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The ending of the big tours?


Luiz Ribeiro
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Twenty-seven years ago, Madonna set the template for modern pop concerts with her Blond Ambition world tour.

From its hydraulic stage to Jean-Paul Gaultier's iconic costumes, it raised the bar for stadium-sized spectacle.

Now, after seven huge world tours, the star tells the BBC she's "exploring" a smaller-scale show in the future.

"I've done so many shows - world tours, stadiums, sports arenas, you name it - that I feel like I have to reinvent that now too," she explains.

"I like doing intimate shows and being able to talk directly to the audience.

"This is something I'm exploring right now: the idea of doing a show that doesn't travel the world, but stays in one place and utilises not only humour and the music in a more intimate setting but other people's music, as well, and other entertainment.

"Kind of a revolving door of amazing, gifted, unique talent - dancers, musicians, singers, comedians, me, humour. I don't know! Like, I'm trying to come up with all those ideas now."

 

The concerts will presumably owe much to the vaudeville-style Tears of a Clown show that Madonna performed twice in 2016 - once as a gift to fans in Australia, and again at a fundraiser for her Raising Malawi charity.

The low-key gigs featured the pop icon dressed as a clown, riding a tricycle, chatting to the audience and telling jokes when not performing stripped-back renditions of some of her favourite songs.

Footage of the Australian concert appears on the star's new DVD, released on Friday, which documents her 2015-16 Rebel Heart Tour.

In an exclusive interview with BBC News, she talked about touring life, changing attitudes to sex, and her recent dispute with a courier company...

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Before we start, there's one thing I need to know: Did your FedEx packageever arrive?

Ha ha! Yes, it has. FedEx is blaming customs, customs is blaming FedEx and we'll never know what happened. But I have it now.

So, I saw the Rebel Heart tour when you were in London and the DVD does a really good job of capturing what it was like to be in the audience. How do you go about that?

I was there every step of the way, every day for months and months. It's really hard to capture the true feeling of the excitement and the passion and the heat and the blood, sweat and tears. I'm pleased with the way it came out.

There's a particularly touching sequence during True Blue, where everybody in the audience embraces each other.

I know, it's a very sweet, emotional moment in the show. I didn't expect it to be, but when I look back at the DVD it almost brings a tear to my eye because everyone seems so in love.

 

How do you put a show like this together? Where do you get the ideas?

Everything's based around my song choice. So first, I go through my catalogue of songs with my band and I start working on things that excite me and inspire me in the moment. Some songs I'm sick of doing and I don't want to do them. Other songs I say, "No, I did that on the last tour, I don't want to do it again."

So I try to rotate things and I also try to reflect my current mood and what I've been feeling, and what's been inspiring me artistically or filmically, politically, philosophically. I try to put songs together in groups that have thematic connection, and then I try to tell a story. And then I do the visuals. It's quite a process.

What are the songs you don't want to do again?

Well, I tend to not want to do the songs I did on the tour before. That's what I mean. So if I did Material Girl on the tour before, or Express Yourself on the tour before, then I'll say, "OK, I did that for 88 shows. I can't do it again."

How do you keep a healthy balance between new songs and your back catalogue?

It's just playing in rehearsal. It's really hard for me, especially with my older songs, to do them with the original arrangement. Because 33 years later, after doing it for so long, you just have to reinvent things. Well, I do.

And it's fun for me to take an '80s pop song and turn it into a salsa song, or turn it into a samba, or make an uptempo song into a ballad.

The overarching theme of the tour was being a rebel. In the intro you say, "when fascist dictators come for you dressed as righteous men" you have to rise up and take a stand.

If you were doing the tour against the current political backdrop, would that message feel more relevant?

Yeah, I created that voiceover for my short film 

. I feel like it was a foreshadowing of things to come, like a prophecy.

You felt something in the air?

I did then - and I think people all thought I was being a little bit dramatic and extreme, but I felt like I was witnessing the beginning of it on the tour previous [to Rebel Heart]. And, of course, look what's happening in the world right now. It's pretty crazy.

Twenty-seven years ago, the Pope tried to get one of your shows banned. Now you have pole-dancing nuns and nobody bats an eyelid. Is that progress?

Is it progress? Well, I guess in some ways you could call that progress. When I released my Sex book, the idea of someone being scantily-clad on the street was an outrage. But look at social media today and it's nothing.

People get used to things, but I wouldn't call that progress. What I think of as progress is people becoming more open-minded, and people understanding the difference between art and exploitation.

When I was banned by the Pope, I was playing with the ideas of religion and sexuality, which are usually kept completely apart. Sex is considered a sin in the Catholic church. And I was questioning that and challenging that point of view because I don't, obviously, agree with it.

So now that no one's batting an eyelash about nuns on the stripper poles, it doesn't mean that the Vatican or the Catholic church is soul-searching or investigating whether they made the right choices. I don't think people are thinking that maybe sexuality and God don't need to be separate. That, to me, would be progress.

The DVD also includes the Tears of a Clown show you did in Melbourne. Was that a one-off or a trial run for a different type of Madonna concert?

I like doing intimate shows and being able to talk directly to the audience; to play with them and use humour and pathos and truth, and share my life - and also make up stories. I like the freedom of it and I like the intimacy of it, and I would like to explore doing it more in the future.

Maybe a residency?

Yeah, a residency. If I look back at the Rebel Heart tour, my favourite [part] was really the last section where I got to just sit on the stage and play my ukulele and sing La Vie en Rose and talk to the audience. [it was] just more intimate. More audience participation and connecting to human beings - I feel I'm craving that more and more.

 

Did it feel like there was more room for improvisation in that section?

Yeah, I have freedom and I can make mistakes. That's another thing I do in Tears of a Clown - if I start a song off wrong and I make a boo-boo, I just turn around and go "Stop! Let's start again!"

When you're doing a sports arena show, you're linked up to video, you can't stop. Once the train leaves the station, you have to keep going.

There's a certain kind of adrenalin rush to that - but there's no room for error. So I like the idea of mistakes and freestyling. Free-falling, really. It's more exciting to me right now.

Madonna: Rebel Heart Tour is out now on DVD, CD and Blu-Ray and via digital retailers.

 

 

 

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-41269047

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There are a few jokes on this interview  :smile:  :smile:

 

How do you put a show like this together? Where do you get the ideas?

Everything's based around my song choice. So first, I go through my catalogue of songs with my band and I start working on things that excite me and inspire me in the moment. Some songs I'm sick of doing and I don't want to do them. Other songs I say, "No, I did that on the last tour, I don't want to do it again."

 

She should have finished saying, except "Candy Shop"

 

What are the songs you don't want to do again?

Well, I tend to not want to do the songs I did on the tour before. That's what I mean. So if I did Material Girl on the tour before, or Express Yourself on the tour before, then I'll say, "OK, I did that for 88 shows. I can't do it again."

 

"Cady shop has been as first song on Sticky & Sweet Tour 2008 & 2009, plus in MDNA Tour. You have performed 85 times on S&S and 88 on MDNA Tour, so before the RHT we had 173 performances, adding now the RHT 255 times!

 

----------------------

 

And going back to the interview, I get more and more clear that the next tour will be something like "TOAC"

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There are a few jokes on this interview  :smile:  :smile:

 

How do you put a show like this together? Where do you get the ideas?

Everything's based around my song choice. So first, I go through my catalogue of songs with my band and I start working on things that excite me and inspire me in the moment. Some songs I'm sick of doing and I don't want to do them. Other songs I say, "No, I did that on the last tour, I don't want to do it again."

 

She should have finished saying, except "Candy Shop"

 

What are the songs you don't want to do again?

Well, I tend to not want to do the songs I did on the tour before. That's what I mean. So if I did Material Girl on the tour before, or Express Yourself on the tour before, then I'll say, "OK, I did that for 88 shows. I can't do it again."

 

"Cady shop has been as first song on Sticky & Sweet Tour 2008 & 2009, plus in MDNA Tour. You have performed 85 times on S&S and 88 on MDNA Tour, so before the RHT we had 173 performances, adding now the RHT 255 times!

 

----------------------

 

And going back to the interview, I get more and more clear that the next tour will be something like "TOAC"

It's funny you immediately thought "Candy Shop".  I immediately thought the exception was "La Isla Bonita".  

 

I'll be fair, though, she tends to have her favorites, and I do think "Candy Shop" and "La Isla..." are two of her favorites from her catalog.  I agree; I'm all for putting these songs to rest for the next couple of tours, especially if that would allow her to perform a couple of other oldies or more currents we haven't heard of on tour or in a long time.  Unfortunately, I think we're nearing the end of her touring especially on a global scale, so I can see her wanting to do those songs she likes so well again. 

 

But it is starting to sound like she's warming up to the idea of doing a "residency".  LOOK OUT LAS VEGAS!!  LOL!  Knowing her, she would set up shop in some other destination since she's always loathed doing Vegas and has been pretty vocal about not wanting to become a Vegas act.  Though, I think that stigma of a "Vegas Act" could easily wear off if someone offered her he right amount of money.  And it doesn't have to be in Vegas. Maybe she can get some backing to perform in NYC or maybe a few big cities, but for a longer period of time, rather two or three dates.  I can see she rather want to be settle in one place with having little ones again.

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I hope it's not full residency. I am only now able to even try going to one of her tours. And honestly, looking at her words, which could've been more off the top of her head, she says it's time to reinvent touring. A residence, like Britney or Vegas in general, would not be reinventing touring. So maybe she will cook up something more complex than the standard residency. Maybe touring globally but at a slower pace. Playing for a week or two in some of the most populated cites in the world. She could stay put longer that way. It would be different.

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I hope it's not full residency. I am only now able to even try going to one of her tours. And honestly, looking at her words, which could've been more off the top of her head, she says it's time to reinvent touring. A residence, like Britney or Vegas in general, would not be reinventing touring. So maybe she will cook up something more complex than the standard residency. Maybe touring globally but at a slower pace. Playing for a week or two in some of the most populated cites in the world. She could stay put longer that way. It would be different.

 

 

yas Björk did residencies in different cities in 2011 and that was good. I got to see her 4 times that way.

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what a nightmare. Its so sad. I thought she said "I'll stop when you motherfucking kill me". Vegas is where star go to die....

Maybe shes now all about her new Twins, which is a great thing, but why now? Rocco, Lola, David Mercy, also joined her on the road. I wonder if shes planning to keep her fame hidden from the twins, as she said in some interview, that they dont know about her fame yet.

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Let's not read too much into it, she's just saying she'd like to do more shows like Tears Of A Clown which is something we been knew, and from the looks of it she's planning to do it in the near future, which is great. Doesn't mean we won't get more big shows or tours in the future. Even if she plainly said she's not touring ever again, i wouldn't take it as set in stone. Didn't she say she wouldn't tour again after Blond Ambition?

 

If she ever does a Vegas residency then we can certify that she's lost the plot tbh

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But to do a residency in one place on the planet would be a forsakening of her global fanbase. Rebel Heart was already the start of her cutting back, doing arenas this time around. Had she done what she had with MDNA, RHT might have registered as her third highest tour. She's also almost 60. And she has the twins now. I think what happened with Rocco, despite how stupid it was, may push her towards not traveling so much.

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Doesn't mean we won't get more big shows or tours in the future. Even if she plainly said she's not touring ever again, i wouldn't take it as set in stone. Didn't she say she wouldn't tour again after Blond Ambition?

 

I really hope you are right. I don´t like that idea of hers. Ticket prices would be very very expensive plus you would have to travel far to see her. Depends on where you live of course.

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But it is starting to sound like she's warming up to the idea of doing a "residency".  LOOK OUT LAS VEGAS!!  LOL!  Knowing her, she would set up shop in some other destination since she's always loathed doing Vegas and has been pretty vocal about not wanting to become a Vegas act.  Though, I think that stigma of a "Vegas Act" could easily wear off if someone offered her he right amount of money.  And it doesn't have to be in Vegas. Maybe she can get some backing to perform in NYC or maybe a few big cities, but for a longer period of time, rather two or three dates.  I can see she rather want to be settle in one place with having little ones again.

 

hum, she's buying a house in Lisbon, not Vegas, not the best plan for commuting.

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It's funny you immediately thought "Candy Shop".  I immediately thought the exception was "La Isla Bonita".  

 

 I can see she rather want to be settle in one place with having little ones again.

 

I thought the same thing.  Honestly, both songs (for me) have worn out their welcome.  But...it's her show, so I respect that.  Anything to see my Queen.

 

And oh yes, it was obvious before, but now with the People interview, the world knows.  She loves her babies (as I love mine, had to throw that in there  :heart:  :heart:  :heart: ).

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what a nightmare. Its so sad. I thought she said "I'll stop when you motherfucking kill me". Vegas is where star go to die....

Maybe shes now all about her new Twins, which is a great thing, but why now? Rocco, Lola, David Mercy, also joined her on the road. I wonder if shes planning to keep her fame hidden from the twins, as she said in some interview, that they dont know about her fame yet.

 

She did not mention Vegas at all. I think it would be NYC, London or even Paris, knowing that those cities have had the most tour dates by her in the past.

 

I don't see why is it a shock to some, this was meant to happen sooner or later, her new music is not part of the mainstream anymore so it was a matter of time when the tours followed, not to mention there were already signs on her post-S&ST performances that she cannot keep on with these kinda shows forever.

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Personally, I think she means by "re-inventing" and "residency" is probably doing smaller scale shows at a number of key places.  I can see her purposely turning her nose up at Vegas and setting up shop in NYC instead, and possible a couple other key cities throughout the world.  I do understand the disappointment for some if she did this.  For some, they won't be able to see her if she's limited to one or two spaces.

 

But I think she's just talking. At the end of the day, I think she still plans to travel the world to tour.  She seems to enjoy it, even though it's a love/hate relationship for her.

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If she ended up doing a Vegas residency I would unstan tbh. Id rather pretend she retired and flew to Neptune. I'm not even joking.

 

Thankfully she said last year that "she would rather die than work in Vegas", so let's hope no paycheck is big enough.  :eyes:

 

Also there's this

 

 

Residencies in some big cities would be wonderful tho. 

 

:yarn:

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My guess is her new touring deal is being discussed so she might be sending warnings to whom it may concern.

With very young kids again, she probably won't be touring 80+ dates very soon, I rather see her performing in selected towns, in concert halls and theaters. Living legends like Barbra Streisand and Stevie Wonder hardly ever do arenas now, they have special evenings in opera houses and more comfortable venues. I'm not sure she's ready for this right now, but this might be an option.

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She is almost 60 year old.

so what?

60 is new 40 now.

Madonna set the new standard.

So she could do that residency thing when she became 80 year old.

 

I mean I really want to see Madonna's huge mega tour at least until she became 70 year old. (I mean at least)

When she became 70 year old then finally I could say "well she is 70 year old now so she can do residency if she really wanna do it.

 

I really want to see Sexual and powerful Madonna as she could as possible.

Residency? small show?

for me Not now.. it's too soon. TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO soon for me.

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But I know she still loves making new music. Idk, it seems really shallow of her to stop making music just because its not where the money comes from. Maybe the albums will be shorter, Rebel Heart the pinnacle of album material surplus. MAybe the standard 10-12 songs will return.

 

Oh no she will keep making albums, albums don't cost that much to make at all, even remixes are cheap now days, 10 years ago to get a big DJ to do a remix would cost 20,30,40 thousand, now you can get a bunch for 6 grand. 

 

It will be interesting to see where she does go, because money is not everything! She may not be interested in making that much anymore (that much being defined as grossing 50 million instead of 400 million on a tour :P).

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