Winehouse Trainwreck Stops in Birmingham
We're guessing this isn't how Amy Winehouse—and her handlers—envisioned her grand comeback.
Just hours after paying her first visit to hubby Blake Fielder-Civil in prison, the "Rehab" singer kicked off the first night of her oft-delayed U.K. tour Wednesday, slurring her way through lyrics, insulting the audience and walking off stage midsong. Her fans responded in kind to the haphazard behavior by booing the singer throughout her abbreviated set and subsequently fleeing the venue in droves.
The show, which both the BBC and the London Times critics deemed "shambolic," took place in Birmingham, marking the first gig in a planned monthlong sell-out tour of Britain, which is scheduled to continue as planned in Glasgow on Friday despite the singer's less than welcome reception.
Lowlights of the concert have already appeared online, and while the 24-year-old seems to have mumbled her way through the majority of her songs, her dedications at least were spoken with relative clarity.
"This is for my husband," she said before launching into both "Wake Up Alone" and "Tears Dry on Their Own."
However, when fans began to boo her indecipherable lyrics, which were punctuated throughout the night with fits of tears, Winehouse lashed out at the paying masses, threatening them with retaliation from her locked-up hubby and calling them "muggy c--ts" for buying tickets to the show in the first place.
"To them people booing, wait til my husband gets out of incarceration," she said. "And I mean that."
Fielder-Civil is currently locked up at Pentonville Prison in London, where he was taken earlier this week after being remanded to custody on charges of causing grievous bodily harm and perverting the course of justice after allegedly attempting to bribe a witness in his upcoming assault trial.
Winehouse was able to visit the 25-year-old behind bars for the first time Wednesday. She also appeared at his hearing Monday, where she kept mouthing the words "I love you" from the gallery.
Still, despite her no doubt emotional state, the decision to soldier on with the concert was Winehouse's idea.
"She told her management that she wants to carry on with the tour," a spokesperson for the singer told the London Times. "If anyone told her to stop and rest, it would only make her more determined to do it."
Her fans also seemed determined during the show, albeit to jump ship from the venue. According to reports, concertgoers streamed out of the gig in droves, with many having since contacted the venue, Birmingham's National Indoor Theatre, and the concert promoter seeking refunds.
For those who attempted to hang on through the show's end, they sadly weren't rewarded. During her encore, in which she did a cover of the Zutons' "Valerie," her rendition of which appears on Mark Ronson's hit album, Winehouse stopped midsong, dropped her microphone and walked offstage, never to return.
The singer, whose Back to Black is the biggest-selling album of the year in Britain, having moved 1.2 million copies, was originally scheduled to perform on tonight's mtvU Woodie Awards, but backed out last month due to problems securing a U.S. work visa. As for her U.K. tour, should it continue as planned, just 16 dates remain.
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