Most of the contemporary discourse of Madonna has centered debates about her successor of today. The question might be unfair, but who is iconic enough to shape culture with the electrifying sensuality that Madonna has made her trademark for four decades? Taylor Swift, maybe? Dua Lipa? Ariana Grande?
As of now, Madonna’s crown as the queen mother of pop is in no danger.
During her Atlanta show Monday night, she powered through vocal issues to celebrate the reasons why she’ll remain supreme. Throughout her two-hour set, Madonna captured all of the iterations of her decorated career via grandiose theatrics that often felt like you were watching a Broadway play based on her life.
The last time Madonna performed in Atlanta was in 2016. At the time, she was touring her 13th studio album and held her Atlanta show at what was then Philips Arena (now State Farm Arena). She also arrived horribly late, taking the stage at nearly 11 p.m. Today, the Material Girl is still a perpetually tardy performer (earlier this year, fans sued the pop star for a concert delay in Brooklyn), but not that tardy. On Monday night, she graced State Farm Arena’s stage at 10:17 p.m. for a show billed to start at 8:30 p.m. Atlanta fans seemed to be prepared for this, as the venue got more crowded around 10 p.m.
Bob the Drag Queen, a Henry County native who won season eight of RuPaul’s Drag Race, opened the show. The drag superstar serves as the host for Madonna’s Celebration Tour. Bob welcomed the crowd from the audience while wearing a recreation of Madonna’s Marie Antoinette-inspired look at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards.
“I’m looking for the juiciest, ripest peach in town,” she said, flirting with audience members. “If all the gays are here, then who’s in Piedmont Park?”
Shortly after, Madonna graced the stage to perform “Nothing Really Matters.” She wore a black kimono with a stunning halo headpiece as she circled the stage. Madonna swiftly ditched the regal look for a suit jacket and plaid mini skirt for the dance hits “Everybody” and “Into the Groove.” Background dancers adorned in colorful retro outfits took the stage as visuals of New York City’s subway filled the screens, representing Madonna’s introduction to New York City in 1977.
She later gets closer to the audience to formally welcome them to the show.
“I wasn’t going to ask you if you loved me ‘cause it wouldn’t necessarily be sincere,” Madonna told the crowd. “It would be more like idol worship. That’s not love, is it? ... Do you know what four decades means, beside hard [expletive] work? It means 40 years of life. Forty years of blood, sweat and tears and we’re going to leave it here on the stage for you tonight.”
Not long after that interaction, it’s easy to spot Madonna’s the strength of her mezzo-soprano crumble, almost giving her a raspy tone. Her vocal issues aren’t as distracting when performing songs that require minimal movements (like “Burning Up,” for which she played the guitar so masterfully). But for more upbeat songs like “Holiday,” her vocal cracks are more apparent. Luckily, the show’s impressive set design and narrative theatrical display offset those issues.
Credit: WireImage for Live Nation
Credit: WireImage for Live Nation
The strongest moment of Madonna’s theater is the set for “Holiday,” which transitions to “Live to Tell.” The opening of the set is a paean to New York City’s gay club culture that heavily influenced Madonna’s sound and artistry. Her background dancers took center stage as they, along with Bob the Drag Queen, taught her the rules of club while having the time of their life around a disco ball. Suddenly, the dancers disappeared and Madonna’s voice became somber as sounds of lightning and thunder erupted from the stage, which became completely black, hinting that the fun was over.
Madonna, this time wearing a Vetements sheer lace bodysuit with a miniskirt wrapped in chains, gracefully performed “Live to Tell” while images of those — from Alvin Ailey to Freddie Mercury to, and more recently, activist Hydeia Broadbent — who’ve died from AIDS. It was a beautiful and stunning tribute and testament that Madonna did, in fact, live to tell.
Madonna’s concert Monday night encompassed nearly 30 songs that demonstrated the cultural icon’s brilliant propensity for reinvention. She went full erotica, dressed in sexy lingerie and making out with dancers, for songs like “Bad Girl” and “Justify My Love.” She reminded everyone why she’ll always be the queen for hits like “Vogue,” where she judged a ballroom show with actor David Harbour.
She embraced her country era while wearing pigtails and a cowboy hat for “Don’t Tell Me” and “Mother and Father.” During this segment of the show, she acknowledged her vocal problems (”you may notice that my voice is cracking a lot”), but that didn’t seem to matter to her older fans, who stayed as late as midnight on a Monday.
Credit: WireImage for Live Nation
Credit: WireImage for Live Nation
She also took the moment to shoutout Atlanta producer Dallas Austin, who was in the audience. He worked with Madonna on her sixth album “Bedtime Stories.” Madonna also (jokingly and maybe not jokingly) admitted she had a crush on him that was so deep she tried to cast spells on him to make him love her.
“I was also madly in love with him, but he treated me like [expletive]. You dogged, me bro. It’s ok. I understand. You were just a boy.”
The latter part of Madonna’s show was dedicated to her electronic era. Wearing a silver catsuit, she performed hits like “Ray of Light” and “Take a Bow.” She ended the night with her 2015 single “Bitch, I’m Madonna,” which featured Nicki Minaj. By that time, the 65-year-old singer looked and sounded a bit tired. There were even moments where she constantly repeated how many shows she had left on the tour, as if she was really looking forward to its ending. That fatigue didn’t stop her from connecting with the fans who’ve stood by her side for the past 40 years.
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