By Cong Mu

The Irish-Norwegian duo, Secret Garden, failed to please half of its audience last night, postponing their concert for over two and a half hours.

More than 600 people bustled into the Great Hall of the People by 7:30 pm only to find the Irish violinist Fionnuala Sherry and the Norwegian pianist Rolf Lè±½land on stage with a Chinese woman, announcing the cancellation of the show because their instruments were delayed at the airport.

The unnamed woman told the audience to go home and call a given telephone number for a refund, without mentioning any compensation, which instantly caused an uproar.

Cui Jian, 25, a post-graduate student at Beijing Normal University, said she has been looking forward to this event for two months. "I have been listening to their music since I was 13," Cui said, "It was definitely a letdown."

At 9:10 pm, under pressure from around 300 people who refused to leave the concert hall, the organizer, Zhonglian Baihua Culture and Art, agreed to restart the concert, which eventually took place at around 10 pm.

It was not immediately clear how the organizer would deal with the refunds. The ticket prices ranged from 180 yuan ($27.37) to 1,280 yuan ($187.54).