Kevin Federline reportedly had to beg event organisers not to cancel his concert at Webster Hall in New York on Saturday night and was three hours late starting his performance because he was hoping more fans would appear.

An inside source at the venue told Star magazine: “They were going to cancel this concert, but he begged them to keep it on. He had to fight with them to keep this concert.”

“He was holding things up because there weren’t enough fans. It was a bad idea - he shouldn’t have neglected the fans who were there.”

The venue, which can hold up to 1,500 people, was only a fifth full when he finally stepped out onto the stage and his performance itself was described by an audience member as “mercifully short”.

The onlooker added that he “seemed really confused about how to act on stage. He would pace from one side of the stage to the other, just saying things like, ‘Hey’ thirty times in a row or ‘New York, thank you for coming - buy my CD.’”

Kevin said recently that he didn’t mind that his concerts haven’t sold as well as he hoped because he knows he has to pay his dues as a new artist.