I went to see Madonna lat night with Emily, part two of my plan to see all three 80’s legends in concert - Prince (who I’ve seen a few times), the aforementioned Material Girl and of course, Michael Jackson (who we had tickets to see early in his planned o2 residence).

The night didn’t start well. The support was Paul Oakenfold, now I may be being harsh here but the money he is on I expected more. His set reminded me of a DJ getting 20 quid to do your Uncle’s 50th. He played ‘Sweet Dream’s by Eurythmics and you could have been in any crap club in the UK. Strangely, Oakenfold also made a face like he was doing a poo everytime he did a bit of EQ’ing in his set.

Anyway, he buggered off and strangely the volume of the music got turned down, this was a shame as ‘Off The Wall’ was being played and some Daft Punk which seemed a far better prospect than any of the stuff Oakenfold had played.

The big problem at this point was that the packed MEN arena had no air conditioning on and it was uncomfortably hot. I later spoke to a member of staff who said it was one of Madonna’s ‘special requests’. Now, I don’t know if this is for some insane ecological or environmental reason but it’s bullshit. Madonna, please have a look at that big expensive set of yours, all that lighting etc, how do you think that goes from concert to concert? Do you think it is carried by canoe? Balls. Also, I strongly doubt you are travelling the globe by ship yourself, your flights and so on will be doing all the co2 damage so please, turn the air con back on, everyone will appreciate it and grumpy people like me won’t be so narky.

There were a number of empty seats next to me and I was hoping I would get someone ok sat there. I spotted a large transvestite heading up the stairs; he seemed either a little inebriated or a little strange as he was pointing at nothing in particular and shouting.
‘pleasedontsitnexttome, pleasedontsitnexttome, pleasedontsitnexttome’ I quietly prayed. So, of course, he headed straight for my row.

To be fair, he was harmless enough although it did make me laugh that his voice alternated between that of a brickie when he forgot to do his other voice which seemed to be that of a ‘lady’ from Little Britain. His concert dance routine was fantastic if limited. He merely did alternate arm raises all throughout the show, however, he had a great night so good on him.

There followed what seemed like an interminable wait for something to happen. Eventually, the lights went down and the video screens burst into life. I was in a bit of a grump due to the poor quality of the support and the heat situation, part of me loves to complain so a perverse side to my character was hoping I could complain throughout the show.

However, Madonna was fantastic. She seemingly never stopped dancing, going through energetic routines with her cast of dancers, she sang well and the stage setup was incredible with all the different props and visuals. She never stopped working I have to say.

First two songs were off her new album and were both very strong. She then did ‘Human Nature’ which also went down well. ‘Into the Groove’, ‘Vogue’ were crackers as was ‘Holiday’, during which she paused for a MJ impersonator to moonwalk his way across the stage to ‘Wanna Be Startin’ Something’ as a picture of a young Michael was beamed on the screen and Madonna shouted ‘long live the king’.

Due to it being MJ’s funeral, there were a few mentions of him. She dedicated ‘Ray of Light’ to him and before a very strong performance of ‘You Must Love Me’ she spoke about how he would be missed, his music would live forever and that we should appreciate everything before it’s gone.
For the final numbers, her and her dancers all wore one white sparkling glove too.
Clearly, she and him were friends and she’s not doing it for some reflected fame because she’s Madonna and I believe she’s quite popular herself!

What will annoy me is when the bandwagon reaches such a speed that ‘Ready Steady Cook’ culminates in Ainsley Harriet whipping up a quick flan and shouting ‘that one’s for you Michael’. There seem to be tons of celebrities offering quotes about Michael and saying they were really close to him but you wonder how about how many of them knew him at all and how many are just trying to get their names in the papers.

The highlight for me was ‘Like A Prayer’ mixed with Felix’s ‘Don’t You Want Me’ from the 90’s, sounds weird but it worked and when the song hit its’ gospel tinged crescendo I was clapping along with everybody else., the atmosphere seemed to be at its peak for this bit. There was lasers, mad lighting effects and what appeared to be a satanic jellyfish on the video screen. It was all overwhelming. Was I supposed to bow to it? Did she want me to eat it? God forbid, was she asking me to make love to it? WHAT DO YOU WANT MADONNA, WHAT DO YOU WANT?

There was lots of crowd involvement, prompted by Madonna asking one fan to take his shirt off which he did and then flung it to her. This prompted lots of lads to do the same making Madonna chuckle and observe ‘Well I’ve been taking my top off for you lot for long enough’.

There was an extended Romany aka Gypsy section to the show including ‘La Isla Bonita’ and then some elderly gentleman moaning whilst he rubbed his oboe. This didn’t impress me I’m afraid. If I wanted to see Romany people, I could go to the local field where they are doing a cracking job selling pegs and so on.

There was another low point to the show, the video screen appearance of Timbaland for ‘4 Minutes’. Here’s the thing though, every Timbaland produced track sounds exactly the same. YES IT DOES. Put the radio on, there’s a Timbaland track. Is it Madonna? Is it God help us Nelly Furtado? Is it Justin Timberlake? It’s that same backing track every sodding time.

All in all though, it was a fantastic show and if a grumpy old man like me can say that, Madonna must be doing something right. As the show ended, the house lights came on and they boomed out ‘Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough’ by MJ which seemed a fitting end to the night, not to mention a cracking record.

The king is dead but the queen is going strong.

Because I already saw the Sticky and Sweet tour (twice) last year in the states,I was 'OK' with her not bringing it to my area again.But after reading these reviews,I want to see it! It looks like she made some cool changes to the setlist.Fans who saw both legs of the tour are saying that the new shows are even better.

I saw the MJ tribute on Youtube and I think it's fantastic,but if I were actually at the concert,it would be hard to enjoy it Michael,Madonna and Prince were the "Big Three" of the 80s and I can't believe that one of the three is no longer among us.It would be a bittersweet moment for me.

I was at the show last night, my second Sticky and Sweet experience (I was at Wembley Stadium last September) and i felt the show was a lot LOT stronger with the changes she's made.

I thought the show took a lot longer to get going this time than at Wembley. I felt the crowd were a little reserved initially, and i will say this without fear of being shot down, but maybe Madonna should consider that lowering ticket prices could bring a few younger faces to her audience, as there was practically a geriatric contingent to a large part of last nights audience - and a bit of a lack of energy in the first half.

I thought madonna herself seemed tired at first. her movements seemed a little more sluggish, and her face looked a little lethargic - i guess it was her 3rd show in 4 nights so i will let her off - and she made up for it, eventually warming up towards the end of the Retro 80s segment.....she was certainly in a playful mood for the rest of the evening.....getting all the guys to take their tops off was pretty hilarious - its nice to not see her stick to the script particularly when it reduces her to giggles and makes her forget her lyrics.

Highlights of the show for me were the new version of Holiday - If im right, the music to this new arrangement is that of the new single 'Celebrate', as its got a really clubby, 'get together' feel to it, and it sounds A-Mazing. I hope this performance makes the DVD in some capacity.

I think the whole retro section is fantastically energetic - brilliant to see her giving so much in every show. The crowd really only seemed to get going with Miles Away / La Isla Bonita, she could have kept that going for a half hour and the crowd would have lapped it up. You Must Love me was sung beautifully - far more fitting to her more mature voice than Dress You Up which i felt suffered as Borderline did with her voice straining under notes she could hit as a 25 year old.

Like A Prayer is of course the best part of the night. A brilliant reworking that hits every right button - she should perform this song on every tour, its just utterly magical, and such a welcome arrangement after the ReInvenvtion tour mess.

The show really benefits from losing Hung Up, and gaining Frozen, a cool reworking, and it flows much better to have Ray Of light - a really crowd stormer as the penultimate song. Give it 2 me leaves everyone on a high - surprising as half the crowd had probably never heard it - itll certainly live longer in her repetoire than the stale 4 minutes does.

In summary -this was a show i was over familiar with before seeing it, but it still looks fresh and is brimming with energy and fun. Madonna has a sense of playfulness on this tour that is great to see as a fan. Of course the show is rigidly choreographed, and she relies heavily on backing tracks at times, but when she is moving like she is how can you criticise. I would love to see more moments like 'You MUst Love Me' in future - just her and a guitar and a few musicians - but there is plenty of time for that kind of stuff when she is a little less mobile. this is her most energetic tour since the Blond Ambition tour, and she pulls it off expertly.

SoulAlive said:

its certainly a celebratory moment - although later on she said a few words about mj that were a little more fitting and touching. she can be movingly eloquent when she chooses to be.

ive been thinking about how mj's passing will affect her music - whether her next album will aim for a less cutting edge and more classic sound. refocus her on the importance of having strong songs as well as good production?

CrozzaUK said:

speaking of MJ...here's an Access Hollywood segment from a few days ago,talking about the two of them...







Undoubtedly,she will record some kind of MJ tribute song,or a song "inspired" by MJ.There is talk of her appearing at an upcoming MJ tribute show in September.Fans are speculating about what she will sing.I think she should start off with a brief part of "This Used To Be My Playground" then do "Off The Wall".It's a fun,celebratory song that features the same 'forget-your-troubles-and-dance-the-night-away' theme that Madonna has made a career out of.

"Miles Away" is my favorite performance on this tour.It's also my favorite song on 'Hard Candy'.It works beautifully in a live setting.The breakdown part,where the audience sings along with her,is truly amazing! I hope she performs this song on future tours.

I have an urge to perform this song at a karaoke bar

CrozzaUK said:

Ever the optimist, eh?
[Edited 7/8/09 5:27am]

Good review. I would gladly see her again if she came to my area.

midnightmover said:

Ha, well maybe. I am confident her current obsession with wanting to fit in with the industry target demographic will not last forever - she'll tire of it and want to do something different.

JackieBlue said:

Same here I never miss a Madonna concert,lol.

CrozzaUK said:

The musical direction could well change, but I think the quality level will remain about where it is.