Home>News Center>Life
         
 

Madonna tour struggles to get into the groove
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-05-27 10:14

Madonna's return to the concert stage received mixed reviews, with some suggesting the 45-year-old mother of two had erred by swapping her trademark sexuality for a new found spirituality.


Singer Madonna performs during her 'Re-Invention' World Tour 2004 in California. Madonna's return to the concert stage has received mixed reviews, with some suggesting the 45-year-old mother of two had erred by swapping her trademark sexuality for a new found spirituality. [AFP]
"Message to Madonna: Bring back the sex. Or at least something with flesh and blood, please," said the Los Angeles Times in a particularly scathing notice on Monday's launch of the Material Girl's first major tour in three years.

"This promised to be Madonna's tour de force, a reappraisal that put her work in new and revealing contexts. But time and again she fell short of the challenge," the newspaper said.

Fans paid 200 dollars a piece for Monday's show which kicked off Madonna's "Re-Invention" world tour. Illness force her to call off the second concert Tuesday and she has also pulled out of dates in Israel because of security fears.

Under the shadow of Middle East violence and the war in Iraq, the concert had a distinctly political element.

A video backdrop showing tough images of US soldiers at war and injured children popped up during her camouflage-clad rendition of "American Life," drawing ire from some members of the audience.

Images of a Palestinian boy walking arm in arm with an Israeli were shown, along with pictures of ill or injured children as Madonna sang John Lennon's "Imagine."

"Madonna traded most of the old sexual teasing for social commentary, and she's no John Lennon, friends," the Times commented.

The New York Times was slightly more forgiving, but argued that the "re-invention" tag had proved over-ambitious as Madonna appeared to be stuck "shadowboxing" with her past.

"There were times when Madonna seemed somehow oppressed by the weight of all her old selves, times when it seemed that she just wanted to wipe the slate clean and start over, as a straightforward singer-songwriter," the newspaper said.

The Times also echoed the criticism of the "Imagine" offering, saying Madonna was "far too slippery -- and far too savvy -- for this sort of faux-naive sentimentalism."

More upbeat was USA Today which hailed an evening of "cheeky and challenging theater" complete with "sexy but age appropriate" costumes.

"This show doesn't have the degree of flesh, carnal content or shock value that past outings delivered, but this time Madonna is opting for more heart than cleavage and more personality than profanity," it said.

The tabloid New York Post, meanwhile, pretty much ignored the music altogether and offered instead a withering critique of Madonna's stage outfits in an article titled "Material Hurl."

"Madonna's blond ambition is fading to bland," said the Post, which reserved special sartorial outrage for the "frumpy, midi Scottish inspired kilt and wife-beater shirt" outfit Madonna wore for the show's finale.

"We just want her to bring back the cone bra," the newspaper said.

 
  Today's Top News     Top Life News
 

Wen raises 5 proposals to attain global prosperity

 

   
 

China, nations seek Iraq resolution change

 

   
 

Key officials 'knew' of bad milk powder

 

   
 

Official: No ceiling on US film imports

 

   
 

Hospital releases SARS vaccine test result

 

   
 

Local gov'ts told to curb price hikes

 

   
  If your husband has a Porsche, follow him
   
  Rewards for tip-offs on debtors
   
  What does your hair say about you?
   
  Madonna tour struggles to get into the groove
   
  Face transplants inch toward reality
   
  HK solo tours encourage cross-region marriages
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  Related Stories  
   
Material Girl kicks off 'Re-Invention' tour
   
Second Madonna children's book out
   
Madonna stops to smell the 'roses'
   
Madonna gets tartan anniversary gift from Scots
   
Madonna T-shirt expected to fetch 10,000 pounds
   
Madonna calls for peace at Los Angeles concert
  Feature  
  Maggie Cheung snatches Best Actress Award  
Advertisement