Madonna, Hyde Park | reviews, news & interviews
Madonna, Hyde Park
Madonna, Hyde Park
The MDNA tour finds Madge disastrously sapping the joy out of even her most triumphant choruses
Madonna earned her place in the pop elite many years ago, and there are many reasons for this, which needn't be reduced into a list. Certainly though, a big reason will be the obvious - how much better her fans' lives are with her songs in them.
The biggest surprise was that the MDNA tour felt even more disconnected from the fans than the album. The joy was sapped out of even her most triumphant choruses, with Madonna being dragged around in the lower regions of the stage, hidden out of sight rather than forward-facing, presenting and communicating her music. The presence in the set list of largely untreasured album tracks such as “Candy Shop” felt disrespectful; sure, Madonna’s in control, but whoever thought this would have worked made a decision out of touch with the fans.
It all felt like a huge gathering of fans watching a rarities DVD
“Like A Virgin” was reworked with Abel Korzeniowski’s "Evgeni’s Waltz", a piece on the soundtrack to her flop film W.E. - there was no post-song applause as the chorus drifted away incomprehensibly and a dancer pulled tighter on Madonna’s corset strings. The ABBA sample on “Hung Up” was similarly stripped, and the song was devoid of punch. “Gang Bang”, from the new album, was presented more as an extended video than something that might work for a live show of this scale. It featured Madonna contorting on a bed, laden with a gun while huge extravagant projections lit the screen with blood-like splatterings every time she pointed it at her lover. This absence of concept would have worked had the song been strong, but unfortunately it was the template for much of the set.
While the set list was never going to please every fan, this approach lacked a consistent concept to underpin its staunch disregard of the big hitters. Largely, it all felt like a huge gathering of fans watching a rarities DVD: there was a dry lack of atmosphere and connection. An obscure rework of “Open Your Heart” reduced a cheerful song to sinister background noise.
Only untouched versions of “Vogue”, “Human Nature” and “Like a Prayer” saved this show from being an utter disaster. On “Like a Prayer” the audience danced as if it was the first time they’d connected with music. Two hours passed like a black hole, attention never capitulating even for the multi-budget set. The set-closer “Celebration” (a modest song exclusive to her greatest hits collection of the same name) said it all. Rather than bowing out on “Like a Prayer”, she chose an unfamiliar chorus which just underlined the sense of disconnection. Is an acoustic album the next sorry step?
A fan near the front films 'Like a Virgin' in Tel Aviv on the MDNA tour
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Comments
What an earth are you talking
Pure poppycock. It was
I am a big Madonna fan and
Is your name Helen Keller by
I think the person replying
I agree totally with all of
Wrong wrong wrong. If you
You are so right! Spot on! I
YouTube comments to the "Like
Not as good as I thought she
The reviewer has totally
You don't charge nearly £100
Absolutely correct on your
Dear Robert, not everybody
Dear Antoion, your lame
I went to the Hyde Park gig
Great Show - a lot of old
Yes its true, we all like the
The deluded die hard fans
Unfortunately I have to agree
I stopped reading after the
I am a long-term Madonna fan
Just wanted to say how much I