuff.pressreader.com/article/282943863641226

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