Madonna has officially begun her Sticky and Sweet world tour! And the reviews have been STELLAR. Here is a review of opening night:
"Amid a dizzying barrage of computerised graphics, the Queen of Pop, in leather boots and figure-hugging pants, greeted her Welsh subjects by sitting imperiously on a futuristic black throne. She underwent eight costume changes which saw her return to the stage as a pole-dancing, break- dancing cheerleader and later as a gipsy singer with a travelling band of minstrels. Nobody does a big stadium show quite like Madonna. She might be pop's greatest female icon, but she does not rest on her laurels and this was a theatrical, two-hour blockbuster, featuring 16 dancers and a 12-piece band. This time, too, there was no need to resort to any shock tactics. If any of the 40,000 crowd had come along expecting any off-piste, Amy Winehouse moments, they would have gone home disappointed. Madonna doesn't do spontaneity. She is pop's consummate professional and the 653 hours of rehearsals which apparently went into this tour were evident in some choreographed routines which were nothing short of breathtaking.
The fact that the singer turned 50 earlier this month made her rubber-limbed gyrations all the more remarkable. If the Confessions tour was a no-holds-barred journey out on to the dance floor, the current show is more diverse. Maybe keento reinforce her musical legacy there are more crowd-pleasing older hits, with Into the Groove, Like a Prayer, Vogue and Borderline all featured. They are all done with amazing freshness, and she sounds wonderful - there is no lip synching here. Even You Must Love Me, from Evita, gets an airing. Accompanied by just an acoustic guitar, it was forcefully sung and provided one of the night's more intimate moments. With Madonna regularly strapping on a black guitar and bashing out some crisp but rudimentary power chords, the overall mood was more rock-orientated than previous tours. Hung Up, originally a homage to Abba, gets a hard rock makeover - which actually sounds superior to the excellent recorded version. She should release this as a single. The high point was La Isla Bonita, sung gipsy-style in a colourful throwback to Madonna's appearance at last year's Live Earth concert at Wembley.
However, it's not all without controversy. It is afterall Madonna were seeing perform. The least controversial, but still edgy moment, involved falling pop princess Britney Spears in a video montage with Madonna all tied up in bondage. They both look fantastic, and its nice to see Britney doing something again. Its a bit like mother like daughter - if your mother was considerably hotter than you ever were. And of course Madonna gets political. During one montage the two giant screens either side of the stage showed footage from war zones alongside images of John Lennon, Nelson Mandela, and, finally, U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama. Then as she gears into a song from her new album and image on John McCain is shown dancing arm in arm with Adolph Hitler. Very shocking sure, but oddly funny. If anyone was getting jittery that she was turning the tour into a political junket - those fears were put to rest. Spirits were soon roused by a sassy 4 Minutes, with Justin Timberlake duetting via a hologram, which was visually stunning. Kanye West appeared later to duet for "The Beat Goes On", and Pharrell made a couple of video appearances throughout. Some audience members in the front were yelling for certain songs to which Madonna replied: "I am in charge. I will choose the songs." And she chose well. This tour covered, masterfully, her entire career. Madonna has proven that she is the show woman all others still have to beat. She is, once again, at the top of her game."
Here is a video from associated press about the controversy of Madonna's tour!
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