Lady Gaga cancelled her highly anticipated Sept. 3 evening concert after her doctor and vocal coach both advised her not to perform.
Wednesday’s performance was set to be Gaga’s third night at the Kaseya Center, following two sold-out shows on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1. Fans received notice that the event was postponed shortly before the concert was scheduled to begin.
“We got out of the parking garage, and all of a sudden we see everyone in Lady Gaga merch walking away,” said Jake Sperling, a third-year architecture student and concert fanatic. “We looked at Instagram to see that Kaseya Center had posted, like, maybe five minutes before that the event was postponed, which was really disappointing.”
The 14-time Grammy Award-winning artist reportedly experienced severe vocal strain during rehearsals the day prior. She was told that performing that night would damage her voice, and with upcoming performances at the Video Music Awards and Madison Square Garden, she elected not to take the risk.
“I want to be hardcore and just push through this for you, but I don’t want to risk long term or permanent damage on my vocal cords,” Gaga wrote in an Instagram story on the evening of the cancelled performance. “Even though this was a hard and agonizing decision, I would be more afraid of the long term implications on my voice.”
Some fans were particularly distraught considering how difficult tickets were to come by in the first place. As Gaga downgraded from stadiums to arenas this tour, scoring tickets for Lady Gaga’s MAYHEM Ball was particularly challenging.
“Lady Gaga Mayhem Ball pricing for the Citi Card presale is outrageous,” wrote a user on X. “Concerts are becoming inaccessible. Ticketmaster sucks. It’s a problem.”
The user detailed entering the Ticketmaster queue for the Madison Square Garden performances only to find $1,100 lower-bowl seats and $600 nosebleed seats.
Adyna Silverberg, a senior music industry major, only got tickets the night before the concert. Her cousin who worked at the venue offered her free tickets. He also told her that the concert was cancelled just moments before the general public found out.
When the announcement was made, Silverberg said the crowd’s reaction resembled “an explosion.”
“[I started] hearing screams … people are screaming, people are crying,” Silverberg said. “I overheard people [saying they] flew all the way here [or] bought expensive tickets to come here and all this stuff, and I just felt so terrible.”
In a Ticketmaster email sent to ticketholders, fans were informed that the event organizer was still trying to reschedule and that purchased tickets would remain good for that date.
“At this time … [the event organizer is] not currently allowing refunds,” the email read. “However, refunds will be made available in the future.”
On Sept. 9, the Kaseya Center announced that the rescheduled performance would take place on March 13, 2026. As the new date takes place during spring break, many UM students said they already have plans to fly home or travel elsewhere.
“All purchased tickets for the original show date will be honored for the new date,” announced the Kaseya Center. “In the event fans cannot make the new date, refunds will be available at point of purchase.”
Disappointed fans who cannot make the rescheduled Miami date also have the option of attending one of Gaga’s several other dates. In addition to the several scheduled performances, Lady Gaga just announced a second North American leg for 2026. With any luck, Miami’s Little Monsters will have their chance to reign in the “applause” soon enough.