No matter what the media said, there is no denial that
Madonna still commands a huge influence in the performance industry and music
scene. Not every single is a hit and there surely are prejudice against her in
terms of air time for her music, but most of them still pack a punch and most
of them are still unforgiving in terms of the messages they carried.
Recently got a chance to see her live performance in Sydney
so decided to catch up with her recent catalogue before attending. I only
remember the last song I listen to was 4 Minutes with Justin Timberlake and
that’s about it. Did not notice MDNA was a standalone album (thought it was
just another best compilations) but did notice Rebel Heart because of the
controversy of “defacing pictures of historical icons”. Also the concert was
named after this album so there you go.
People have been criticising her being late. So for me I had
no expectation for her to come on stage on time. Sometimes I do feel people
nowadays will just criticising her for the sake of criticising her. Seriously
when you already knew she would be late and then complaining about her being late
is a bit too much. Anyway she did address the part by saying “Greatness equates
lateness” – typical Madonna style.
Once she was on stage there was no cheating at all. At 57 I
personally think it is acceptable that you cheat a few dance numbers as they
can be pretty demanding live on stage. However, there was no such thing that
night. When the beats came up, she was dancing without any hesitation. Her
dancers were brilliant and she did not show any sign of catching up at all. Her
flexibility and fluidity on stage is beyond comprehension. I think that really
what differentiates a good performer from a great performer. Choreography was
done for specific numbers and those specific numbers intertwined with the
emotion of the audience.
With a concert based on mostly new materials you would
expect people to be more lukewarm as people might be there for her old
materials. However surprisingly a lot of the audience managed to follow the
tunes and lyrics of her latest materials. That showed that Madonna still has a
strong following whether the current media likes her or not. Songs like Iconic,
Rebel Heart, Body Shop Heartbreak City etc. were all greeted with excitement
from the audience. There were of course her all time classics such as Vogue,
Material Girl, Like a Virgin, Music and Like a Prayer. Some were remixed and
some were delivered in their original flavours. The audience responded to every
single track and none of them disappointed. Madonna’s ability to sing and dance
without losing a beat or a tune proved that she is still one of the best live
performers in the music industry.
During various chat sessions Madonna responded to all the
negative media coverage claiming her experiencing a meltdown with her ongoing
custody battle for her 15 year old son. She told the audience “Madonna is not
having a meltdown. God forbid a mother missing her son. It is a crime for a
mother to miss her son”. That pretty much summed up how she despised the modern
media that tried to continuously write her off without even attempting to know
her. But then how often modern media tries to understand something before
reporting them anyway?
The concert was a full three hour fest with lots of
memorable tunes and performances. It is something that you would relish and
remember for a very long time. The show is about Rebel Heart and surely it is
representational of Madonna as an artist. For me I do think Rebel Heart is
Madonna return to form (I still failed to relate to MDNA and the Hard Candy
albums in any sense except for 4 Minutes). As an artist Madonna is
uncompromising, which I think is the reason that made her great and
outstanding. She is also fearless about critics and continued to push her
musical and creative boundaries. She does not give a shit to the media and various
outlets whom have no relevance to her life. She really has the heart of a rebel
inside her.
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