She came. She gyrated. She conquered.
This is Madonna and she is uncensored on stage. The 20,000 plus fans who drove down to Yas Island to see the diva in action last night got all that they had bargained for, and quite more in spades as racy content and profanity peppered the proceedings.
At one point we overheard several parents questioning their choice in bringing kids to the concert, but it’s Madonna after all and all arguments seem to end there.
The show kicked off nearly two hours late, with the last 45 minutes of wait in the sweltering June heat giving several frustrated fans ample reason to unite with chants of ‘boos’ and demand refunds from any unsuspecting soul who had the audacity to venture onto stage that belonged only to Her Madgesty.
Yet, as soon as the first chords of the Latin chanting erupted on stage, the crowds went wild.
Bloody side up
Sheathed in black spandex and leather, the gun-toting Madonna opened the night with a bang for our buck as “Girls Gone Wild” bellowed with base.
An endless supply of blood and gore splashed onto the giant screens, as “Revolver” was performed right after without sympathy and complete with the prop in question shooting up lovers in her wake.
If fans wanted Madonna in action, then they didn’t go home disappointed, as violence continued to spill its guts in the spotlight with several political leaders finding themselves in composite imagery in the video, “Nobody Knows Me”.
France’s far-right Front National is already frothing at the mouth with plans to sue the diva for showing party leader and former presidential candidate Marie Le Pen with a swastika on forehead, which then morphs into Adolf Hitler.
Oh dear.
‘I don’t give a…’
Controversy was the word for the night, as Madonna freely dropped profanity in her performances, upsetting quite a few sentiments while winning fans in others for her sheer audacity on stage.
“Let’s live dangerously,” were her choice of words at one point on stage, and it seems only Madonna could achieve that in the Middle East, without batting an eyelash as she dropped the F-bomb on stage, along with using ‘B****’ quite eagerly.
Writhing bodies and cupping selective body parts were all in a night’s work, but a few collective gasps were heard over the din as a semi striptease erupted on stage.
However, all was forgiven and forgotten for Madonna, who was quite cheeky in her political and religious affiliations as the show stretched on.
And even Lady Gaga wasn’t spared.
Crooning a few lines from her counterpart’s “Born This Way”, Madonna couldn’t resist a slight dig, saying: “She isn’t me.”
Cheeky or cheap? We let the audience decide.
Showstoppers
Stretching to nearly 100 minutes of stage time, the 53-year-old sweated through her seven costume changes to gyrate, leap and even walk a tightrope on occasion, leaving her fans spellbound.
The energy oozed throughout her performance, as the livewire singer outdid herself in one stellar act after another, with “Express Yourself’s” airborne drummers and the gospel singers in “Like a Prayer” being the highlights of the night.
Special mention also goes to the repackaging that was given to “Open Your Heart”, with the Kalinka band supporting the Queen of pop and bringing a rustic, folkish feel to the love song.
As for the throaty ballad that took us a few minutes to realise was in fact “Like A Virgin”, had many opinions divided.
As reported earlier, son Rocco also managed to make a few stage appearances as Madonna’s back-up dancer.
Building to a crescendo with “Celebration”, Madonna clearly had something to laugh home about as Abu Dhabi witnessed a performance that can finally put the emirate on the map for technical wizardry and production value.
Now only if they would put the money down for a purpose build in-door venue that allows fans like us to enjoy Madonna without the sweat and raging tempers over unexplained delays.
But one thing is for sure; Madonna will be a hard act to follow for other performers in years to come. More the pity to you.
No comments:
Post a Comment