Nicki Minaj had a concert scheduled in Montreal at the Bell Centre for April 17th, 2024, for her Pink Friday 2 World Tour. Evenko’s website stated that doors were at 7:00 PM, and the show was to start at 8:30 PM. Pretty regular scheduling for a concert. When DJ Boof started his set at 9:00 PM, I didn’t think much of it. Sometimes a show will start a little later than expected, that’s no big deal. Monica’s set followed immediately after, and ended at around 9:45 PM.
I assumed that Nicki Minaj would take the stage at 10:00 or 10:15, but that was far from the truth. The Bell Centre was sold out shoulder to shoulder, and all those people in attendance were made to wait for any sign of life. No announcement was made, everyone was left guessing as to what was going on, and as it was getting later and later, people were getting pretty upset, myself included. I was starting to wonder if the show would be cancelled or postponed.
Finally, at 11:00 PM, Nicki posted a statement on “X” explaining that her flight to Montreal was delayed several hours and pushed back even further because the plane was “still fuelling”. She then explained that once they landed, they searched through all of her personal bags along with her larger luggage, which was unusual to her past experiences when flying to Canada.
She ended her post by reassuring that she would still be performing that night and that she was currently on her way. She finally started her show at roughly 11:20 PM, nearly three hours later than scheduled and around 20 minutes past Bell Centre’s curfew.
I won’t deny it: I had a ton of fun at that show and from what I’ve seen online, a ton of other people did, too. Her setlist was everything I could’ve ever dreamed of; the choreography was incredible, and I just screamed my little heart out. But the night was in fact not “still young,” and the show ended at around 1:15 AM. At that point, the metro was closed, which made it very difficult to get home. I’ve heard of people who paid $90-$100 for an Uber ride home, no matter if they were a 10-15 minute drive away. My girlfriend and I called several times for a taxi, only for them to be taken by other people also looking for one. It was mayhem!
I’ve also heard of a lot of people saying that they couldn’t even stay for the concert at all because they had to take an exam for school at 8:00 AM the next day. There’s been no word on whether anyone would be compensated in any way, whether they had to pay insanely high fares to get home or if they had to miss out on the concert entirely due to how late Nicki Minaj was to her own show.
I can understand that this incident wasn’t necessarily Nicki Minaj’s fault, and that you can’t always predict flight delays. I love Nicki Minaj’s music, and so does everyone else that was in attendance that night, but I think it goes without saying that the lack of any forewarning or compensation is an injustice to all that bought a ticket to her show.
Am I beyond happy that I was there for the show? Yes. Do I think it would have been a lot more fair to reschedule the show? I think so, yes. It would’ve prevented people having to miss out on the experience, or having to pay an absurd amount of money for a ride home.
This is definitely not the first time that a show in Canada has been so late that public transport is no longer an option. It’s a real shame and extremely unfair and disappointing to those who attended said concert. Hopefully, the next time Nicki Minaj plays a show in Montreal, she can make it to the venue to perform on time.
Jamie Siddall
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