It's A Celebration

 

Madonna’s Celebration Tour has been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster.  I was thrilled when I heard that Madonna was embarking on another stadium tour to commemorate her 40 reign as the Queen of Pop and then beyond excited when I got tickets for the NYC show in August.  However, this exhilaration was followed by fear when she was hospitalized with a severe bacterial infection and then relief when she announced that she was on the road to recovery and finally, more excitement and anticipation after seeing clips from the opening night of the tour in London.  Then, I was gifted tickets to the first show of the US leg at Barclays Center, Brooklyn so my excitement levels were once again off the charts this past week.

The tour is so much more than a greatest hits tour; it’s a musical experience that presents highlights from Madonna’s personal and professional journey and serves as a reminder of her tremendous impact on pop culture.  She does not perform the selected songs from her discography in chronological order; instead, she uses the music to tell her story, performing her massive hits as well as some deep cuts and fan favorites that have rarely been performed live.  One of those songs is the opening number, Nothing Really Matters, which starts with the following lines: 

When I was very young
Nothing really mattered to me
But making myself happy
I was the only one
Now that I am grown
Everything's changed
I'll never be the same
Because of you

The lyrics take the audience from her early days before she became a household name to the Madonna of the present, changed by the love of her fans and her family, making it the perfect track to kick off the show.  She performs the song wearing a black kimono by Eyob Yohannes and a halo-style headpiece, one of the show's many spectacular costumes by iconic designers including Versace, Vetements and Jean Paul Gaultier.  

I love that the first part of the show pays tribute to New York City, where it all started for her and a city which she regards as her home.  Instead of performing Burning Up as she did on the European leg of the tour, she performed an electrifying mashup of Burning Up and I Love New York (it was the first time she has performed the latter live since 2008).  

Throughout the evening she also pays homage to those she has lost, including friends who passed away during the dark days of the AIDS crisis (while performing the moving ballad, Live To Tell), her mother and trailblazers and artists (such as Michael Jackson) who changed the world and shaped her own life.

The show’s staging and production are breathtaking, specifically the section where she floats above the stadium in a narrow box, shimmering in a mirrored Versace catsuit, while belting out a high energy version of Ray Of Light.  Some critics have complained that there is too much talking between songs but I say she’s earned the right to interact with her fans however she wants to; bitch, she’s Madonna!  Indeed, after four decades of super stardom, the show made it clear that her vibrancy, magnetism, and love of controversy have not been diminished by ageism and misogyny - or her health scare.

To sum up the evening: Madonna was a tour-de-force, a vision and an inspiration.

The complete setlist was as follows:

Act I

It's a Celebration (bob the drag queen)

Nothing Really Matters (contains elements from the Club 69 Remix)

Everybody (contains elements of "Where's the Party")

Into the Groove (contains elements of "Into the Hollywood Groove")

I Love New York & Burning Up

Open Your Heart

Holiday (contains elements of "I Want Your Love" by Chic)

Act II

The Storm (contains elements of "In This Life")

Live to Tell

The Ritual (dancers’ interlude; contains elements of "Girl Gone Wild")

Like a Prayer (contains elements of "Birjina Gaztetto Bat Zegoen", "Unholy", "Girl Gone Wild" & "Act of Contrition")

Act III

Living for Love (contains elements of the Offer Nissim Remix, “Let’s Go Crazy” & “Fever”)

Erotica (contains elements of "Justify My Love", "You Thrill Me" & "Papa Don't Preach")

Justify My Love (contains elements of "Gangsta" , "Erotica" & "Fever")

Hung Up (contains elements of "Hung Up on Tokischa" & "La Isla Bonita")

Bad Girl (contains elements of "Le Regret, op. 332")

Act IV

Ballroom (dancers’ interlude; contains elements of "Up Down Suite", "Vogue" & “BREAK MY SOUL (THE QUEENS REMIX)”)

Vogue

Human Nature

Crazy for You

Act V

The Beast Within

Die Another Day

Don't Tell Me (contains elements of "The Good, the Bad & the Ugly")

Mother and Father

I Will Survive (acoustic Gloria Gaynor cover)

La Isla Bonita

Don't Cry for Me Argentina

Act VI

Madonna (video interlude; contains elements of "I Don't Search I Find")

Bedtime Story (contains elements of the Sound Factory Remix)

Ray of Light (Sasha Ultra Violet Remix)

Rain

Act VII

Billie Jean / Like a Virgin (contains elements of “Express Yourself”, “Angel” & “Smooth Criminal”, “Dangerous”, “You Rock My World”, “The Way You Make Me Feel” by Michael Jackson)

Bitch I'm Madonna (contains elements of "Give Me All Your Luvin")

Celebration (Benny Benassi Remix; contains elements of "Bitch I'm Madonna")