We arrived to the du Arena at Yas Island around 8 pm. DJ Benny Benassi opened for Madonna which was quite clever really, because who else could open for Madonna - one of the world's top selling female recording artists. He played commercial house, and the excited crowd danced around anxiously awaiting the Queen of Pop. Mr. Benassi stop spinning around 9:30 pm, and the final preparations were set on stage. And the waiting began... We had heard from friends that Madonna had not come on until 11 pm the previous night, and that people had started booing & leaving as they were tired and frustrated of the long wait in such hot weather. Apparently there were no technical difficulties or anything of that nature, quite simply Madonna had wanted to build anticipation - but really, it was pushing it. At least we were prepared, and we did in fact have to wait until 11 pm before the concert began.
The show was amazingly entertaining !!! Everything from Madonna herself, to the production, costumes, entertainment, visuals, and to the controversy, it was THE best concert I have ever seen. Im not even a die hard Madonna fan, but in my opinion, it was worth every singly penny, and I would even go see the show again. To all of you who are going to her upcoming shows, you are in for a real treat.
The playlist for the MDNA tour is as follows: http://mymdna.com/the-final-mdna-tour-set-list/
If you are expecting to relive her past hits, you will be slightly disappointed... As you will see, it is mostly songs from her new CD.
The concert itself was extrememly well produced. It was like watching art. The backgrounds and sets were continuous changing, as were Madonna's outfits, and there was always something happening on stage. For example, when Madonna was changing, she had a group of contortionists bending their bodies in distrubing manners - or, she had these acrobats jumping on thin stretched out elastic ropes (this is too hard to explain, but in short, it was fascinating!) Everything had a WOW factor...
Several instances really stood out as during her performance...
* During the song Revolver, Madonna was being attacked by assailants, and fighting them off. There were guns everywhere!! And, everytime she "shot" someone, there was blood splattered on the visual screen.
* Religion and religious symbols were highly used throughout the concert. At times seeming like Madonna herself was the one who should be worshipped. I think she is really the only person who could pull that off!
* Madonna's rendition of Like A Virgin was outstanding. Mind you it didnt sound anything like the original as she broke it down real slow, and sang alongside a piano player.
* Gay rights were the subject to one her interludes. I think it's great that she uses her concert as a forum to display her beliefs. However, being in a Muslim country, I was quite surprised to see that her concert was actually allowed to play at all, and then again the second night. With the religious connotations, the gay rights stance, the violence, I believe she even sang in Hebrew, it very much goes against what the UAE allows.
* Further to that point, the UAE does not even identify Isreal on their printed maps, nor do they allow people coming from Israel to enter (there are ways around this of course, but its not ideal.) Madonna had started her tour in Tel Aviv, and had just come there - apparently some of her crew had to differt through other cities in order to be allowed in.
* And while we are on the topic of controvery, Madonna used clips of Lady Gaga's song "Born this Way" mixed with her song "Express Yourself"- it is said that Gaga copied Madonna on that song, and why not put more fuel to that fire during her show !
* Madonna's second to last song was "Like A Prayer" and sadly it was one of the few instances where the crowd got into it. There was a gospel choir behind her, it was upbeat & fun.
* Madonna was lisynching some of the time. At first I thought it was scandalous, but then with the amount of dance routines & movements on stage, it became understandable and quickly forgotten. She did play her guitar at times - which was commendable, but she never really showed skill with it, it was more of a prop.
But while it is not surprising that there were controversial aspects in Madonna's concert, it became obvious why she has gained so much fame and really is the Queen of Pop. After waiting so long for the concert to start, and thinking Madonna was too much of a diva, she really redeemed herself on stage. At one point, she got down on her knees and started wiping the sweat pools off the stage so neither she or her dancers would slip and fall. She simply proclaimed it was hot and sweaty, and got to it.
* I cannot imagine having to perform that kind of concert in this type of heat. At night it was still close to 40 degrees, and all the performers were in full costumes. We had heard that the concert promoters had offered Madonna a full air conditioned stage, but she turned it down, but then requested it one week before her tour was to arrive. And, it was impossible to build in one week so no air con for the Madge & her crew.
* Her 11 year old son Rocco was also part of some of the production as one of her dancers. He came out during some songs, and did a great job as part of her crew.
BUT...and yes, there is a final BUT... as Madonna said "Thank you Abu Dhabi" and descended into the stage, the lights came on, most of the crowd dispsersed and that was it. NO ENCORE! Alot of people were left standing there - including us - wondering if she would come back on, but we were left disappointed. Mind you, the crowd wasnt exactly cheering for an encore, so if I was Madonna I dont think I would care either, but it still left a bad taste is our mouths.
Overall concert rating: 5 star WOW!
xox <3 xox
Photos courtesy of http://www.mymdna.com/, be sure to check out the site for up to date information about Madonna's tour.
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| During Revolver |
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| Madonna at the top of the podium, Rocco in front during the last song Celebration |
Want a little video about the tour with some great snipits : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIRrJTnHzJE&feature=related
