eXtremeOccident

Don't you think it's awfully odd that she's deteriorated so quickly in performance ability, though? I just want to point out the differences in these two performances:
Cher Believe Tour Finale (53 Years Old):
Madonna MDNA Tour Finale (54 Years Old):
And yet we now we're here discussing Madonna retiring from touring...at 61...I mean, 7 years after what she was doing on the MDNA Tour?! That's unfathomable to me.
The difference in Madonna the performer pre-2012 and post-2012 will always be one of the most fascinating mysteries in her career to me...

Right? It's not like we have anything to discuss besides her cancelling shows and rehashing complaints about the tour that we can't see videos or pictures of 

Omg right? I was watching Rebel Heart last night and missing that tour...and at that time I thought that tour was terrible compared to her prior offerings...
This era had so much promise at the beginning. Sigh. This could have been an epic comeback with a proper creative team and business management. It had all the right elements -- Great critical reviews, her returning to her "Reinvention" roots, Mirwais, a new touring format...oh well.
And I agree with your trailing prediction -- There's no way this tour makes it to London. 
Side note -- You are quite handsome 

It's not charm at all, she's trying to be cute and show what a martyr she is and how resilient she is, but her IG this year has become nothing but petty and annoying.  Nobody wants to see videos of her 7 year old being annoying and trying to eat her sushi like a spoiled brat when the clock on her dressing room says 9:21pm and she's not even half dressed and in no hurry to move things along either.
It's totally insulting to all the fans affected by her terrible communication and team this year when she just glosses over their sacrifices and "on with her life".  It's tacky, terrible optics, and just shows how far out of touch she is with the real world.  Not like we didn't know, but it's not cool.

Omg right? I was watching Rebel Heart last night and missing that tour...and at that time I thought that tour was terrible compared to her prior offerings...
This era had so much promise at the beginning. Sigh. This could have been an epic comeback with a proper creative team and business management. It had all the right elements -- Great critical reviews, her returning to her "Reinvention" roots, Mirwais, a new touring format...oh well.
And I agree with your trailing prediction -- There's no way this tour makes it to London. 
Side note -- You are quite handsome 

I love this topic... 

Exactly. It's about optics.

Well my tour lanyard arrived. So if the show is cancelled I can wear it at home and play the album instead!!!

It's a compound effect. It's not like this is the first time she's had drama on a tour. Her touring reputation has been going south all the way back to MDNA when she started coming on ridiculously late. Ever since then her touring numbers have decreased with every tour, her production budget has clearly been lower, and she is now struggling to even sell out theaters.
Come on, fans are obviously not blaming her for having a knee injury. It's her attitude towards cancellations that further exacerbates a lot of frustrations that have been growing for YEARS now. 

I have been the absolute biggest fan of Madonna since Summer of 2005 when my mom bought the Immaculate Collection for my little 12 year old pre-pubescent self...and I have been mesmerized by this woman and her every move since seeing The Confessions Tour in Chicago...
That said, as much as I have adored her for the past 15 years, she's left such a sour taste in my mouth with this era. I never thought the day would come that I would have negative opinions about this woman, but it's like the icon I idolized is all but gone nowadays. She has treated her fans horribly with the handling of these cancellations, no doubt about it.
But on top of that, her insisting that people bid thousands of dollars on her selfies, coming on post-11 PM for years, her almost Michael Jackson-esque persona (I mean, do we remember the story about the Chicago venue staff who had to turn their backs to her every time she was around?), disastrous after disastrous public appearance (Eurovision, Billboard Music Awards 2016, VMAs 2018, etc.), the "cheapening" of a brand built on years of top-notch production and quality, the complete disconnect between what her fans / the public appreciates about her work and what she chooses to present to the world...
Madonna, what is going on? 
"Fingers crossed" you still have a big fan base after Madame X ends. Times are grim when even the most loyal of fans, myself included, seem to be giving up. 
She is going to have to do MEGA damage control with her future era(s) if she wants to retain any semblance of her legacy that she worked so hard to build. She should be revered by the general public as the last standing music icon, because, let's be real, she is a national treasure that we will miss immensely some day. But it's like everyone outside of her hardcore fans have forgotten this and that she has been reduced to a joke nowadays. 
I only hope and pray she comes to her senses and has it in her to have one last big comeback, so that she can cement her legacy and go out on a high note. 
Oh well, it's in Madonna's court at this point. 

I have been the absolute biggest fan of Madonna since Summer of 2005 when my mom bought the Immaculate Collection for my little 12 year old pre-pubescent self...and I have been mesmerized by this woman and her every move since seeing The Confessions Tour in Chicago...
That said, as much as I have adored her for the past 15 years, she's left such a sour taste in my mouth with this era. I never thought the day would come that I would have negative opinions about this woman, but it's like the icon I idolized is all but gone nowadays. She has treated her fans horribly with the handling of these cancellations, no doubt about it.
But on top of that, her insisting that people bid thousands of dollars on her selfies, coming on post-11 PM for years, her almost Michael Jackson-esque persona (I mean, do we remember the story about the Chicago venue staff who had to turn their backs to her every time she was around?), disastrous after disastrous public appearance (Eurovision, Billboard Music Awards 2016, VMAs 2018, etc.), the "cheapening" of a brand built on years of top-notch production and quality, the complete disconnect between what her fans / the public appreciates about her work and what she chooses to present to the world...
Madonna, what is going on? 
"Fingers crossed" you still have a big fan base after Madame X ends. Times are grim when even the most loyal of fans, myself included, seem to be giving up. 
She is going to have to do MEGA damage control with her future era(s) if she wants to retain any semblance of her legacy that she worked so hard to build. She should be revered by the general public as the last standing music icon, because, let's be real, she is a national treasure that we will miss immensely some day. But it's like everyone outside of her hardcore fans have forgotten this and that she has been reduced to a joke nowadays. 
I only hope and pray she comes to her senses and has it in her to have one last big comeback, so that she can cement her legacy and go out on a high note. 
Oh well, it's in Madonna's court at this point. 

It's a compound effect. It's not like this is the first time she's had drama on a tour. Her touring reputation has been going south all the way back to MDNA when she started coming on ridiculously late. Ever since then her touring numbers have decreased with every tour, her production budget has clearly been lower, and she is now struggling to even sell out theaters.
Come on, fans are obviously not blaming her for having a knee injury. It's her attitude towards cancellations that further exacerbates a lot of frustrations that have been growing for YEARS now. 

I have been the absolute biggest fan of Madonna since Summer of 2005 when my mom bought the Immaculate Collection for my little 12 year old pre-pubescent self...and I have been mesmerized by this woman and her every move since seeing The Confessions Tour in Chicago...
That said, as much as I have adored her for the past 15 years, she's left such a sour taste in my mouth with this era. I never thought the day would come that I would have negative opinions about this woman, but it's like the icon I idolized is all but gone nowadays. She has treated her fans horribly with the handling of these cancellations, no doubt about it.
But on top of that, her insisting that people bid thousands of dollars on her selfies, coming on post-11 PM for years, her almost Michael Jackson-esque persona (I mean, do we remember the story about the Chicago venue staff who had to turn their backs to her every time she was around?), disastrous after disastrous public appearance (Eurovision, Billboard Music Awards 2016, VMAs 2018, etc.), the "cheapening" of a brand built on years of top-notch production and quality, the complete disconnect between what her fans / the public appreciates about her work and what she chooses to present to the world...
Madonna, what is going on? 
"Fingers crossed" you still have a big fan base after Madame X ends. Times are grim when even the most loyal of fans, myself included, seem to be giving up. 
She is going to have to do MEGA damage control with her future era(s) if she wants to retain any semblance of her legacy that she worked so hard to build. She should be revered by the general public as the last standing music icon, because, let's be real, she is a national treasure that we will miss immensely some day. But it's like everyone outside of her hardcore fans have forgotten this and that she has been reduced to a joke nowadays. 
I only hope and pray she comes to her senses and has it in her to have one last big comeback, so that she can cement her legacy and go out on a high note. 
Oh well, it's in Madonna's court at this point. 

All tweaks aside, this tour and Reinvention are really the only two where she got the closing segment right. Hit after hit — Was an excellent end to two explosive tours.

Maybe this show is sorta weird because she never actually finished rehearsing it? Remember she hurt herself in the middle of rehearsals — And then she said on opening night that the show wasn’t done? I do believe she was telling the truth.
It would explain the weird flow of the show, subpar choreography in some sections, and her perceived lack of interest in this tour (from the perspective of some fans).

All the press pics + all from her Insta/Insta Stories:

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Human Nature is one of the best parts in person, so no. The only issue is the abrupt transition from Dark Ballet into it. 
 
Which brings me to the main issue — Song transitions. Her old tours had a bit of a mega mix feel to them with the set list, and this one is completely missing that instrumental coherence, even if the song themes don’t go together.
 
I’ve mentioned before that the biggest issue with the set list is the ordering of songs and the terrible production on some of them. The framework is there for a great set. But Crave into Like a Prayer for instance? What...?
 
In addition to completely reordering the set list (Dark Ballet really should have been the opener...God Control later in the set...I Don’t Search I Find as closer...), the concert would really benefit from a few song choice changes (nothing too major):
* Express Yourself / Papa Don’t Preach / La Isla Bonita in full and not a cappella
* Rescue Me Interlude into a full performance of Rescue Me
* Justify My Love in the spy section (imagine how theatrical this could be with the detectives?!)
* Removal of Crazy / Portuguese songs - Complete filler (sorry Sodade fans)
* Bedtime Story to close out show before encore of IDSIF — It totally goes with the words theme throughout the show 
* SOMETHING. ANYTHING. From Confessions. Why does this woman hate this album?!
 
And dear god, better choreography in some of the songs (I’m looking at you, Crave remix turned Cher concert).

To be fair, this could be a genius move on her part. Radio Disney reaches a TON of younger listeners. 

As a fan of both, it was only like 10 dates, which is similar to the Madame X Tour. Let's not get into the dramatics with our fellow rival fanbases 
Anywho, agreed that it's a little peculiar she's filming opening night. Seems unlike her, but we'll see. I do think that they definitely have bumped up filming in case something happens. She likely has already sold rights to broadcast the concert and would be at risk of breaching it if she suffers further injury.
That said, can't wait to hear about the show tonight! Hoping for some big crane camera work so that we get a few beautiful long shots of the whole venue. Would kill for them to use 35MM film again, like for Confessions. The cinematic result was next level. To this day, the pinnacle of any concert recording.

Oh, DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED. Remember the original version of the DVD sneak peek leaked on ABC? Look how much better the editing is:
100% would have been an even better DVD edit than Confessions. I'm thoroughly convinced this was a complete Miami edit and that the original version was only Miami shots. It would have been jaw-dropping. It's hard to tell, but it sounds like a different audio edit, too.
Why she had to piss off the crowd sufficiently that night so as to ruin the end-product, that will always remain one of the biggest Madonna mysteries... 

Oh, DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED. Remember the original version of the DVD sneak peek leaked on ABC? Look how much better the editing is:
100% would have been an even better DVD edit than Confessions. I'm thoroughly convinced this was a complete Miami edit and that the original version was only Miami shots. It would have been jaw-dropping. It's hard to tell, but it sounds like a different audio edit, too.
Why she had to piss off the crowd sufficiently that night so as to ruin the end-product, that will always remain one of the biggest Madonna mysteries... 

Oh, DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED. Remember the original version of the DVD sneak peek leaked on ABC? Look how much better the editing is:
100% would have been an even better DVD edit than Confessions. I'm thoroughly convinced this was a complete Miami edit and that the original version was only Miami shots. It would have been jaw-dropping. It's hard to tell, but it sounds like a different audio edit, too.
Why she had to piss off the crowd sufficiently that night so as to ruin the end-product, that will always remain one of the biggest Madonna mysteries... 

Oh, DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED. Remember the original version of the DVD sneak peek leaked on ABC? Look how much better the editing is:
100% would have been an even better DVD edit than Confessions. I'm thoroughly convinced this was a complete Miami edit and that the original version was only Miami shots. It would have been jaw-dropping. It's hard to tell, but it sounds like a different audio edit, too.
Why she had to piss off the crowd sufficiently that night so as to ruin the end-product, that will always remain one of the biggest Madonna mysteries... 

Oh, DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED. Remember the original version of the DVD sneak peek leaked on ABC? Look how much better the editing is:
100% would have been an even better DVD edit than Confessions. I'm thoroughly convinced this was a complete Miami edit and that the original version was only Miami shots. It would have been jaw-dropping. It's hard to tell, but it sounds like a different audio edit, too.
Why she had to piss off the crowd sufficiently that night so as to ruin the end-product, that will always remain one of the biggest Madonna mysteries... 

Hearing rumors from a very reliable source (same one who confirmed Rebel Heart on Showtime months in advance) that all streaming rights have already been sold to Disney+. Premiering in June to correspond with the Avengers movie release as part of a massive content launch that's expected to compete heavily with Netflix (hence the Netflix rumors).
Additionally, she's apparently signed a 5-year partnership with Disney for exclusive Madonna content. This means that her material can be used in original movie productions, theme parks, etc. Similar to how Aerosmith licensed its content to the Rock N Roller Coaster in Florida. And Disney will co-sponsor future touring, if it is to take place (similar to how Virgin Mobile had heavy sponsoring rights during the Britney Circus Tour).
There are talks Disney may be spearheading a biopic about her life, capitalizing on the success of Rocketman and Bohemian Rhapsody. There are already quiet talks talking place with Keira Knightly and Dakota Fanning. Her management sees this as a way to re-introduce her legacy to a new generation, I guess? I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised if she launches a massive new legacy project in parallel. Probably not for a good few years, though. 
I'm surprised myself, but she's done crazier things. This insider has yet to be wrong.