Madonna’s Rebel Heart tour kicked off in Montreal last night. She’ll perform there again tonight. Are you planning on going when she stops by where you are? I’m seeing her the first week of October here in Toronto, right after Taylor Swift. I’m going with my friend Iain. He’s pretty much a Madonna academic – obsessed but also objective. So of course he was in Montreal last night. Of course he’ll be there tonight. Here’s what he wrote to me this morning once he’d composed himself:
The only way I can sum up M's opening night is by saying "who's that girl?!"
It's not the Madonna I know AT ALL! And that's not a bad thing. I've seen almost all the tours and she was, dare I say... Charming, warm, personal and quite intimate! Words I would have never thought I would use to describe her. I went in expecting the bitch. I've never seen her connect and chat with the audience. Ever! At moments it felt like Madonna unplugged, much like the Howard Stern interview.
It's a new era for her performance wise. Gone are the overly complicated and robotic, dance moves and returning are the ballads and fun musical theatre vignettes we saw in blonde ambition. She's so comfortable with where she is in her career. Nothing felt forced. Nothing felt overly aggressive or desperate. She let the show breathe. And that, to me, is probably the most shocking thing she's done in a long time!
I’ve received a few emails from some of you who were there and I feel like you agree with his assessment. That she was warm. And not so Try. The NY Daily News had really positive things to say too. That she wasn’t so much of a machine. That she actually connected with the audience. That she focused on the energy of the performance instead of perfection. Click here to read the review and to see the setlist. OMG. Ending on Holiday!
