A lot can go into making time for a concert. Fans often have to take time off work, find babysitters and even make travel arrangements to see their favorite artists. There’s always the possibility of unforeseen circumstances, but it feels like a slap in the face when artists are cavalier about wasting their fans’ time.
Well-behaved artists seldom make history, however. Seeing as North Texas has frequently been part of that history, we’re choosing to take it in stride. Here are seven infamously flaky artists and some examples of them fucking with their Dallas-area fans.
Ms. Lauryn Hill
Hill’s last-minute cancellation of her show at Dickie’s Arena in October was hardly her first offense. The hip-hop legend has previously blessed North Texas nine times. Almost all of those times, she made her fans work for it. Several sets featured delays of over an hour, and her 2014 show at South Side Ballroom was postponed with little warning. Hill is a singular performer, but buying a ticket to see her is unfortunately a risk that doesn’t always pay off.
Drove a rental car for 4.5 hours to get to Fort Worth for a Lauryn Hill concert. Rented an air bnb. Arranged for child care. Took off of work. Get there and the show has been canceled 1.5 hours before doors open. & i was worried she was gonna show up late.
byu/babylove117 inmildlyinfuriating
Morrissey
The former Smiths frontman and current walking clickbait headline spends a lot of time these days talking about cancel culture and how he’s a victim of it. We say his fans are the true victims of cancellation (the ones who actually “know how Joan of Arc felt,” if you will). It turns out he will find pretty much any excuse to not perform. According to our research, Morrissey has canceled at least five shows in Dallas alone. In 2017, we even took the liberty of preparing a list of alternate activities related to Morrissey and The Smiths so fans could get their fix in case Moz didn’t go through with his scheduled show that year. (He did go on that time, for what it’s worth.)
Kanye West
The artist now known as Ye is one of music’s greatest flakes. He is notorious for canceling not only shows, but also albums and every ounce of goodwill he ever had in the music industry. In 2016, after he derailed a show in Sacramento with a rant that was bizarre even by his standards, the remaining 21 dates of West’s Saint Pablo Tour were canceled. This included a show scheduled at American Airlines Center that very weekend. He hasn’t played Dallas since.
Oasis
Oasis will gone down in history as being just as infamous for their infighting as they are loved for their work. During their troubled Definitely Maybe Tour, co-frontman Noel Gallagher disappeared for several days following a disastrous set at the Whiskey a Go Go in West Hollywood. The band’s management eventually tracked him down and convinced him to rejoin the tour, but the shows that were scheduled during his absence were abruptly canceled. One of these shows was supposed to be at Trees in Dallas on Oct. 6, 1994. Though the band did come back through Deep Ellum Live the following February, we imagine fans of the Britpop brats were struggling to not look back in anger at the cancellation.
Travis Scott
During his time opening up for Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN Tour in 2017, Travis Scott announced a secret show in Dallas called “The Night Show,” to take place at The Door. The show was scheduled to begin at 11 p.m. Scott took the stage at around 1:15 a.m., played two songs and left. Sadly, this is not the worst thing to happen during a Travis Scott show.
Justin Bieber
In begrudging fairness to the Biebs, we can’t say we blame him for being brazenly uninterested in pop stardom these days. We’d be jaded, too, if we had to do a job forever that we picked when we were tweens. He did not invent hating his job, though, and most people would be fired if they pulled the same stunts as Justin Bieber at work. In 2013, he was over two hours late taking the stage at The O2 in London because he was too busy playing video games in his dressing room. In 2017, he canceled the final 14 dates of his Purpose World Tour (including a stop at AT&T Stadium in Arlington) because he was “just over” it, according to sources close to him. In 2020, he resorted to what we have read as malicious compliance by writing and releasing the song “Yummy.” Someone please let the guy quit.
Erykah Badu
When you buy tickets to an event put on by Erykah Badu, there’s an understanding that the entire evening will be on her time. The singer is notorious for being several hours late to her shows. Last February, she shocked her public by actually starting her set on time at her annual Badu Birthday Bash at The Factory. While we can extend some grace for dilly dallying at her own birthday party, it’s hard to defend calling out fans for leaving early in Sacramento when she herself arrived late.
