The Star Online: Entertainment: Music

Posted: 01 Oct 2012 12:32 AM PDT

There's just no stopping Madonna, the reigning Queen Of Pop.

There's late and there's fashionably late. And then, there's Madonna late.

On the first night of her sold-out MDNA concert at Verizon Centre in Washington D.C. recently, it took Madonna two-and-a-half hours to get on stage and start the party. The show, which was supposed to kick off at 8pm, only got into full swing at 10.30pm, a time when most concerts usually end. Then again, Madonna is unlike most artistes and she sure is not targeting the same audience as Justin Bieber (his concert ends before 10.30pm to ensure kids don't miss their bedtime).

The set for Madonna's latest tour was made to resemble a cathedral; dancers were outfitted in monk costumes, backup singers were doing Gregorian chants and there was incense burning in a giant thurible. But when Madonna appeared – kicking through the cathedral window, she was anything but religious. Wearing an all-black slinky outfit, a generous portion of her décolletage visible thanks to a push-up bra, with a machine gun in hand, she launched into Girl Gone Wild.

The show started off in a violent fashion compared to the campy stuff Madonna had done in her past tours. After Girl Gone Wild, she performed Revolver and Gang Bang and continued her shooting spree. While most of the 20,000 audience were not familiar with these two songs, the choreography were excellent and enough to keep everyone in attendance engaged. Locked in a seedy motel room, Madonna is attacked by assailants whom she then shoots to death. This film noir scene almost made her look like the heroine (or perhaps, villain?) in a Quentin Tarantino flick.

But it was not all dark and gloomy in the MDNA tour. For her next set, Madonna, dressed as a majorette with baton in hand, led a group of marching band members (10 of whom were suspended in the air!) through Express Yourself. In that number, she playfully inserted a few lines of Lady Gaga's Born This Way into the bridge – a dig at the latter for the similarity in her song. This segment, in which she sang the aforementioned track, as well as Give Me All Your Luvin' and Open Your Heart, is one of the highlights of the show with its colourful set and energetic tone.

Another highlight was when Madonna and her dancers strutted around the diamond-shaped stage for Vogue. While the performance was mediocre (there's just so much catwalk you can do), it was the outfit she wore that is worth talking about. Designed by Jean Paul Gaultier, the skeletal-shaped corset with cone bra is the updated version of the iconic JPG design she wore in 1990 for her Blonde Ambition Tour. Talk about reinvention!

Reinvention has always been vital for Madonna throughout her 29-year career, and more so now than ever with a bevy of female ingenues eyeing her coveted position. Madonna is not one to be coy – she gets Nicki Minaj, via video, to remind us (and those ingenues) at the end of I Don't Give A... that, "There's only one queen, and it's Madonna". Message received loud and clear.

One of the grouses about this particular concert is that the selection of tracks could have been better – most of the songs featured are from her recent MDNA album. Granted that this is titled the MDNA tour, in support of her 12th studio album, fans present were still hoping for a walk down memory lane. Which was why songs such as Papa Don't Preach, Express Yourself, Open Your Heart, Vogue and Like A Prayer received rousing response. Madonna must have been privy to this complaint because she has since included the all-time favourite Holiday in the set list for her North American leg of the tour.

And for the price you pay, Madonna ensures you are entertained from start to finish; she walked on tightrope, did the kungfu, played the guitar and frolicked on the floor, not unlike her infamous debut performance of Like A Virgin at the MTV Video Music Awards some 28 years ago!

Heck, at one point, the 54-year-old entertainer even did the striptease and by the end of the song Human Nature, she took off her pants to reveal her toned bum, much to the crowd's delight (or disappointment; in Turkey, Madonna flashed her breast at the end of this song).

When it comes to putting on a bang of a show, no one comes close to Madonna.

She seems to be better at it, employing the best in the industry – dancers, choreographer, set designers, you name it.

All the theatrics might have helped make Madonna one of the most formidable performers of this generation, but as she proved in the second last performance of the night, Like A Prayer, sometimes all you need is a good song to get the crowd going. Devoid of flashy set, twirling of baton, wielding of firearm or exposing of body parts, Madonna got the crowd into the groove with one of the best songs of her career.

If anything, the MDNA Tour has proven that even after close to three decades in the business, Madonna is still able to command a crowd and keep them dazzled. The Queen Of Pop crown is still safe in Madonna's hand ... for now.

Quick look at the MDNA tour

> MDNA is Madonna's ninth tour in her illustrious career. Her first concert was The Virgin Tour in 1985, which made US$5mil (RM15mil). Madonna's 2008's Sticky & Sweet Tour grossed US$408mil (RM1.2bil).

> Madonna is supported by 22 dancers in the MDNA Tour. Some of the male dancers have to learn to dance and strut in five-inch Prada heels for Vogue and Girl Gone Wild.

> Tour outfits are designed by Jean Paul Gaultier, Dolce & Gabbana, J. Brand, Jeremy Scott, Alexander Wang, Agent Provocateur and Madonna herself.

> In total, MDNA Tour will see Madonna performing 89 shows, her largest tour yet. It has been reported that the MDNA tour cost US$1mil (RM3mil) to produce a night. This is probably why tickets for MDNA are expensive. When asked to comment about the high pricing for her shows, Madonna told Newsweek: "People spend US$300 (RM900) on crazy things all the time, things like handbags. So work all year, scrape the money together and come to my show. I'm worth it."

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Isnin, 1 Oktober 2012