10/10/2006
MADONNA
WEMBLEY ARENA
AUGUST 16TH
“I cannot think of a better way to spend my birthday than with you tonight!” What better way, indeed, as the Queen of Pop shows us that despite pushing 50, she’s still top of her game. Birthday celebrations aside, tonight is also the final date of the UK leg of her Confessions tour. If I was left with any doubt about where the £160 priced ticket was going, then the evidence was staring me right in the face. With a lavish set up of not one, but three flood-lit catwalks; a disco dancefloor; giant glitter ball and enough visual projections to please even the meagre £80 seaters, it‘s a spectacular sight. Add to that the eclectic choreography – from street dance to break dance,
disco and roller dancers – plus the athleticism of Capoeira and Le Parkour (free-running), it’s like Starlight Express meets a trendier Royal Variety Show – had her Madgesty been put in charge. Of course, a Madonna show wouldn’t be complete without her share of image changes. Whether it’s the rock-chic of ‘Ray of Light’ and ‘I Love New York’ (“nothing personal – it’s just a state of mind,” she insists on the latter) or the cringe-producing, political Madge performing a remixed ‘Sorry’ while the clichéd images of Bush, Blair and everything-else-that’s-wrong-in-the-world flash before us, every facet of herself is strategically played out, right down to the infamous crucifixion on ‘Live To Tell’. Despite the disco theme (one of my less preferred genres), I find myself dancing to almost every song, stopping only to rest my feet. But that’s the beauty of a Madonna show: the audience is still very much part of the production, and not just a bums-on-seats money maker – especially when you have the privilege of singing “Happy Birthday” to the lady herself, led by her long-time backing singers, Nicki and Donna. So while critics may kick up a hoohah about her, don’t forget that while others may try and take that (thorny) crown off her head, she still hasn’t managed to lose it. Well, not just yet anyway.
Words: Tracey Chin
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