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Madonna's A-list friends cheer her on at Wembley... but the paying fans can't hear the music
Updated 02:43am on 13 Sep 2008
After shelling out up to £160, waiting for months and travelling to Wembley, the big night was finally here.
But instead of feeling thrilled to have finally seen their idol Madonna perform many of her biggest songs, fans claim they couldn't even hear the star on Thursday night.
Music lovers expressed disappointment about their less than fantastic night on the Mail online website.
Sticky and sweet: Madonna took to the stage at Wembley Stadium in London on Thursday
Bandi from London wrote: 'It was extremely disappointing to go to a concert of the queen of pop and to actually leave early, as you could hear people sing two rows behind you instead of her.'
Another blogger, Mandip, added: 'The acoustics were rubbish, you had to strain to hear her when she was singing, I thank small mercys that the chorus of most songs was pre-recorded, or I may not have recognised what she was attempting to sing/shout.
'I can't explain how disappointing this concert was, not just for me, but pretty much everyone around me as well! there was absolutely no atmosphere in the crowd and easily rates as my worst concert to date.'
But despite the technical problems, the 50-year-old queen of pop put her all into the stadium show.
She showed off her honed and muscular body as she cavorted around the stage in a white silk top hat, high cut leotard, fishnets and leather stiletto boots.
And her A-list friends seemed to be enjoying themselves in the VIP section.
Open mouthed: Kate Hudson and Gwyneth Paltrow can hardly believe their friend Madonna's incredible performance
Did she just do that? Gwyneth and Kate share a smile at their friend's amazing routine
Blackeyed Peas singer Fergie 'The Duchess' comes to check out The Queen of Pop
Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Hudson and fellow singer Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas watched open mouthed as the 50 year-old Queen of Pop gyrated on stage in an array of scanty outfits.
The star's energetic routine drew compliments from her fans, proving those hours in her private gym have paid off.
The mother-of-three is touring the world with her Sticky and Sweet tour which is flying to 37 venues for the roadshow in just under four months, transporting a team of 250.
Gwyneth makes her way to the A-list section of the audience
Starstruck: A-lister Kate Hudson crossed the pond to see Madge too
Enjoying the show: Kate Hudson and Penelope Cruz were in the crowd
The mother of two appeared on stage 45 minutes late to a sell-out stadium crowd.
She addressed the crowd: 'All right London. Are you ready to rock the house with DJ Madonna?'
Towards the end of the set she revealed her relief that it hadn't rained at any point during the evening.
She said: 'I'd like to thank God and all my friends because it didn't f***ing rain.
'You can take that 47 per cent chance of rain and stick it up your ass.'
Vogue: Madonna played the crowd some of her greatest hits from her 25 years at the top
Strike a pose: The 50-year-old showed that the hours in the gym have paid off
The decadent two-hour show, which involved £1million of jewellery, saw Madonna perform many of her greatest hits, as well as indulging in eight costume changes.
The pop superstar arrived onstage dressed in a Givenchy outfit in a vintage white American car for the first section of the four-part show.
Labelled Pimp, the opening sequence was recently described by the Material Girl's publicist as a homage to '1920s deco and modern day gangsta pimp'.
Madonna followed up that segment of the concert with Old School, a tribute to the her roots in the urban dance music of early 1980s New York.
The remaining two sections, Gypsy and Rave, continued the high-energy performance.
Still got it: Madonna kept her crown as the queen of pop
Reader views (19)
The 6 hour wait to queue and stand on the pitch was worth every minute! The 400 miles to travel was worth every mile! She was fantastic and those who say she wasn't are quite clearly in La La land! It was HER show and if she wants to be late on stage - so what! Her voice was amazing and was the dance routines and outfit changes!
Madonna - you shall remain the queen of pop for a long time yet!
- Steven, Aberdeen, Aberdeen , Scotland, 27/09/2008 11:59
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I travelled a very long distance - all the way from South Africa - to Wembley for the concert, and it was more than worth it. We were sitting next to the VIP section and there were no problems with the sound. Madonna's performance was flawless, and she was everything I expected and more. Our problems were around tickets (we booked and paid for the best seats in the house, but our tickets were reallocated or resold or something revoliting, and we were given cheaper tickets and told we woudl be refunded). Then there was the problem with transport home. That was a nightmare. Okay, she started late and that could not be anticipated, but surely the organisers knew she went on late and should have asked for more buses and taxis when they knew we wouldn't get out in time for the tube? Despite, all that, I would do it all over again because Madonna rules!!!!
- Sue, Johannesburg, South Africa, 15/09/2008 08:02
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Lets get one thing straight - although i do feel sorry for the people that could not hear - can we please try to put this 'review' into context. Over 80,000 other people, could hear just fine and thought it was one of the best concerts Madge has ever done. Her performance was flawless, every dance routine was so energetic and she really put her all into the performance. I was standing on the pitch surrounded by thousands of people, the atmosphere was electric and I never heard one complaint. I was suprised and disappointed reading some of the reviews, but I travelled from Edinburgh and I absolutely loved it - worth every penny!
Madonna is and shall remain the undisputed Queen of Pop.
- Madge Fan, Scotland, 14/09/2008 10:12
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I saw Madonna a couple times at 'old' Wembley and both shows were nothing short of amazing. If the 'new' Wembley isn't set up correctly for pop concerts then heads should roll - £160/ticket is NOT a negligible amount of money ...
- Marianne, SW France, 13/09/2008 13:04
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I have seen Madonna everytime she has been in London, and she has never failed to amaze me with the spectacle she puts on. I agree with some of the other comments, the sound was bad, acoustics not good - certainly not as good as 'old Wembley', and I feel really bad for the people who got stuck. However, to those complaints about the fact that there were 8 songs from her new album - isn't that the point of the tour? we would all get a little bored if she just kept doing the old stuff all the time. The mixes of the old stuff were brilliant, the visual effects and the choreography were amazing - I would rather spend money and go and see someone who is going to wow time after time based on originality and talent than some manufactured robots!
Long reign Queen Madge!
- Madge Fan, London, 12/09/2008 14:34
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Isn't it Marion Cotillard in the foreground of photos 2 & 3?
- Puppet, Paris, 12/09/2008 14:16
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For such a large venue, with such a big event, why on earth did they shut the public transport down so early?! I was one of those people who picked up those cards that were given out when we arrived at Wembley, advising us of our last few trains, what happened?! Why did they close it early? Took us over 2 hours to get from Wembley to Hornsey, having to walk to Neasden to try and get a taxi from there. Utter chaos...we had such a great night, shame this put a downer on it!
- Claire, London, UK, 12/09/2008 12:36
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Kate Hudson open-mouthed? She looks like she's yawning rather than gasping at the performance!
- Kitty, London, 12/09/2008 11:33
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I thought the show put on was fantastic and I've seen her a 6 times now. She always mixes it up and any oldies that she does do, they sound completely new and refreshing. I have to say when I found out it was Wembley Stadium my heart sunk as I had good seats but you can never see that much in a stadium. The Confessions Tour last year at the Wembley Arena was far more intimate and a lot easier to get home. Feel sorry for all those who were stranded. The concert should have started at 8.30pm at least to allow people to get home. Other than that it was great. I will buy the dvd to see all the 'details'.
- Angela, London, London, 12/09/2008 11:27
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The sound was appalling - it was like listening to a CD in a different room with the door closed and a bin lorry revving up in the road. The bass drowned everything and was delayed by the accoustics so it was not even in time, the screens were not up to the job, and Madge's vocals were tinny. The people in front of me left at the end of the second song, i left after 40 minutes. Absolutely hopeless. Wembley or the sound engineer should be ashamed.
- Mark, London, 12/09/2008 11:20
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Saw Madonna 2 ears ago and seh was amazing!!
Saw her last night and she was shocking!!
Could not see stage or screens, could not hear her, walked out halfway through, was going to get my money back, but the queue was a mile long, so just left.
Wembley is a football stadium, not a concert venue!!
- Chris, Hove, 12/09/2008 11:06
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Very disappointing! Sound was dreadful. She didnt do enough old stuff and the old stuff she did do she made sound like her new stuff!
- Claire, Cambs, 12/09/2008 10:42
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I've seen Madonna in concert before and she always puts on a brilliant show. However I didn't get to enjoy it last night as we couldn't hear the music or see the screens. Wembely Stadium shouldn't be used for music concerts if they can't deliver the goods. I paid a lot of money for my ticket and am left very disappointed by not being able to enjoy the amazing show she put on.
- Melissa, London, 12/09/2008 10:24
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I thought she was worst than average, 8 songs were from her new album and 4 songs played whilst she was getting ready and not even an apology for being 40 minutes late.
- Andrew, London, 12/09/2008 09:48
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Was utterly amazing, though am fed up of being told to sit at a concert by sad, dull people! Its a music concert for gods sake get up and dance! If Madonna can at 50 then so can we!
- Cat, London, 12/09/2008 09:46
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What about after the concert when TFL shut the tubes and told everyone to make other arrangements to get home - what a complete and utter joke. It took us 3 hours to get from Wembley to Euston - yeah, thanks for that!
- Emma, London, 12/09/2008 09:24
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Madonna was super amazing last night. Even though there was no encore, we didn;t feel cheated. Amazing set, amazing dancers - amazing Madonna! Where does she get that energy from? Loved it!
- Sherry, Fleet, UK, 12/09/2008 09:13
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I still wish she'd put some pants on. I'm tired of seeing her crotch.
- Ros, London, 12/09/2008 08:47
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Why is the Evening Standard not reporting about the 30,000 people last night who were left stranded in Wembley due to the Police hearding people like cattle and refusing to let them get to the Tube, and Wembley Park Tube station CLOSING just before midnight leaving us all stranded with NO Public Transport to get us home?
- Neil, Maidenhead, 12/09/2008 08:39
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