Madonna’s first concert in Cleveland in more than a decade was a nostalgic career overview, a dance spectacular and a visual extravaganza.
There were some moments Thursday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse where she tried to push buttons and others where The Queen of Pop simply tried to create the best dance party in the city.
In other words, it was the type of show the 2008 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee has been known for throughout her four decade-plus career. Even at its messiest moments, you’re not going to look away.
“Are you ready to hear the story of my life?” the Detroit native asked the capacity crowd, many of whom had held onto their tickets for months after she rescheduled her original August date for health reasons.
Absolutely.
Coming to Northeast Ohio as part of her “Celebration Tour,” her two-hour, 15-minute show represented her own twist on the career-overview concert that seems to again be in fashion. But she did it her way. It was as if the 65-year-old took a greatest hits set and put it in a blender.
Splitting up the show into seven acts, the concert featured tales of lust, religion, struggle, success and controversy. It highlighted aspects of the LGBTQ+ community in a way that shows that its struggles have lasted for decades.
Some of the stories were autobiographical, some were wild dreams acted out by a cadre of dancers who jumped, kicked and stage fought their way through a 26-song setlist that sounded like a DJ tried to mix it to perfection.
And Madonna, complete with her myriad tough and tender personalities, was right there with them as she sang along (often to backing tracks that included her own vocals) and moved from the rotating main stage to others that jutted into the crowd.
The highlights were many. The first portion of the show featured early hits like “Into the Groove” and “Burning Up,” with the visuals evoking New York City in the early 1980s.
There was a moving take on “Live to Tell,” which featured images of people who died during the AIDS crisis. Madonna’s young daughter Esther also took her own star turn, showing off her dance moves during an extended “Vogue.”
And an acoustic singalong of 1989 hit “Express Yourself” was just as powerful as any of the dance tunes that populated the set.
I had a few gripes, though.
For one, the concert didn’t start in earnest until 10:10 p.m., with “RuPaul’s Drag Race” eighth season winner Bob the Drag Queen coming out to introduce the main act. It may be very un-rock-and-roll to complain about a show that ends past midnight, but such late start times don’t often happen anymore at major shows.
It was also the loudest show I’ve attended in quite a while, with the low end overpowering everything else at times. It wasn’t clear if this was a feature or a bug, though Madonna did thank the crowd at one point for putting up with the sound issues, saying that “You’ve got to roll with the punches, am I right?”
The strength of the music and performance ultimately rendered these quibbles minor, though.
The show ended, like it began, with a string of hits. The singer danced above the crowd in what looked like an elevator car during a remixed “Ray of Light.”
And penultimate song, “Bitch I’m Madonna,” saw her dancers clad in outfits from throughout her career, including a nod to her role as a Rockford Peaches baseball player in A League of Their Own.
While that and the rest of the show was an exercise in nostalgia, it didn’t feel like it. Instead, the singer found unique ways to freshen up her music and performance for a new decade.
But with the high bar she sets, should we have expected anything else?
Setlist:
1. Nothing Really Matters
2. Everybody
3. Into the Groove
4. Burning Up
5. Open Your Heart
6. Holiday
7. Live to Tell
8. Like a Prayer
9. Erotica
10. Justify My Love
11. Hung Up
12. Bad Girl
13. Vogue
14. Human Nature
15. Crazy for You
16. Die Another Day
17. Don’t Tell Me
18. Mother and Father
19. Express Yourself
20. La Isla Bonita
21. Don’t Cry for Me Argentina
22. Bedtime Story
23. Ray of Light
24. Rain
25. Bitch I’m Madonna
26. Celebration
Eric Heisig is a freelance writer in Cleveland. He can be reached at [email protected].
Eric Heisig
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