"Bitch I'm Madonna" she says but in this case I have to bitch about her show - which was pretty lackluster to say the least. First and foremost - I should say I ALWAYS will judge a show on the MUSIC and the quality of it. I know and understand that the costume changes, lighting, dancing etc... Is a part of the show but to me it's the icing on the cake. The cake has to be good to begin with - in Madonna's case playing her hit songs has to be done well.
Quite frankly, in my view, the songs were changed too much into something drastically different from how they were recorded. I get it! She wants to be "relevant" and the flavour of the month over the last few years has been the EDM (Electronic Dance Music) scene imported from Europe. It's fine and dandy to do a few songs that way however I found that almost all her songs were way too EDM heavy on the influence.
The opening act was DJ Diplo and I must say it was pretty horrible. It basically sounded like a wedding DJ with sporadic "raise your hands for Madonna" chants thrown in every few songs. Enough about him because he was not that good and essentially was background music.
Probably the worst thing you can do to your audience is disrespect the time of performance. It's a big no-no in my books that's why it was so disappointing for her to come out an hour late to perform.
Quite frankly, in my view, the songs were changed too much into something drastically different from how they were recorded. I get it! She wants to be "relevant" and the flavour of the month over the last few years has been the EDM (Electronic Dance Music) scene imported from Europe. It's fine and dandy to do a few songs that way however I found that almost all her songs were way too EDM heavy on the influence.
The opening act was DJ Diplo and I must say it was pretty horrible. It basically sounded like a wedding DJ with sporadic "raise your hands for Madonna" chants thrown in every few songs. Enough about him because he was not that good and essentially was background music.
Probably the worst thing you can do to your audience is disrespect the time of performance. It's a big no-no in my books that's why it was so disappointing for her to come out an hour late to perform.
setlist
- Bitch I'm Madonna
- Burning Up
- Holy Water(with "Vogue" snippet)
- Devil Pray
- Messiah
- True Blue (acoustic)
- Deeper and Deeper
- HeartBreakCity (with "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" snippet)
- Like a Virgin (with "Erotica" and "Heartbeat" samples)
- S.E.X.(video interlude; with "… more )
- Living for Love
- La Isla Bonita
- Dress You Up (with "Into the Groove" and "Lucky Star" snippets)
- Secret(first time live since 2008)
- Ghosttown
- Rebel Heart
- Illuminati (video interlude)
- Music (with "Give It 2 Me" sample)
- Candy Shop
- Material Girl
- La vie en rose (Édith Piaf cover)
- Unapologetic Bitch
Encore
- Holiday
For my ratings...
The Band
The band itself was very capable however I did notice that they were probably not playing as much as they wanted to given the fact that most of the show was heavily EDM influenced which leads to a lot of samples, electronic sounds, etc... It's too bad because I'm sure they would have wanted to play more.
Despite Sean Penn and Amy Schumer being in the audience to watch her - Madonna herself didn't seem to be too enthusiastic and typical Madonna - frosty and distant. She kind of pitted the audience against each other via a game of "Side 1 and Side 2" I get it - it was her way of hyping the crowd. However it seemed to be playing favourites to me.
I will say that I did enjoy some of her new songs. My favourite being "Ghosttown". This song to me represents the quality that many people expect from Madonna.
I'm sure that Madonna Fanboys and Fangirls will give me flack for this review but we're living in a material world and I'm an "Unapologetic Bitch".
Audience Interaction & Engagement: C
Quality and Diversity of Music: C+
Stage Presence of Band C
Energy from the Crowd: A
Notable Exceptions: Vogue (Full Song), Papa Don't Preach, Borderline
Overall Rating for Show C
The Band
The band itself was very capable however I did notice that they were probably not playing as much as they wanted to given the fact that most of the show was heavily EDM influenced which leads to a lot of samples, electronic sounds, etc... It's too bad because I'm sure they would have wanted to play more.
Despite Sean Penn and Amy Schumer being in the audience to watch her - Madonna herself didn't seem to be too enthusiastic and typical Madonna - frosty and distant. She kind of pitted the audience against each other via a game of "Side 1 and Side 2" I get it - it was her way of hyping the crowd. However it seemed to be playing favourites to me.
I will say that I did enjoy some of her new songs. My favourite being "Ghosttown". This song to me represents the quality that many people expect from Madonna.
I'm sure that Madonna Fanboys and Fangirls will give me flack for this review but we're living in a material world and I'm an "Unapologetic Bitch".
Audience Interaction & Engagement: C
Quality and Diversity of Music: C+
Stage Presence of Band C
Energy from the Crowd: A
Notable Exceptions: Vogue (Full Song), Papa Don't Preach, Borderline
Overall Rating for Show C