by Ann Oldenburg, USA TODAY
What's up with Justin Bieber lately? There was the whole birthday-gone-bad incident.
And
now he's got London fans' knickers in a major twist. Why? He showed up
two hours late for his 02 Arena concert on Monday night, the first of
three concerts there. Showtime was 8:30 p.m. He appeared at 10:30 p.m.
Teens fans were ticked, and so were their parents, who were, as AP put it, "outraged" and "overtired."
"There
were teenage girls crying outside," said financial analyst Louise
Cooper, who took her 9-year-old daughter to the concert as a birthday
present. "It's one thing if your demographic is 50-year-olds, but his
demographic is lots of little girls who need to go home and go to bed."
Tracy
Wilson, who attended the show with her teenage daughter, said people
began booing when Bieber had not appeared by9:30. She called the lack of
explanation "disgusting."
The venue apologized on its Twitter feed "to all the Justin Bieber fans for the lateness of his show tonight."
John Aizlewood in the Evening Standard
newspaper said Bieber had shown contempt for young fans, leaving them
"exhausted, disillusioned and probably late for school this morning."
Bieber jumped on Twitter Tuesday morning early to defend himself and to tell his fans he was sorry, writing:
"since
i have been here it hasnt been easy with the press at times but I have
loved it. so let me say this... last night i was scheduled after 3
opening acts to go on stage at 935 not 830 but because of some technical
issues i got on at 10:10..so.
"i was 40 min late to stage. there
is no excuse for that and I apologize for anyone we upset. However it
was great show and Im proud of that. and tonight we will run on time and
look forward to putting on an amazing show for everyone in attendance.
my relationship with the media is not always easy but im trying. Im all
about the music and the performance and i respect my fans. ...
i
never have any intent to upset or let anyone down. and Im not okay with
things being exaggerated. once again sorry for anyone upset. NIGHT 2 at
the 02 is gonna be even better. get ready. thanks"