Her Madgesty

Last night my hubbie and I were tres pleased to be watching the televised version of Madonna's "Confessions" concert, live from London. Yes, we are both Madge fans. I agree that the idolatory and iconic status that gets heaped upon her by devotees (a large perecentage of whom are gay men) is a bit OTT at times. Her singing voice, although greatly improved over the years, is not brilliant. I can also well believe all the stories about her being a complete and utter cow, using and exploiting people every which way and f*cking all and sundry (literally and metaphorically) in order to advance her career. Interviews and quotes from others have revealed Madonna to be an ultra-calculating person and power freak who does not suffer fools gladly. A diva in the truest sense of the word.

However, whatever her own personal shortcomings, Madonna's achievements as a pop artiste and perfomer are undeniable and I've been a fan of her music since my teenage years. "Holiday" was one of the first ever singles I bought and I still have my copy somewhere. (My that ages me doesn't it...) Madonna has maintained an uncanny knack for knocking out a damn good pop tune and whilst she did start out producing some fairly disposable, throwaway stuff, she has matured stylistically over time. She's had the sense to keep changing her sound and look whilst somehow holding onto her own sense of uniqueness, the hallmark of a truly enduring artiste. Of course it could easily be argued that this is down to the writers and producers that she's worked with over the years - William Orbit, Mirwais, Stuart Price etc - all of whom have surely enabled her to stay on the cutting edge musically.

Anyway I'm waffling somewhat. As I said one of Madonna's major strengths is as a performer and her live concerts are legendary - dazzling, energetic, theatrical, camp and ultra-inventive with amazing costumes, sets and choreography. Not to mention lashings of lasciviousness and erotica - Madge has always been renowned for her onstage saucy shenanigans. And having never seen her play live, it was always a dream of mine to go to one of her concerts. So last Summer, being the ultra-thoughtful fellow that I am, I finally purchased two tickets to the "Confessions" tour for me and Gustavo! I was besides myself with excitement! Yes I could just about justify the extortionate ticket price and the heart-attack-inducing stress that I went through purchasing them on the internet. After all, Madge is nearly 50 years old, and so this could be one of her last ever tours before she finally hangs up her sequinned leotard... So last August, Gustavo and I headed off to Wembley to see her live and we had a fabulous time. We had quite good seats too.

Hence seeing the concert again last night was a great opportunity to re-live the experience (even if viewing it on a TV screen isn't quite the same as actually being there). The "Confessions" tour bursts with creativity and is split into four sections in which Madonna exhibits a different look / musical style: Equestrian, Religious, Punk, Disco. And here are some of the highlights (well my favourites bits anyway):

"Future Lovers / I Feel Love". The concert opener. A giant mirrorball descends from the ceiling, then opens up to reveal Madonna, dressed in kinky riding gear - jodphurs, boots, riding hat with horse-hair tail and whip. The segue into "I Feel Love" (the old Donna Summer classic) works really well and there's a throbbing, hynoptic electronic sound to the whole thing. Class.

"Live To Tell". Always one of my favourite Madge ballads, she sings this one whilst strapped to giant mirrored cross, wearing a crown of thorns. In the background facts and figures about the impact of AIDS appear on video screens.

"Music / Disco Inferno". A totally brilliant and inspired fusion of the Madonna song and the old Trammps disco classic. Rollerskaters perform death-defying stunts whilst Madonna appears on a video screen in a red shimmery disco dress and as a Charlie's Angels-style silhouette. Then real-life Madge appears, flanked by two female dancers, all of them dressed in John Travolta-style white flared suits. Whilst the rollerskaters continue to zoom all over the stage, Mrs Ritchie throws lots of disco moves, the whole thing being an updated homage to "Saturday Night Fever". The mash-up of the two songs works perfectly and is my favourite, jump-up-out-of-your-seat-and-boogie-moment from the concert. I really hope it comes out on CD!

"Hung up". A thrilling finale to the show with Madonna in glittery purple leotard, leggings and shades, hyping the crowd up to the max.

All in all, a stunning show and I can't wait for it to be released on DVD. Even the non-Madonna fans amongst you would be amazed by it, mark my words. And she shows no signs of flagging so maybe she won't be hanging up her concert cap just yet, in spite of my earlier suppositions. Perhaps we will get to see her performing "Erotica" in a zimmer frame after all. It could put a whole new kinky spin on being an OAP.