The Big Apple’s Madison Square Garden has seen its fair share of crazy performances, but never had the sold out audience of 50,000 fans seen anything like the final show of Madonna’s Platinum Tour. The show took place last Friday at 8:00 PM. The show was expected to be over-the-top and out-of-control because of Madonna’s reputation as being one of the most theatrical and creative performers known to the music industry.
Often thought of as a mini-Madonna herself, Lady Gaga delivered when she opened the show with her greatest hits, including “Telephone”, “Alejandro”, and “Just Dance”. The audience was warmed up and ready for the main act, but grew impatient during the half hour break. They all chanted Madonna’s name and shouted things like “Bring her out!” and “We want the Material Girl!”
Madonna finally graced the audience with her presence with her iconic song “Material Girl”. The stage set resembled an ice castle with blue and silver lights. The confusion started when what appeared to be mad scientists started chanting and running around the stage. The tackiness was only added to when Madonna appeared with two back-up singers in bathrobes and rollers. When she opened her mouth, instead of the voice we all know and love, a whiny, unrecognizable, accented voice came out. The audience was stunned.
“When Madonna started to sing, it was just plain weird. I didn’t know what to do because everyone around me was just silent. It kind of felt like we were being cheated because a song we loved so much was wasted on that performance,” said 17-year-old Rogue Logan.
In the second song, “Vogue” mixed with “Four Minutes”, Madonna somewhat redeemed herself. Screens lit up the back of the stage as Madonna performed her classic “Vogue” dance move. Her costume choice was a typical Madonna outfit: black panties and a black bra with a fishnet one piece over it and long black leather boots. Her back-up dancers wore leather underwear, spandex, and masks. The choreography was not impressive because it seemed to be recycled moves with no fresh twist. But, at least it stayed true to the song. There was also a catwalk portion where Madge and the dancers Vogued their way down the ramp.
“The last performance of “Music” made the show worth watching,” said long time fan Gene Green.
Strobe lights flashed while dancers onstage doubled-over in pain while gripping their headphones. Although the song had an alien robotic vibe, Madonna came out looking more human than usual in a black tank top that said “Mother F***er” on it and plain black pants. The dancers were doing flips all around her, but Madonna kept it simple by only dancing with them at the end of the song. The screens on the back of the stage were lit up with random flashing images, which added a sense of chaos to the performance. The crowd was wild with excitement because the Queen of Pop finally delivered.
All in all, Madonna’s last show ever was a disappointment. Her song selection was perfect as it epitomized Madonna’s career, but the problem was with her performance of those iconic songs. Usually, Madge’s performances are weird but entertaining. In this case, they were just weird. It took her too long to entice the audience and because there were only three songs, she wasted too much time.
“I really hope this isn’t Madonna’s last performance. I know she can do better than that. She needs to leave show business with a bang, not a flop,” said die-hard Madonna fan Kitty Storm.
-Samah Pirzada
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