On September 17th, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, I was lucky enough to see the best performer of all times, the Legend and the Queen of Pop Music, Madonna. I have to admit I am not a true, diehard fan of Madonna. I don’t know all her lyrics by heart, and I don’t listen to her music on a daily basis. But anyway, I was very excited to find out that tickets were still available because to see Madonna live was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
As I mentioned earlier, the performance took place at Madison Square Garden, the historic venue, one of the most famous arenas in the world that fits twenty thousand people. It wasn’t a surprise that the tickets were sold out in a heartbeat. I have never attended a concert on such a huge level. That’s why at first I was shocked to see that many people in one place. The audience was extremely diverse: different age groups, different nationalities, approximately equal amount of men and women. There were many happy couples, some gays, mostly in shape and attractive, and groups of young girls everywhere. Everybody was extremely excited, anxious and having a great time dancing, screaming and singing loudly along with Madonna. Looking around, I could tell that not too many people spent time picking a special outfit for the night. Most of them were dressed very casually, jeans and tee shirts. Even though there were thousands of complete strangers around me, the atmosphere of the place itself, the audience, the positive vibes made me feel as if I was part of something epic that was about to happen. And I wasn’t wrong. What an experience that concert was! Everybody knows that Madonna is one of the best performers in the world, but until you see her live you really have no idea how good she is.
It wasn’t just a concert; it was a theatrical spectacle in which music is combined with dance, costumes, and acrobatic tricks performed by dancers. Madonna brought us to the different worlds changing the stage set up at least four times. She was quite aggressive and provocative in the first section of her show that was filled with religious and Asian motifs. Madonna was dressed up in a red and black samurai kimono while her dancers were wearing geisha costumes at one point and white ruffled panties and bras as part of a sexy nuns outfit later. But Madonna can’t stay the same for long. She showed us that she could be romantic and flirtatious wearing the Flamenco- style dress during the Spanish/Mexican inspired part of the show. The party -like atmosphere was created in the third segment of her performances when she appeared wearing a flapper dress covered with thousands of crystals and long fringed gloves. During the whole show, Madonna didn’t stop dancing. And I have to say she was as good as her professional dancers, who were probably half of her age. She was quite open and personal with the audience trying to interact with people by asking questions and suggesting them to sing along. She even brought a random guy on stage and made him a part of the show.
Even though the choreography, shocking costumes, videos and theatrical
elements seemed to be very important during Madonna’s performance, her voice played a very important part as well. The quality of her voice was changing from song to song. It varied from a thin, high-pitched voice to a more deep, velvety and warm version of it. I was truly amazed by her singing live and dancing at the same time. The Rebel Heart Tour represents two completely different sides of the singer: Rebellious and Romantic. She admits this herself saying: “I might be cynical about love, but I’m very romantic.” She says that true love is her favorite subject. All kinds of different instruments were chosen to support her vocals: electric, bass and acoustic guitars, drums, keyboard, synthesizer, ukulele, tambourine and many others. Madonna even played an acoustic guitar (“Who’s That Girl”), an electric guitar (“Burning up”) and ukulele (“True Blue”) herself.
Overall, the concert exceeded my expectations and defiantly became a memorable experience. Madonna is really the best entertainer, who catches your attention from the very first second and doesn’t let you go until the very end. She completely owns the stage and the audience, while enjoying the whole process and having fun herself.
--Daria Greenlee
