Madonna: The Celebration Tour
The opening of the show set the stage for a magical night.
Nothing can top seeing one of your ultimate bucket list artists after decades of fandom.
Madonna is what brought one of my oldest and bestest friends and I together in preschool. Yes, that’s right, preschool. I can remember us singing the words to “Papa Don’t Preach” at Little Country Preschool and both of us thinking that the lyrics went, “Papa don’t preach, I’m in troubledy,” instead of “trouble deep”. Kids, they’re pretty dumb sometimes.
Neither one of us had ever been able to see the Material Girl perform live, so when Madonna announced that she was going to be touring the U.S. with her Celebration Tour, possibly the last major tour of her career, we dashed at the chance to see her. After a medical setback that landed Madonna in the hospital for some time, and forced her to change the dates on her U.S. leg of the tour, it was finally our turn to see her perform in Los Angeles!
Opening the show was Bob the Drag Queen going through her decades-long career, while wearing a replica of her infamous Marie Antionette costume from her performance of “Vogue” at the 1990 MTV Music Awards. He got the crowd ready for this icon to appear! He also popped up every couple of songs to put on little skits with Madonna, and dance around with her crew.
Then, it was time for Madonna to enter the arena. There were two times when I felt like I wanted to cry, the first being when she came out onstage for the beginning of the show. It’s hard to not feel emotional when you are privileged enough to see an artist in person that you have admired and followed for decades. When she majestically appeared from under the stage singing “Nothing Really Matters”, I took a moment to let the emotions wash over me.
Every artist needs a giant disco ball for the party.
The second time was when “Live to Tell” started to play; it was right after she performed “Holiday”. During the performance of “Holiday”, she and her dancers were prancing around the stage having a good time, which is fitting for that song. Suddenly, one of her dancers laid on the floor, the “Holiday” music went from cheerful to mournful, and Madonna placed her long jacket over the dancer as a symbolic gesture of his death.
Then “Live to Tell” kicked in, as Madonna got harnessed into her moving set piece. which took her up and over the stage. As she started to sing, photos of her friends, and other well-known musicians and artists that passed away from the effects of AIDS, were shown on the big screens. I kept thinking about how much this must’ve impacted her life, as well as the global impact that AIDS has made. It was touching and also emotional to combine that song with those images, and I really had to fight back the tears.
“Bedtime Story” had a surrealist set design, much like the music video.
If I could go back in time and see her perform when she was in top condition, I totally would. Although the concert was great, and I was ecstatic to see Madonna in person, her age is showing in the way that she performs. In her heyday, her stage performances were overloaded with heavy duty dance numbers that displayed her well-honed skills. Now, Madonna’s moves are mostly based on arm movements and not so much using her legs in the way that she used to. I wasn’t surprised by this because I’m sure that decades of dancing has wreaked havoc on her lower limbs.
Many of Madonna’s performances and lyrics over the years have hinged on her overt sexuality and defiance at people telling her she needs to be more demure. I can’t decide if it’s revolutionary that she is still having dancers writhe all over her as she trots around stage in lingerie, caressing and touching various parts of herself and her dancers, while images of her and her past lovers flashed on the big screens, or if it’s overkill at this point. I guess that’s kind of what you sign up for when you are a Madonna fan, even if it’s 40 years or more into her career.
The finale of the show was was a heart thumping rave.
She had multiple costume and wig changes, all of which fit the era of her career that she was celebrating. Adding to the visual elements were large screens that displayed 1980s style NYC graffiti, to 1930s style portrait paintings, subversive Catholic imagery, as well as iconic LGBTQIA+ revolutionaries during certain songs. Ali Wong was the special guest judge that rated the dancers during “Vogue”, and Kylie Minogue was also there to sing “I Will Survive’’. Along with these guests, some of Madonna’s adopted children had parts in the show, as well, either playing musical instruments or dancing with their mom; it was breathtaking!
The night was unforgettable. My bff and I left feeling fulfilled, ranting and raving about our favorite parts of the show, critiquing the points that we didn’t totally enjoy, and agreeing that it was one of the best live performances we’d ever seen. Madonna can still get the place bumping and grinding, and I still can’t believe I was able to experience it live.