Disgruntled fans in Washington D.C. have filed a lawsuit against Madonna for her late appearances at December concerts in the city’s Capital One Arena, claiming that by starting her shows over two hours behind schedule, she showed “total disrespect for her fans.”

They also say they were forced to wait for hours in a “hot, uncomfortable arena,” claiming that Madonna herself had insisted on the temperature. Their allegations include accusations of lip-syncing – another instance of false advertising, according to their lawyers.

The legal move follows a similar case filed by two fans who attended one of the star’s three shows at New York’s Barclays Center, also in December. The latest move to sue the star was filed on behalf of three unhappy fans at her two Washington concerts. Both suits have been brought by the same lawyers. Concert promoters Live Nation are named as a defendant in both cases.

In the D.C. complaint, the trio of fans state that the Queen of Pop started her 18 and 19 December performances at the Capital One Arena at 10:40pm, more than two hours after the advertised 8:30pm start time, which they say was “a wanton exercise in false advertising.”

“Forcing consumers to wait hours for her performance in a hot, uncomfortable arena is demonstrative of Madonna’s arrogant and total disrespect for her fans,” states the lawsuit.

“No reasonable concertgoer—and certainly no Madonna fan—would expect the headline act at a major arena concert to take the stage at the ticketed event time”

The Washington concerts plaintiffs – Elizabeth Halper-Asefi, Mary Conoboy, and Nestor Monte, Jr. – say, “This complaint is not about unhappy fans who don’t want to stay up late, but instead, reasonable, responsible people who had commitments to babysitters, work, getting their vehicles out of parking lots that closed at 12:00 midnight, and realizing that public transportation would no longer be operating.”

In response to the earlier New York lawsuit, Madonna and Live Nation’s lawyers claimed that fans attending concerts by the 65-year-old should not expect her, or any other headliner, to start the concerts at the advertised start time. “No reasonable concertgoer—and certainly no Madonna fan—would expect the headline act at a major arena concert to take the stage at the ticketed event time,” countered the defendants’ legal team, further arguing that fans cannot sue over something they were aware of before they bought their tickets.

However, in an effort to avoid similar arguments, the lawyers for the D.C. plaintiffs noted in court papers, “Reasonable consumers have seen that concerts featuring Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen, whose tours are also promoted by Live Nation, do start on the time indicated on the ticket and have similar experiences attending Broadway theater, NFL football and Major League baseball games.”

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As Hurricane Ian continues to tear through the east coast of the US, promoters are being forced to cancel or postpone concerts and festivals.

At least 87 storm-related deaths have been confirmed since the Category 4 hurricane hit Florida’s Gulf Coast on Wednesday (28 September).

The storm, which is reportedly heading for New York and Washington, is said to be one of the strongest and costliest hurricanes in American history.

Artists including Luke Bryan, Lynyrd Skynyrd and War On Drugs have been forced to scrap or reschedule concerts, while festivals including Oceans Calling, the Second Street Festival and Neptune Festival have been called off.

C3 Presents festival Oceans Calling would have taken place last weekend but was cancelled due to the anticipated impact of remnants of Hurricane Ian on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

Dave Matthews, Alanis Morissette and The Lumineers were set to headline the Ocean City-based event. Cyndi Lauper, Logic and Grouplove were also due to perform.

Elsewhere, country music singer Luke Bryan rescheduled a trio of Florida concerts last weekend, including performances in Estero, West Palm Beach, and Tampa.

The storm is said to be one of the strongest and costliest hurricanes in American history

The shows are now slated to take place on 2 November at Hertz Arena (Estero); 4 Nov at iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre (West Palm Beach); and 5 Nov at MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre (Tampa).

Lynyrd Skynyrd’s concert, originally scheduled for 29 September at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, was rescheduled for 16 October.

The War On Drugs 29 September performance at the Live Oak Amphitheater in Wilmington and their 30 September performance – originally planned for Firefly Distillery and relocated indoors to the North Charleston Coliseum and Performing Arts Center – were acancelled.

Meanwhile, Jason Aldean rescheduled his 1 October show at Savanna’s Enmarket Arena, with the performance now scheduled to take place on 16 October.

The 2nd St Festival, which was to take place in Richmond, Virginia, on 1 and 2 October, was cancelled, however, festival headliner Grandmaster Flash has moved his planned performance to Richmond’s Hippodrome Theater on 1 October.

The 48th annual Neptune Festival in Virginia Beach, planned for 30 September to 2 October, was also cancelled.

A concert by southern rockers Molly Hatchet, scheduled for the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall in Jacksonville on 30 September, was postponed.

While a 30 September performance by pop band Lucius at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre was cancelled and Gospel singer CeCe Winans’ sold-out 1 October concert at Trinity Baptist Church was postponed.

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Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), owner of several sports teams, venues and enterprises, has announced plans for a new multi-purpose live-event venue.

District E Powered by Ticketmaster will span nearly 14,000 square feet and comprise an Esports competition studio and a 150-capacity venue expected to host over 200 events per year.

The venue is expected to open this autumn in the Chinatown neighbourhood of downtown Washington D.C, adjacent to Capital One Arena, home of the NHL’s Washington Capitals and NBA’s Washington Wizards.

MSE, which owns both the arena and the aforementioned sports teams, will offer District E Powered by Ticketmaster as a competition and training venue for its esports franchises, which include Wizards District Gaming and Caps Gaming.

“Given the rapid rise in the popularity of esports, we believe the time is right to build an esports-centric venue”

Additionally, the venue will establish an East Coast satellite office for global esports outfit Team Liquid and host state-of-the-art streaming pods to tap into the streaming sector.

Zach Leonsis, president of media and new enterprises at MSE, said: “We are excited to invest in this first-of-its-kind venue for esports and other immersive experiences and know it will quickly become the preferred destination for pre- and post-event attendees with one-of-a-kind programming and food and beverage offerings.

“And given the rapid rise in the popularity of esports and the growing audience for gaming in general, we believe the time is right to build an esports-centric venue that serves as a rallying point for the gaming community in the Mid-Atlantic.

“The wide-scale, international appeal of esports brands is well documented. We believe that developing deep, grassroots-level connections within our local community is the natural next step for esports as the genre develops into a major league aside other traditional sports.”

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Majority Live Nation-owned US promoter Emporium Presents has announced the appointment of Tina Suca as chief operating officer.

Suca will lead Emporium’s business operations and help support the company’s growth.

Suca joins Emporium Presents from BSE Global, where she held the role of vice president of industry relations. In her position, Suca assisted the booking of all BSE properties – 16,800-capacity NYCB Live (formerly Nassau Coliseum), Webster Hall (1,400-cap.) and the recently sold Barclays Center (19,000-cap.).

Prior to BSE, Suca was vice president for ArenaNetwork, general manager and booker for SMG’s Nassau Coliseum and MSG’s the Forum at Inglewood (17,505-cap.), and general manager at Live Nation’s the Wiltern (2,300-cap.).

“We are extremely excited to have Tina join Emporium and use her vast industry experience and relationships to take us to another level”

“We are extremely excited to have Tina join Emporium and use her vast industry experience and relationships to take us to another level,” says Emporium Presents co-director Jason Zink.

Tina Suca will be working out of Emporium Presents’ Colorado office.

Emporium Presents was born in 2016, as the result of a merger between Zink’s Sherpa Concerts and Dan Steinberg’s Square Peg Concerts. Live Nation took a 51% stake in the promoter in 2018. Steinberg and Zink continue to direct the company.

With offices in Colorado and Washington, Emporium promotes over 400 shows annually across the United States and has a growing presence in Canada. The company recently expanded its booking team, hiring talent buyers Laura Vilches and Danny Cohen.

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Jack Lucas, the founder and long-serving president of independent US ticket agency TicketsWest, has stepped down after 30 years at the helm.

Replacing him is Dusty Kurtz, who has been with the Spokane, Washington-based company since 2006, most recently as vice-president.

Lucas remains as president of WestCoast Entertainment, which promotes broadway shows across north-western America.

“When we started TicketsWest in 1987, we had a goal to be the best ticketing company that we could be,” Lucas wrote in an email to industry colleagues, seen by IAVM. “As I now reflect back on 30 years, and realise the significance of where we started and where we are currently at in our history, I am thankful for the many team members, both current and those in the past, that have helped to make TicketsWest into a national brand, and one of the premiere full-service/full-enterprise ticketing solutions in the United States.

“I am thankful for the many team members who helped make TicketsWest into … one of the premiere full-service ticketing solutions in the US”

“I am so fortunate that for the past 30 years I have had the great joy of being part of this history. To this day, I still enjoy and look forward to walking through the front door each and every day. I must confess, after 30 years I still love what I do, and still have a passion for my work.

“But after 30 years, there comes a time when you have to pass the torch on to someone else, and let them lead and create the vision for the next 30 years. I have finally made that decision.

“Dusty has had a great career with TicketsWest and has worked alongside me as my vice-president for the past several years. I can state without reservation that Dusty is ready to take TicketsWest to the next level. Dusty is ready to create the vision and the strategy to position TicketsWest for the future. There isn’t anyone that I would want to have lead TicketsWest than Dusty Kurtz. He is honest, forthright, a hard worker and provides all of the skills and experience needed to lead TicketsWest.”

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