I saw my third Madonna concert at the U.S. Airways arena in Phoenix Tuesday (10/16) night. I live in Albuquerque, New Mexico, took two days off from work, and drove to the show. I had excellent seats about 20 rows up from the floor. I thought it was a better show than her most recent tour for a few reasons (but not quite as good as "Confessions"):

• The song selection was a good assortment of classics and new material
• The stage was incredible! Without giving anything away, it was a fantastic use of elevators and moving floors.
• Madonna is in prime form - dancing throughout the show.
• Madoona looks incredible! Her voice was in excellent shape too.

Now, the drawbacks... These are some of the negatives - but you know what? These are not Madonna's fault. During the concert, she dedicated "Like a Virgin" to Amanda, a 14-year-old girl who recently killed herself over being bullied because she is gay. Believe it or not, people around me actually boo'd Madonna's speech, saying they came to hear music - not get a lecture about the "gay agenda."

On the same note, others actually LEFT the concert when she came right out and talked about the Presidential debate that occurred earlier in the evening. She said she thought her boy, Obama, did a "great job tonight" and said she thought people should vote for Obama. Being in conservative (McCain country) Arizona, people boo'd. Madonna took the high road and said, Democrat, Republican, or undecided - she still "loved you" because she "is all about tolerance."

There were some drunk straight guys around us who told the drunk gay guys to "KNOCK IT OFF" because they were camping it up too much. They actually got into a fist brawl, with slurs like "faggot" being shouted. Everyone was taken away from the concert that was involved in the scuffle.

Finally, it should be noted that Madonna did not even start the show until almost 10:30 pm!!!!! Never one to start on time herself, the opening act (a lousy DJ, Misha Skye) didn't even come out until 8:45. By then, most people were well beyond their patience. The drinks started to wear-off. Waiting until 10:30 - however, only added fuel to the fire. The good news is that she did perform until 12:30 am. There was not time for any sort of encore and she did not even introduce her backup singers, band, or dancers. It was almost like, promptly at 12:30, someone pulled the plug. The house lights came on and the show was over!

MDNA Fan Pictures: Las Vegas

MDNA Fan Pictures: Phoenix

Madonna's one-and-only MDNA show at the US Airways Center in Phoenix on Tuesday 16 October.

Denver fans upset after Madonna show

Madonna's MDNA Show In Dallas October 20th Is Cancelled Due To 'Severe Laryngitis'

Madonna has been forced to cancel her Saturday, October 20th show at Dallas' American Airlines Center due to "severe laryngitis", it was announced today by the tour's promoter Live Nation.

Under doctor's orders, the Material Girl has been put on "complete vocal rest" for the next 36 hours. All tickets for the October 20th show to be refunded at the point of purchase. Tickets purchased online will refunded directly. Madonna regrets any inconvenience to her fans.

The second scheduled show in Dallas on Sunday, October 21st is expected to go on. There are a very limited number of seats currently available for that show.

From Madonna.com.

Poorly Madonna CANCELS show due to 'severe laryngitis'... after causing outrage with on-stage gun display in Colorado

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

PUBLISHED: 12:45 EST, 20 October 2012 | UPDATED: 14:22 EST, 20 October 2012

She is known for causing controversy with her on-stage antics.

But it seems that Madonna's latest drama has taken its toll on the singer, who announced that she has cancelled her Dallas show, scheduled for Saturday night.

The decision not to go ahead with the show comes after the pop superstar hit the headlines for using a fake gun during her Thursday night show in Denver, Colorado - a display deemed tasteless after the community was left devastated by a mass shooting in July.

Outrage: Madonna has cancelled her Dallas show just days after causing outrage by using a fake gun during her Thursday night show in Denver, Colorado, following the July mass shooting

Poorly: Madonna explained in a statement on her website that she was under doctor's orders not to perform because she has contracted severe laryngitis

However, a statement on Madonna's website said that the singer had been advised by a medical team not to perform because she has contracted 'severe laryngitis'.

The statement read: 'Under doctor’s orders, the Material Girl has been put on 'complete vocal rest' for the next 36 hours.

'All tickets for the October 20th show to be refunded at the point of purchase. Tickets purchased online will refunded directly. Madonna regrets any inconvenience to her fans.'

On Thursday, Madonna caused controversy with her display on stage.

Shock tactics: Madonna was also seen performing in front of a huge screen splattered with blood during the Denver show

In addition to the gun, Madonna was seen standing in front of a large screen on the stage, on which images of a masked gunman and splattering blood could be seen by the audience.

She used the set for her performances in other cities for the song Gang Bang, which includes the lyrics 'shot my lover in the head.'

'We're dancing and all of a sudden people started realizing what the song was,' said concert-goer Aaron Fransua, 25, who was in section 120. 'We all just stood there. Everybody who was around me all had shock on their face. I heard a lot of `wows,'' Fransua said.

Mile High Sports Radio Denver personality Peter Burns, who was in another section, said the people around him began murmuring when the song came on.

Raw: James Holmes, 24, appears in court three days after the mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, back in July

The scene: Police tape cordons off the parking area around the Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, where Holmes opened fire during the showing of Dark Knight

'You could see people kinda looking at each other,' Burns said. 'I heard the word `Colorado,' you know, `Aurora,' `shooting.' You could hear people talking about it and it was little bit unsettling. I saw two or three people get up and grab their stuff and actually leave their seats.'

The scene reminded some concert-goers of the July 20 shooting at an Aurora theater where a gunman dressed in black and wearing a helmet, body armor and a gas mask stepped through a side door and opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle and pistols, killing 12 people and injuring at least another 58, some of whom may be disabled for life.

Burns was friends with Jessica Ghawi, 24, who died in the shooting.

'It sort of hits closer to home for me,' he said.

Denver television stations said they received a number of complaints Friday from concert-goers saying they were offended she used guns and violence as part of her show in light of the recent shootings.

Her press agent, Liz Rosenberg, said Friday that there was no way to eliminate the scene, because it is a core part of the show. 'It's like taking out the third act of Hamlet,' she said, adding: 'Madonna does not make things pretty and tie them up with a bow,' she said.

In a statement before beginning the tour, Madonna said she does not condone the use of guns.

'Rather they are symbols of wanting to appear strong and wanting to find a way to stop feelings that I find hurtful or damaging,' she said.

She said she is using the guns as symbols of intolerance and 'the pain I have felt from having my heart broken.'

Both Burns and Fransua said they took the act as just part of the show, though both felt uneasy about it.

'It would have highly upset me if I felt this was something that she added,' for the Denver show, Burns said. 'But you know this, that song, that production will be played in 50 other cities and Denver would be the only city that would have some major issues.'

Madonna sued for flashing Marlon Brando in concert

From DallasNews.com:

Madonna examines religious extremes, turns political and sings with a vengeance during sold-out American Airlines Center concert

Madonna sandwiched her two-hour concert performance Sunday night at American Airlines Center with sharply contrasting religious images. The show began with a processional of monks wearing blood-red robes and intoning ominous Gregorian chants. Her male dancers were disguised as bat-like creatures. The mood was somber, foreboding.

The Material Girl then proceeded to take us through a song cycle that examined sex, liberation, sin, empowerment, love, addiction, rebellion and finally redemption. She did it all in classic Madonna style - controversial and eye-popping.

Controversy is part of her appeal, and she courted it by using toy guns during the frenetic numbers "Revolver" and "Gang Bang." Those guns got her a chilly reception from the recent audience in Denver, a city still healing from the movie theater shootings. Her aim was men in masks, and she took particular pleasure in splattering their blood across the video screens. It was all perfectly staged, and it had a clear message: Madonna will not be hindered.

The sold-out gig, part of Madonna's "The MDNA Tour" named after her current album, started at 10:45 p.m. long after an opening stint by Italian DJ Benny Benassi. It also put her onstage after cancelling Saturday night's AAC concert due to severe laryngitis.

She apologized for the delay: "I'm not the kind of person that quits," she said. "Thank you for your understanding. I'm going to sing my heart out tonight."

That she did. It's as if she was trying to prove herself to the naysayers who assumed she would just lip-synch her way through the performance. If she did any lip-synching, it was minimal. Every time Madonna had a microphone in her hand, she was really singing.

The further the concert progressed, the looser she got. She turned political, plugging her chosen candidate President Barack Obama but mostly urging fans to go out and vote. She couldn't help herself, though, and later revealed to us the letters "OBMA" painted on her lower back.

While the set list was heavily influenced by the MDNA material, the crowd reaction was clearly loudest when she sang the pop classics – a spirited "Express Yourself," a percussive "Open Your Heart" featuring Basque trio Kalakan, a seductive, stripped-down waltz rendition of "Like a Virgin" and a delicious "Vogue" production number filled with cross-dressing dancers.

Highlights from MDNA included the lovely ballad "Masterpiece" and the one-two throbbing punch of "I'm Addicted" and "I'm a Sinner." The latter of which segued into a jubilant "Like a Prayer" complete with choir and Madonna in full-on church mode. The audience sang along, clapped, found themselves caught up in the gospel revival.

By then the message was crystal: Madonna prefers to nourish her soul with the uplifting joyful noise of voices in unison.

Madonna performing at the HP Pavilion in San Jose earlier this month.

Although it's not my favourite tour out of all her tours, it was a really strong one and I enjoyed the show better than I expected, taking my mom to see her for the first time, and it was through her I ever got into madonna when I was a wee one. I think it would make a nice souveniur

Madonna performs during her MDNA tour in Houston (October 24 2012)

More »

Ellen DeGeneres gets a lesson from Madonna on how to Vogue during a taping of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” in Burbank, Calif. This episode will air on Monday, Oct. 29

From Nola.com:

"There's only one queen, and that's Madonna." So declares Nicki Minaj, closing her verse on "I Don't Give A," off the Material Girl's dozenth studio album MDNA.

Saturday night at the New Orleans Arena, Madonna proved the point. Her set amounted to nearly two hours of high drama and total sensory assault, delivering arguably enough audiovisual bang to make the near-$400 price tag on floor seats at the Arena worth the sticker shock. There were hydraulics, fire, lasers, breakdancing clowns, contortionists, acrobatic slackwire-walking, gunfire, quasi-political video and pro-voting speechifying and - of course - more Catholic imagery than the Pope could shake his fancy scepter at.

In pop star years, Madonna's lengthy reign - 2012 marks 30 years since the release of her first single - makes her the monarchic equivalent of Queen Victoria, longevity-wise. In his March review of MDNA for Slate magazine, rock critic Jody Rosen attacked the question of how, at 54, Madonna can still, audaciously, try to make the kind of dance-pop that keeps fans a third of her age out on the floor til daybreak, feeling like the very deepest secrets of their heart are being revealed by the DJ's choice. Many divas of a certain age retreat gracefully to the world of ballads, Rosen pointed out, standing with dignity behind the power of their voices.

Madonna, of course, is not a world-class singer. But that was never the point. What delivered her to the top is her sense of theater; a beautifully dramatic control of image and narrative that made her one of the greatest actresses of the twentieth century, while all the time playing herself. "Madonna's message has always been power," Rosen noted. "That's not something you age out of."

Saturday's show was a theatrical tour de force: exuberant, intimate, disturbing, well-crafted and genuine all at once. With apologies to the von Trapps, how do you solve a problem like Madonna? (Answer - you do not. You just strap in and go where the ride takes you.)

Among the thrills, there were still a few off notes. One, why does Madonna like to put on a guitar, as she did for at least three songs Saturday night? Two, a reimagined "Open Your Heart" performed with the traditional Basque singing trio Kalakan (who guested on multiple songs) chanting and drumming along in a dark, medieval tone, was a brave idea but never seemed to sync up, plus, her voice seemed breathless and even flat.

During "Gang Bang" (which includes the refrain "Bang bang, shot you dead, bang bang, shot you in the head") followed by "Revolver" (which features a verse from Lil Wayne and, Saturday night, included a big-screen video of Wayne towering over the stage, wearing creepy Opus Dei robes) there was enough violence for a Hong Kong horror flick. The singer and a cadre of beehived, black-clad backup dancers stalked the stage caressing an armory's worth of weapons; one Tura Satana clone ran her tongue over Madonna's pistol. During an interlude that saw the singer holed up noir-camp-grindhouse style, in a set representing a divey 50's motel, half a dozen masked assassins attempted to take her out. With her many guns, she dispatched them with relish. At each shot, a spray of lumpy, highly realistic blood splattered on the big screen - again and again and again. After shooting down her final attacker, she relaxed on the motel set's bed and slugged from a bottle - then straddled the "dead" man and ground her crotch in his face.

As if we hadn't gotten the point, she strutted to the front of the runway, chanting, "Die, bitch," and variations on that theme just long enough for discomfort.

The house of horrors wasn't over. During an abbreviated "Papa Don't Preach," Madonna was shackled and carried off by a group of performers wearing weird and frightening animal masks; while she was offstage, shirtless, gas-mask wearing dancers performed sideshow-worthy contortions, mimicking frighteningly realistic torture, with violent moves soundtracked by the apparent crack of bones breaking under the beats of "Best Friend." Shakily shot black-and-white scenes of a Gothic graveyard played in the background.

After the gory interlude of shock theatre, mercifully, Madge changed into a majorette's uniform and grabbed a baton for a bouncy, classic version of "Express Yourself," accompanied by a drumline in marching uniform that hovered in midair from the rigging as they pounded away. "Oh yay," my seatmate said with audible relief. "Let's have a happy song to dance to."

"Express Yourself," backed on the screen with fifties-style clip art of cakes, housewives, Rosie The Riveter and muscular sailors snuggling one another was a high point of the set for several reasons: its faithfulness to the original recording, its lofty production value, its over-the-top energy level, and its sly acknowledgement of the debt Madonna's descendants owe to her. Mid-song, without missing a beat, Madonna slipped out of her own tune and sang a verse of Lady Gaga's "Born This Way," which is, musically, unquestionably similar to "Express Yourself." Mutual admiration, or a call-out? Either way, fans were happy to dance to what was essentially two idols, old and new, in one.

As is the prerogative of royalty, Madonna took her liberties. A plurality of the set list was taken up by tracks from 2012's MDNA, but the canon of her catalog was still represented - though most of those were arranged in such a fashion as to feel wholly new. "Like A Virgin" was sung in the melodramatic manner of a Weimar-era chanteuse, slow and sad, with Madonna draped across an upright piano. "Justify My Love" played while a battalion of dancers dressed as threatening clowns break-danced. "Holiday," "Into The Groove" and "Ray of Light" played under a montage of vintage video, fuzzing in and out like a radio searching for a signal.

Madonna took the stage just after 10:30 p.m., though many fans arrived closer to the 8 p.m. start time stated on the ticket. However, nobody I saw seemed overly impatient with her. As her opening DJ pumped thumping house beats from the stage, the halls of the sold-out Arena felt like one big, raging cocktail party, with throngs of costumed fans sipping drinks and mingling. There were Boy Scouts, Roman centurions and Mormon missionaries, one Pope, several nuns, three Marie Antoinettes (two female, one male) and, of course, multiple homages to Madonna's many iconic looks represented by both genders. (The "Music"-era cowgirl Madonna in white suit warred with classic "Like A Virgin" Madonna for most popular.)

Parts of Madonna's set were genuinely terrifying. Parts were passionately transcendent. Still others - though few enough - were head-scratchers. She scared us badly, she thrilled us madly, and she pushed the envelope in ways most entertainers of her stature simply do not dare to.

As the singer herself acknowledged on the mic with compliments to the costumes in the audience, it's difficult to beat New Orleans on a Halloween Saturday night for a killer show. But handily, Madonna did exactly that. The MDNA tour is one for the scrapbook.

Madonna is the biggest-selling female artist in UK history.

Madonna has been named the biggest-selling female singles artist in UK chart history.

The iconic singer has sold over 17.8 million singles in the UK since her chart debut with ‘Holiday’ back in January 1984.

The track peaked at number six and it wasn’t until 1985 that Madonna claimed her first UK number one single with ‘Into the Groove’.

However, Rihanna is quickly catching up with the legendary performer after shifting 11.4 million singles in the UK in just seven years, reports The Official Charts Company.

The Bajan star has sold over 3 million singles in the UK over the last year alone and could realistically overtake Madonna’s lead within the next two and half years.

Kylie Minogue is at number three will 10.2 million singles sold across her 25-year career, while Whitney Houston is at four (8.5m) and Lady GaGa is at five (7.329m).

The Official Biggest Selling Female Singles Artists of All Time are as follows:

1. Madonna (17.8m)
2. Rihanna (11.4m)
3. Kylie Minogue (10.2m)
4. Whitney Houston (8.5m)
5. Lady GaGa (7.329m)
6. Britney Spears (7.324m)
7. Beyoncé (6.9m)
8. Celine Dion (6.7m)
9. Mariah Carey (6.62m)
10. Olivia Newton John (6.61m)

DigitalSpy

Madonna dazzles crowd in St Louis

Check out a great review of last night's MDNA Tour show in St. Louis written by Sean Derrick from Examiner.com.

Finally, after 29 long, agonizing years pop icon Madonna performed a concert inSt. Louis, Missouri. Well, only 27 if you count from her first National or World tour in 1985. Either way, the bottom line is that St. Louis has been hungry for some Madonna. On Thursday night, the wait was over as the most successful female performer in music history played to a packed Scottrade Center and amazed many who witnessed the spectacle firsthand.

Madonna recognized the long wait for fans to see her in St Louis by declaring “It’s so good to be here, finally. I crawled my way to St. Louis.”

View slideshow: Madonna performing in St. Louis for the first time on Thursday The Pop icon has been a controversial figure since she burst onto the national scene in the early 1980’s and this tour has heard from its share of critics who lambast the Queen of Pop for anything from graphic imagery to depiction of violence to political stances. It seems what they fail to get is the entire imagery and the story it creates from it.

To be sure, she held nothing back in her first visit here. Starting off with a scene in a giant temple, replete with monks chanting and ringing bells, Madonna burst out of a floating confessional, gun in hand for “Girl Gone Wild”. After a tease of “Material Girl” was thrown in the crowd thought it would get a treat of a classic Madonna hit, with no such luck.

Madonna was not there to regurgitate her old hits. She had a purpose, and that was a visual story telling that encompassed both sight and sound. Drawing upon emotion as a catalyst, “Gang Bang” started off simple enough with Madonna resting in a mockup of a cheap motel. Right away, it became apparent her character was thinking of vengeful murder.

One by one different assassins would try to kill her but were thwarted by her and every time she shot one images of blood would splatter all over the giant screens which adorned the back of the stage. It was very visual and graphic, but that was the point for Madonna. She goes all out to tell a story, and utilized the entire stage in doing so.

Massive in size and complete with moving parts the stage had a life of its own. Trap doors were placed at various locations in the stage, which jutted out like a diamond all the way to where center ice would be, surrounding a pit called the “Golden Triangle” for elite ticket holders.

Throughout the night dancers and Madonna would go in and out of the doors usually via hydraulic lift. The lifts made other portions of the stage rise above the stage level in multiple places, changing the shape and structure of the stage in a way that should be the basis of the next generation stage presentation. So many possibilities exist with this multi-dimensional stage setup. Each of the risers has a video screen attached under it so that different visual specters could be realized for nearly any situation, from giant pillars in a church, to lounge walls, to a moving train.

It bordered on a sensory overload of sight and sound. It was like seeing a Broadway play only better, with fan interaction great music and a light system that was only missing pyro.

Vocally, Madonna was spot on, her voice as strong as ever. She easily tore through song after song, while constantly moving around the stage, with the energy and stamina of someone half her age. It was truly remarkable and a triumph for the ageless wonder who is in the best shape of her life.

The pace of the show was solid, even during her more than 10 wardrobe changes where a video was displayed with a group of her dancers were onstage the shows pace never wavered. The only hiccup occurred near the end when during the early stages of “I’m a Sinner” Madonna stopped the show because she couldn’t hear herself in her monitor, hearing instead screams. She apologized to her fans asking that they be patient as they fell victim to “the mercy of technology” and offered to restart the song.

The crowd didn’t seem to mind, instead of gave them a glimpse of the Madonna they so adored: the perfectionist who strove to deliver the best show she could for her fans. It was a lighthearted moment that also proved that Madonna is not a robot and gave the fans something they can take as their own. She apologized multiple times and the crowd responded in kind.

Her ability to tell a story so complete visually that fit so well with the audio was amazing at the very least.

To say that attending a Madonna concert was like a religious experience for many could not be underscored enough, and was highlighted during “Like a Prayer”.

Seeing this tour is not about seeing an artist just for her to regurgitate her hits, but for the artist to paint a picture, tell a story and give an experience like no other artist can.

This easily was one of the top shows of the year. No matter what you think of her, there is no denying that fact that she can put on an amazing production that truly entertains quite like no one else can.

From the review by Timothy Finn on KansasCity.com:

Halfway through her two-hour show at the Sprint Center on Tuesday, Madonna acknowledged the raucous response she'd received from the crowd that nearly filled the place. And in so many words (including a couple that can't be printed here), she apologized. To paraphrase: This is the first time I've been in Kansas City. What took me so long?

She turned 54 in August; in May she launched the MDNA Tour, the ninth of her career. And if the first time turns out to be the last time she performs in Kansas City, then she gave a crowd a once-in-a-lifetime treat and an everlasting hello.

The show was a relentless and extravagant spectacle of sights, sounds and feats, a screaming locomotive of music, dance, theater, videos, lights, costumes, and cocksure attitude from a woman who may be in the midst of her sixth decade on earth but is hellbent on proving she's still royal and relevant.

She would make her fans wait. It was a few minutes past 10:30 p.m. when church bells rang, heralding the start of her show. From the start, she, her band and her small legion of dancers/acrobats/contortionists enflamed that mood. The stage was set with an enormous video screen in back that displayed a barrage of images and visual stimuli that competed with all the live action going on and with the music, which, a few times, felt incidental to the visual drama.

Madonna spent much of the show keeping up with her younger gymnast/dancers, most of whom who looked like they indulge in extreme cross-training and yoga twice a day. She would prove she was nearly as fit as they are, joining a slack-line routine and even dropping her drawers and revealing her sculpted buttocks .

The show followed its stated theme - a journey of the soul from darkness to light. After the church bells tolled and the dancers, dressed as monks, set in a pendulum swing an enormous incense thurible, Madonna made her descent onto the stage, carrying an assault rifle. Firearms and violence were a big part of the first three songs. During "Gang Bang," she shot and killed several assassins/would-be killers. Each time, that big video screen was splattered with blood (which looked more like pureed cranberries).

After the initial ovation, the first big eruption came for "Papa, Don't Preach," one of her certifiable hits. If this show has a weakness, it's the setlist, which favors heavily Madonna's latest album, "MDNA," released in March. (She would perform eight of its 12 songs, more than one-third of the show.)

The crowd, which stood for nearly the entire show, seemed familiar with most of the new material; "I Don't Give A," which featured a video appearance by Nicki Minaj, "Turn Up the Radio" and "Give Me All Your Luvin," which featured a video cameo from M.I.A., all ignited outbursts of dancing and big sing-alongs. But with all the anticipation that preceded the show and as wound-up and giddy as the crowd seemed throughout, Madonna could have ripped a hole in the arena's roof if she'd uncorked a few of her biggest hits on a crowd that was surely primed for them.

Instead, she altered one of her biggest hits, "Like A Virgin," into a gothic waltz on piano, making it sound like some tragic Leonard Cohen ballad. "Vogue" was played close enough to its original version to generate a big ovation. And the loudest, most cathartic moment came near the end, during a gospel-anthem version of "Like A Prayer," which employed a 36-piece choir -- the best use of one since Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is." In a show that was rife with religious themes and imagery, that was its spiritual peak.

If "light" was this show's destination, she reached it, emphatically. After the church bells chimed again, Madonna and her crew uncorked the rubbery bubble-gum disco anthem "Celebration," an invitation to a party and to "the dance of life."

As it was for most of the night, the stage was ablaze with movement and light and sound. Yet there was no doubt who was the force in the middle of all that color and motion: the woman who introduced herself to Kansas City two hours before and ultimately left it wanting more.

As the world changes, Madonna remains the same

John Shearer

Madonna performed on the "MDNA" tour at Staples Center on Oct. 10 in Los Angeles.

I am gonna disappear
Pretend that this did not happen
Abracadabra!
Close your eyes....

Voila, here is an unusual I'm a Sinner from St. Louis, MO!

[Edited 11/2/12 18:00pm]

^^reminds me of that scene in Truth Or Dare when her microphone stopped working during "Keep It Together"

/

[Edited 11/7/12 15:12pm]

Didn't Madonna say if Obama won that she was gonna strip fully bare at her next concert? Jesus for some reason I hope she doesn't!