Instead of a traditional tour, Lana Del Rey is on the festival circuit this year after a four year hiatus from touring (which was mostly due to the pandemic). She started out at MITA festival in Brazil and just performed at Glastonbury in the UK. She was half an hour late at Glastonbury, and because the festival has a strict curfew, her mic got cut off when she had six songs left to go in her set. You all know that I love Lana very much, but I rolled my eyes so hard at Miss Girl’s explanation for being late: her hair just takes so long, okay?
Lana Del Rey showed up for her set at the Glastonbury music festival a half-hour late—and her mic was cut an hour later when curfew arrived. With six songs still to go, she tried to sing a cappella with her fans but was eventually escorted away. As for why she was late, Del Rey told the disappointed crowd, “My hair takes so long to do,” adding that she was “super sorry,” according to the BBC.
There is actually footage of her fans singing Video Games after her mic was cut, which is pretty cool. I always get a little emotional when I hear so many people singing the same song like that. She looked visibly upset when she was escorted off the stage. Now, I;m not sure that her hair was the problem. I think she had a case of nerves. Lana strikes me as someone with quickly changing moods and a tendency towards self-sabotage, like one of her idols, Marilyn Monroe. She opened the MITA sets in a Marilyn wig, cosplays as Marilyn in her most recent music video, and has referenced Marilyn in her songs. I think MM is hugely influential in Lana’s mind. Marilyn was often late to set because of debilitating stage fright. The more famous she got, the more pressure she felt to be perfect, and the harder it was for her to get to set on time. (She also had substance abuse issues, which didn’t help.) People put up with Marilyn because she created pure magic on screen. But most of the time, that kind of lateness isn’t tolerated in the music world. Filming days can run long, but concerts don’t allow for the same kind of leeway.
I think Lana sometimes experiences the same kind of performance anxiety, but that’s just my hunch. There’s precedence for it. She’s never been the most confident live performer, as her infamous SNL appearance revealed. Remember when she had a cover story with Rolling Stone, only to try to pull out of it halfway through the interview? If stage fright is the reason why she was late, I have more understanding for that. But if it really was her hair? Girl, only Mariah Carey can get away with that level of diva. Only the Elusive Butterfly Chanteuse. It’s a lousy reason to let all these people down who have been waiting all night–and four years before that. All this also comes after she pitched a fit on her now-defunct Instagram about not being listed as a headliner on the poster, and even threatened to pull out of the festival if it wasn’t fixed. If you want the headliner spot, act like one. Be professional, show up on time.
photos credit: Justin Ng / Avalon and Getty
Whatever the reason it was a bad look for her esp as almost every other artist was on time even the notoriously late to stage Axel Rose. To blame her hair was even worse esp as she has said it was the biggest night of her career – clearly she didn’t take it that seriously if she couldn’t plan properly. It could have been anxiety but look at Lewis Capaldi, he was overcome as he struggled with his voice, anxiety and tics but he persevered and the crowd was soooo amazing signing the song for him.
I think it was just her showing a bit of diva ‘tude.
Yes, I think she didn’t understand that Glastonbury is not like a regular pop concert. They are under strict instructions from the local council that the main stages end at midnight, no exceptions. So a half hour delay might be no big deal in the context of a regular concert, but at Glasto it isn’t happening. It’s not just Glasto or her – Hyde Park festival famously pulled the plug on Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney doing a duet because Westminster Council similarly does not play around.
Yeah the UK has quite strict rules around outdoor events – if they had over run the organisers would have been hit with a noise abatement order and a MASSIVE fine.
However saying that I think a lot of festivals are like that not just Glasto plus its well known thats how its run and she would have been briefed on it before hand.
FAFO
I’m no fan of her so I don’t have a horse in this race but when I read about it yesterday it did not sound good. There are rules that everyone has to follow, no matter who they are. I mostly feel bad for her fans who were so let down, even if they can find it in themselves to make excuses.
Given the contrast to Lewis Capaldi, it’s even more stark.
Now back to crossing my fingers and hoping that Guns n’ Roses are on time and on form on Friday when I’m due to see them at Hyde Park. The Pretenders are their main support so I’m sure it will be great day regardless but having wanted to see them since the 90’s I’m getting nervous.
Not a fan but what she did do, got good reviews. Weren’t there technical problems with one of the stages though and things were running late anyway? Not sure if same stage
I think on her stage it was fine – she admitted to being late because of her hair. There is footage of her having a go at the stage crew after she was cut off – when she took to the stage she told the crowd that she might get cut off as she was late. She knew the rules and thought that they would let her finish her set cause you know…..
She also smoked a vape on stage even thou they were banned.
I believe that LDR thought that the rules didn’t apply for her. As for any sympathy, it should be reserved for fans not her. LDR knew the rules but still chose to be late.
It was a different stage that had delays. But yeah, Lana’s set was really great it was a shame she got cut off but she can’t really complain about it. She knew the rules.
A half hour wasnt too bad. Some performers have been 3 hours late notoriously
It sucks for her fans she didn’t do a full set because she was late but her not knowing the venue and rules and trying to keep going is just privileged bs. I wish I could muster up some sympathy here but the choice to say she was waiting for her hair to be done…
Selfish idiot. Every outdoor arena I’ve been to has a hard stop time. A big one in my area is fined $100,000 per minute if they let a performer carry on. So guess what? Performers show up on time because they KNOW what the cut off time is.
I like LDR, but she’s been performing for YEARS – she should have her pre-show routine down by now. Unprofessional.
She has been chronically late to gigs for years. 30 minutes late is actually relatively good for her, considering she’s been 2 hours late to shows in the past. I have no idea what the reason is, but I do know that it’s unprofessional and inconsiderate to the thousands of fans and staff.
This is one of the reasons why I don’t get the hype around her.
The whole backstory makes me think it was just a super petty, “i don’t care about this show” temper tantrum
I remember waiting for a Robert Palmer concert for over an hour, maybe more (many years ago). Being late to a concert is not a good look, but I still love her work and will listen to any new releases she makes.
Off partying elsewhere maybe? Who knows. What a drag for her fans though!