So much hype surrounds this woman that you never know if your expectations will be properly met when finally get to see her in real time, so to speak. Your faithful correspondent is happy to report that they most definitely were ... and how! The show commenced with a "punk" set, all muscley biceps and spikey haired dancers and playing the guitar and stuff. I remember my mate (and large Madonna fan) Kyle commenting when Ray of Light came out in 1998 that the small amount of guitar featured there was something new for her - now it's definitely a strong part of her music (can you imagine "Don't Tell Me" without it?).
Mrs Ritchie's punk sensibilities then gave way to a Japanese set with a bizarre gnarled tree centre stage and four illuminated cocoons lowering from the roof (which contained burly, near-naked men, of course - you simply can't have a Madonna concert without them dahling!), all to the strains of "Paradise (Not For Me)". "Frozen" was next in the running order, with the much talked about mega-sleeved kimono looking fantastic and breaking apart near the end of the song into two pennants that were paraded around the stage. This segment also featured an intimate dance with a samurai warrior ("Nobody's Perfect") and a mildly disturbing video of her in Japanese costume with black eyes and a nose dripping with blood (which she proceeded to smear across her upper lip) capped with a perverse kind of grin. Good stuff.
Cowboy and Spanish sets soon followed, including a bizarre audience sing-a-long moment to a twangily-sung Western ditty, a mechanical bull ride, line-dancing, the tango, castanets, a Spanish version of "What It Feels Like For A Girl" and a whole load of other low-fat malarkey. "I Deserve It" was sung on a hay-baled armchair (contraband dak?), accompanied by her acoustic guitar and dedicated to hubby.
A lot of people have grumbled about the lack of older material on show but I can't say that detracted from the experience at all - she was there to tour her new material and she certainly did so, to maximum effect. "La Isla Bonita" made an appearance in the Spanish set and "Holiday" was the penultimate number (a great romp with Madonna in pimp fedora and fur coat (goldfish-containing platforms were absent however)). I was pleasantly surprised to hear renditions of "Human Nature" (my favourite video) and "Secret", which had a great video backdrop of assorted religious imagery from around the world (very Baraka-esque, Meg informs me). So no, there wasn't much of the back catalogue on display but there really wasn't a need for it. Capiche?
"Music" was the show's finale and it brought the house down really - a great choon to sum up the lady's work itself: another great montage of images on the screens presented her entire oeuvre, with randomly presented looks from both past and present and from the sublime to the truly ridiculous! She had a big smile on her face almost throughout the show which was great to see - she loved it, we loved it and I'd relive the whole thing again in an instant (an impressive instant, of course).
Related: reviews - Iain, Jonathan, Meg, random strangers; my pics from the show.
‹ 20.7.01
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