She almost did not make it. Then she went out and sang 30 songs anyway.
Madonna kicked off the Celebration Tour last night at London's O2 Arena, four months after a bacterial infection put her in the ICU and forced the whole tour to be postponed. She told the crowd she did not think she was going to make it. Then she went out and proved she could.
The whole concept is four decades of hits, and she dug deep. She opened with Nothing Really Matters, which she had not played live since 1999. Justify My Love, Rain, and Bad Girl had not been played since 1993. Bad Girl had literally only ever been played once before, on Saturday Night Live. Bedtime Story had been sitting since 1995. Die Another Day and Mother and Father since 2004.
The covers were a flex too:
I Will Survive and Don't Cry For Me Argentina, because she can. She closed the whole thing with Celebration and Music, which is the only correct ending.
Seventy eight dates across 15 countries. The Queen of Pop is back, and she is not coasting.
Photo: Photo by Mark Wu via Pexels
Source: Rock Cellar Magazine
