Tonight:
4°c
John Aizlewood's rating
, Madonna still reigns as pop queen
By
John Aizlewood
12 Sep 2008
Much has happened to Madonna since her last full London show in 2006: the rumours of marital strife; the adoption of an African child; the dogged continuation of her kabbalah hobby; a far from awful album; a couple of awful films. More significant is what didn't happen: nobody came close to usurping her day job as queen of pop. Last night showed why.
The Sweet And Sticky tour is her eighth world jaunt. It's less overtly sexual than its predecessors, but like them it's an all-singing, allleaping, thrillingly choreographed extravaganza.
She may have started 40 minutes late, she may play some of the most feeble guitar this side of Guy Ritchie at his 40th birthday party on Wednesday and her exhausting dance routines may have strangely little effect on her vocals, but her crown still fits snugly.
How the 50-year-old kept the punishing pace up I'll never know. Even watching her was exhausting as she vogued on, yes, Vogue, skipped with a skipping rope on a brilliantly re-invigorated Into The Groove and pogoed like a giddy teenager on Ray Of Light.
Beyond the eye-popping spectacle, the woman with one of the richest catalogues in popular music laboured under the delusion that an audience including Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Hudson wanted to hear nine of her new album's 12 tracks. Obviously they didn't, although the adultery victim's lament She's Not Me (introduced with a curt "did you ever have a girlfriend who wanted to fuck your boyfriend?") was gloriously truculent, Spanish Lesson a Carmenesque finger clicker and the tick-tocking 4 Minutes delivered as if the world really did end this week.
When she did look back, she soared. Bravely, everything was reinvented and hopefully one day she'll do a whole tour featuring radical reworkings of her hits. The hitherto flimsy Borderline and the mighty Hung Up were given new and frankly superior identities as surprisingly convincing rock anthems; the ever-wondrous La Isla Bonita was recast as the ferocious, fiddle-crazed soundtrack to a bacchanalian gypsy wedding and Like A Prayer was remodelled as a thumping house anthem.
"I'd like to thank God that it didn't f****** rain," she muttered, as a sort of farewell benediction, before rubbing a guitar between her legs with the gusto of a woman half her age. She remains untouchable. All hail.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Reader views (10)
I agree with most people that the technical issues, and the late start made the concert a bad experience, not to mention the fact people paying high prices for hot tickets get treated like cattle. Generally speaking Madonna charges way too much money for any of the levels of tickets for her concerts.
...but one thing I am puzzled about is why some people expect her to be singing the old time hits, and all of them, all the time.
I for one am happy to hear a big deal of her new material...otherwise what's the point.That's my point of view anyway.
- Ana, England, 14/09/2008 21:42
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Get a life..
I really didnt know that before each concert Madonna prepared herself all the audio system, and that she also plugs every speaker box before the show...I thought she had sound technicians, engineers and Live Nation to handle this issues?
- Candyboy, Manchester, 14/09/2008 18:12
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Having spend £200 per ticket, I was expecting a promt(ish) start, less Rock-Chick wanna be guitars and better vocals!!!! The stage seemed MILES away and Madge was like a little jumping dot! The sounds had challenges and the far back could not hear what she was singing. The fact that she played mainly new songs made everyone mainly stand still and mutter darkly. I saw a lot of people leaving mid show, as they were unhappy with the songs. Ray Of Light had the worse vocals ever, but Like a Prayer turned into a great club rmx.
I love Madonna and her work, but yesterday's concert was one of the worse ones I've seen! Memorabilia was only for the ritch and the poor staff was terribly stressed out by annoyed fans!
The transport system collapsed after the concert and we had to walk from Wembley Park (which shut early) to Wembley Central catching just the last train to Ldn. Shame - not her night!
- Ivi, London, 12/09/2008 14:54
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We were there last night - the sound was appalling and we decided to leave after 55 minutes - and we were not alone. There were hundreds leaving at the same time.
- Paul Eldred, Royston, 12/09/2008 14:14
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Was I at the same concert as you? Wembley Stadium, last night? It was appalling. I was sat high up at the back of the stadium - the sound quality was atrocious, the stage was obscured by lighting rigs and the screens far to osmall to be of any real use.
You obviously didn't see the hundreds or thousands of people leaving early in disgust? Have you intereviewed any of the stewards who will, no doubt, tell you of the number of people complaining?
I [ub]was[/u/b]a great Madonna fan..not any more.
I feel as though I have been robbed of my ticket money, now there's a nice plot line for the next Guy Ritchie movie! RocknRolla 2.
I also hear that the tube station was closed leaving hundreds stranded (boads well for the Olympics doesn't it?)
- Paul, Hertford, 12/09/2008 12:17
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Phew, it's going to take me a while to recover from this one.
As I took my seat for the Madonna gig at Wembley stadium you could could feel the excitement growing amongst the huge crowd and just knew that this was going to be something special. When the lights went down and Madonna took to the stage the noise from the crowd was deafening, the atmosphere electric.
The two-hour show saw Madonna perform songs from her latest album Hard Candy and many of her greatest hits, as well as indulging in eight costume changes. Her energetic routine would have put to shame artists half her age.
The amazing dance routines and visual effects added to what was an electrifying perfomance by the undisputed Queen of Pop. You wouldn't believe that Madonna recently turned 50, she had more energy than artists half her age! She danced continually throughout the two-hour set.
This concert was an amazing jaw-dropping experience, Madonna looked great, the crowd were amazing and I'm absolutely thrilled to have been there!!!!!!!
- Rachel Doyle, St Albans, 12/09/2008 11:46
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I agree with Kee. it was very lacklustre. All seemed very 'samey samey'. Either rock or club versions to all the songs. And after standing on the same spot for 5 hours with my apparent 'VIP' ticket which cost me £250 I probably wasnt in the best of moods for it.
And when she dropped the mic during Music and was crawling around on the floor looking for it while the vocals kept going... that was the final straw for me
Madonna Sticky and Swwt tour recieves 1 out of 5 stars from me.
- Nicholas Duke, London, UK, 12/09/2008 11:35
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I attended this concert. However the sound was terrible. Many people complained to Wembley Stadium officials who blamed it on Madonna's people The dire sound spoilt the show. Very disappointed
- David, London, UK, 12/09/2008 10:58
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Disappointed!!!! The concert just wasn't that great sadly... I had high expectations - but there was hardly any creative sets, few of the true classics or more recent hits from Confessions etc, and it all seemed like she was in a rush to get it over with! Still love her music - shame the live act wasn't as good as usual.
- Kee, Croydon, Surrey, 12/09/2008 10:15
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A fact -Madonna was fit and frisky. Sticky and Sweet 2008 is well-executed world class concert by the biggest selling female artist of all time!!!
Well-done...!
- Janna, London, 12/09/2008 10:08
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