Lily Allen has canceled her forthcoming San Francisco performance following low ticket sales and backlash over the short, scripted format of her “West End Girl” tour.
The British pop singer was initially scheduled to bring her tour back to the city Sept. 23, following an initial U.S. run that included a performance at the Masonic. She has now scrapped her return, during which she was set to take over Chase Center. Other canceled arena stops include Philadelphia’s Xfinity Mobile Arena, United Center in Chicago, Kia Forum in Inglewood (Los Angeles County) and Rogers Arena in Vancouver, opting for new shows at smaller venues.
More Information
Lily Allen:
8 p.m. Sept. 22. Paramount Theatre, 2025 Broadway, Oakland. 510-893-2300. www.ticketmaster.com
She completely dropped her Sept. 8 concert at Montreal’s Bell Centre.
“We have a few updates since we first announced this leg of the tour earlier in the year,” Allen announced on X on Monday, July 13, along with a poster of the updated tour schedule.
Allen is now slated to perform at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland on Sept. 22. The East Bay venue has a capacity of 3,040 fans, roughly 16,000 less than Chase Center.
The singer also added a date in Seattle at the Paramount Theatre, operated by a different company than the Bay Area venue, on Sept. 24.
Ticket presales for the new dates and venues start at 10 a.m. July 22, while general sales begin at 10 a.m. July 24.
Fans who had previously purchased tickets will be automatically refunded within five to seven business days and automatically entered into a ticket presale for the new shows.
The singer’s previously announced shows in New York, Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis and the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado will proceed as planned.
These tour changes follow growing scrutiny of the highly produced, theatrical nature of Allen’s current run of shows. Many fans have taken to social media to complain about the show being too short, clocking in at just under an hour, and Allen’s lack of audience interaction.
The performance follows Allen through various rooms of her apartment, tracing the album’s narrative of marital collapse.
Allen defended the production after journalist Rupert Hawksley added to the criticism on social media June 29.
“It’s my artistic choice not to talk to the audience, the fourth wall helps with the storytelling. Most people find it to be effective,” she wrote on social media. “Everyone on this tour is really working very hard to give people the best show we possibly can, and I’m extremely proud of it.”
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This article originally published at 2000s pop star cancels San Francisco show after low ticket sales, online backlash.