Madonna Cancels German Gigs

May 4, 2001 -- German Madonna fans — who had eagerly snapped up tickets to her performances in Cologne — were outraged today after organizers announced that the singer's shows there would be canceled for technical reasons.

The star's Germany concert manager, Marek Lieberberg, said concerts scheduled on June 5 and 6 had been canceled, even though both sold out within minutes of the tickets being released last week.

"We don't have any more exact reasons for the cancellation of the two Cologne concerts," a spokesman for Lieberberg's agency said. He said the 17,000 ticket holders would get their money back.

Madonna fans in Germany, who had paid record prices of up to 250 marks ($110), were outraged.

"Madonna has one less fan now," said one disappointed fan on the German Madonna fan club's Web site, www.madonnafanclub.de.

"I'm fed up with this and am going to throw my Madonna CDs in the garbage," said another.

"Does she really think she can treat her fans like this?" asked another fan.

Madonna's tour, which concludes in Los Angeles on September 9, will now start in Barcelona on June 9. Madonna, 42, will also hold four concerts in Berlin between June 19 and 23.

The Drowned World Tour, Madonna's first road show since 1993, will also make European stops in Milan, Paris, and London before moving to the United States in late July.

Reuters contributed to this report.