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Opinion: Madonna Beats Midlife Crisis With World Tour 
Sun, Aug 24
Madonna Beats Midlife Crisis With Tour, Sexy Disco The Queen moved her conquering army of 250 courtiers from England to Wales, where she appeared on a throne and flaunted the $2 million crown jewels she had bought for the occasion. U.K.-based Madonna, the American ``Queen of Pop,'' started her ``Sticky and Sweet'' tour in the Welsh capital Cardiff. She kept 40,000 subjects -- sorry, fans -- waiting 90 minutes to see her in best regal mode. Of course, she didn't apologize. Royalty never says sorry. Madonna turned 50 this month. Her idea of ``how to avoid the midlife crisis'' is to plan a crusade of pop domination -- taking by force Europe, the U.S., Canada, Chile and Brazil. At one point in the first gig, she joked that she was open to singing requests. Before anyone could suggest ``Like a Virgin,'' the family woman was reminding us that actually only she had the power to select what went on. And forget about an encore. When Madonna was finished, bright lights came on saying ``Game Over.'' She meant it. It's that queenly attitude, and arrogance, that help explain why she is the world's most successful female artist with 200 million record sales and counting. Madonna kept her talent bubbling through the two-hour gig. ``My sugar is raw,'' she reminded us on ``Candy Shop.'' Madonna's double entendres remained to the fore. Her sexy dancers wore bondage leather, see-through panties and often little else. Madonna's stamina is astounding. She can run, pole dance, do sit-ups, skip with a rope and sing without getting out of breath. Oscar It's exhausting to watch. Just now and again she should slow the pace, drop the voice and chill. She only sang one ballad, 18 numbers into the set. ``You Must Love Me'' showcased some of Madonna's best vocals of the night, and of course it won an Oscar a decade ago, though she's done better slow ones. The first gig raises the question of whether it's worth grabbing a ticket for other performances. Madonna puts on an amazing show, with lasers, strobes, dry ice and videos. There's a jaw-dropping display of break, pole, tap, disco and flamenco dancing to name but a few. Many Madonna fans left the Millennium Stadium in ecstasy. Her tours are all different, with new songs and fresh ideas. Only a few diehard fans were muttering about the sacrilege of reworking old tracks. (Heck, they are Madonna's creations: she can do what she likes with them. And she's known for sacrilege.) ``Borderline,'' ``La Isla Bonita'' and ``Like a Prayer'' were pumped up with heavy-metal guitars and techno to fit the new material from her latest album ``Hard Candy.'' Nine of the CD's pieces were performed. While it's not her greatest, the rocking performances made a strong case for it, especially the rap of ``4 Minutes'' and ``Beat Goes On.'' Sexy Nuns The set list is not as strong as the ``Re-Invention'' tour of 2004, which had daring imagery such as sexy nuns, and the disco- led ``Confessions'' tour of 2006 -- which had ticket sales of $195 million, the most for a female artist, said Billboard. ``She's Not Me'' was staged with Madonna surrounded by video screens showing all stages of her career. Lookalike dancers recreated her most famous images. The real Madonna abused all of them as they sank from view under the stage. It was symbolic. Madonna is working with music company Live Nation Inc. Fans may decide it's better to see her now at 50 rather than wait until she sinks at 60, when it might be getting more embarrassing. The show was split into four sections -- ``Pimp,'' ``Old School,'' ``Gypsy'' and ``Rave'' (though sadly no ``Harlot.'') The first had Madonna in Givenchy, trying gangsta rap and driving a mobster car. She switched to red shorts for a ``Kids from Fame'' homage to disco and slipped into Tango costume for a Spanish section. She simply went over the top in rave gear for the closing freakout (for want of a better word). Wild Women Some of the good women of Cardiff, who had obviously dragged boyfriends along to teach them about true feminine empowerment, were well fuelled by alcohol during the long wait. They went wild. The concert ended more like Saturday night at the disco than, well, a concert. Perhaps Cardiff is an easy target. If Madonna produces the same appreciative reaction in, say Chicago, Michigan's finest might indeed be back as pop's supreme ruler. Rating: ***. For details of the tour including venues, dates and ticket information, click on http://madonna.com/tickets. What the Stars Mean:
Excellent
Good
bloomberg.com source
www.madonnasworld.com
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