Why Was Lana Del Rey’s Reading & Leeds Festival Performance Cut Short? Find Out As Organizers Issue Apology

Lana Del Rey's headlining set at the Reading and Leeds Festival was abruptly cut short due to a technical error, leaving fans surprised and disappointed. Here's what happened.

By Sakina Kaukawala

Published on Aug 26, 2024 | 11:54 AM IST | 52K

Lana Del Rey (via Instagram/ Lana Del Rey)

Lana Del Rey's performance at the Reading & Leeds Festival in 2024 took a strange turn when her microphone was cut off, abruptly ending her set. The incident, which occurred on Saturday night (August 24), prompted an apology from festival organizers, who acknowledged the technical error and expressed regret for the inconvenience caused to the artist and her fans, as per the Hollywood Reporter.

Lana Del Rey was performing at the Reading portion of the festival on Richfield Avenue when the incident occurred. As the singer began to sing Hope Is a Dangerous Thing for a Woman Like Me to Have - But I Have It, the final track from her 2019 album Norman F—ing Rockwell, her microphone was abruptly turned off.

The sound outage occurred just as a fireworks display began near the end of her performance. Fans were surprised when the singer spent the final five minutes of her stage time sitting and watching the fireworks with the audience, unable to continue her performance.

The following day, the Reading & Leeds Festival organizers apologized via Instagram for the incident. “Due to an error by the Reading production team, we accidentally cut Lana Del Rey’s incredible set short by 5 mins,” according to the statement. "We apologize unreservedly to Lana and her fans."

The acknowledgement of the technical error was intended to reassure attendees and fans that the incident was unintentional and that the festival team regretted the inconvenience.

The incident sparked a wave of social media reactions, with fans disappointed that Del Rey's performance ended so early. Many people took to Twitter and Instagram to express their opinions, with some pointing out that the set began 10 to 15 minutes late.

The delay, combined with the unexpected cut-off, made fans feel shortchanged. Furthermore, there were complaints about the overall sound quality at the festival, with some attendees claiming that loud techno performances on other stages drowned out the music during certain sets.

The Telegraph slammed the festival's handling of the situation, writing, "The queen of nuanced pop deserved better than this travesty." The review echoed the sentiment of many fans who felt Del Rey's performance deserved a better ending.

Despite the hiccup at Reading, Lana Del Rey performed on Sunday night at Bramham Park as part of the Leeds festival. The show marked the final stop on her tour in support of her 2023 album Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. Fans who attended the Leeds show expected a more enjoyable experience, and the show went off without a hitch.

Del Rey has hinted at new music on the way. In a recent interview with Vogue, she talked about her new album, Lasso. “All my albums are somewhat rooted in Americana unless it’s an album like Honeymoon which has a jazz flair, so I don’t think it will be a heavy departure,” she said.

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