Her influence in the music industry has dwindled in recent years. Gone is the youthful, trend-setting fashion icon/pop artist of yesteryear. But Madonna is still making headlines, this time with the film release of The MDNA Tour, which premiered at the Paris Theater in New York on June 18 and premieres on the cable channel EPIX on June 22.
Her twelfth studio album, MDNA, was somewhat lackluster in terms of popularity. It didn’t spawn any hit singles and failed to make much of a dent on the Billboard charts, with sales dropping 88% between its first and second weeks of release. Few of the songs were memorable, and some downright bad. (“Masterpiece” was anything but.) Even the album’s producer, William Orbit, went on record saying the album was a dud, claiming Madonna was too busy hawking her new perfume line and working on other projects to focus on making a decent record. (He later apologized on Twitter.)
And yet the 2012 MDNA tour, despite some rather harsh remarks from Elton John and other critics, still brought in over $305 million. Billboard dubbed it the highest-grossing tour of the year, as well as the highest-grossing female tour of all time.
Which begs the question: What is it about Madonna that keeps people coming back for more?
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Her live shows all tend to follow the same formula: Madonna, surrounded by a dozen or so dancers, stands in front of an enormous LED screen that broadcasts images of her younger self, while she sings “reinvented” versions of her old hits. At some point during the show, she’ll inevitably give the audience the finger, kiss another woman, break out some bizarre yoga-inspired dance move, and make a crowd-pleasing statement like “Put your hands in the air like you just don’t care!” And she’ll do it all clad in only her underwear.
So why do we keep watching?
The answer is simple: Because even if we’ve seen it all before. Even if the album she’s promoting isn’t up to par with her earlier material. And even if she is “getting older.” She still puts on an entertaining live show. And we love her for it. She is Madonna.
Fifty-something years old and still rocking a cone bra, Madonna is as daring, unafraid, and unforgiving as she was 30 years ago. In fact, maybe even more so. And it’s hard not to appreciate her for that.
The MDNA Tour airs on EPIX this Saturday, June 22. A DVD release is scheduled for August 27.
Fitz
MDNA was SOOOO bad. SOOO bad. Like, she owes me $9.99 bad.
ChiMichael
What I find most interesting about the MDNA tour is that I don’t know anyone who saw the show who liked it all that much, and I know some pretty die hard Madonna fans. Even more interesting is the fact that they will still pay to see her again on her next tour. I’ve seen her a couple times and was blown away by her performance and I loved Ray of Light, but after that she lost me — but based on this tour’s sales she’s still a force to be reckoned with.
Red Meat
Who doesn’t love shitty live vocals with flashing lights?
M
Well,as paying customers you all are free to not like the album or tour. I found some truly great tracks on MDNA. With such a body of work to chose from, big deal if this album did not agree with you. Next! As for the show, maybe you and your friends had bad seats or could not grasp the brilliance of it. It was pure art. Go see Britney instead. Nobody complains about her shows which are basically the same price minus any artistic value. At least Madonna sings live and as for the lights (as well as everything else) that went into the production-epic. A living legend is always a force to be reckoned with.
FtLaud
geez, m, get a grip
you think her concert was art, yay! that’s an objective view, but i’m glad you liked her show, doesn’t make everyone else a britney lover
but you sound like a 13 year old girl stomping her feet and defending her teen mag crush
and by the way, madonna doesn’t live sing her entire show
Spike
Album was a flop, tour was a flop, film release will be a flop. For a laugh, search Madonna here on Queerty and read the comments prior to and following the album release. The die hard Madge fans had their panties in a bunch anytime anyone suggested that the album was tire, unoriginal, same ol same ol. And turns out, it was. When she stops taking herself so seriously and so intent on changing the world, maybe her music will be worth paying attention to again.
Jame
@Spike: Your life is a flop.
Spike
@Jame: Feel better now? Let me guess, you bought the album, went to the concert and will be going to the movie. Your choice, I have no need to judge , nor insult, as you do.