In case you didn’t know, Madonna is from Detroit.
OK, so she’s not really from Detroit, but during last night’s packed concert at Little Caesars Arena, the Queen of Pop let the audience know that she considers Detroit her hometown, and it’s the city that taught her to fight for herself, work hard and be authentic. It’s the city that shaped Madonna.
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Going on stage at around 10:30 p.m., Bob the Drag Queen, who won season eight of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” introduced the star while dressed in Marie Antoinette drag, just like Madonna did at the VMAs in 1990. This is the Celebration Tour, so we already knew we were going to be celebrating the legacy of Madonna.
From her opening song, you knew the production of this show was going to be absolutely insane. The main stage was basically like a giant turntable, as Madonna and her dancers were spinning in circles. It was a cool technical feature, and kept things interesting throughout the night.
Things really picked up when Madonna began to tell the story of coming to New York City with $35 in her pocket during the late ‘70s. Songs like “Into The Groove,” “Open Your Heart,” “Holiday” and a rock version of “Burning Up” really got the crowd at Little Caesars pumped up. This was the Madonna that fans came to see, and these were the songs they wanted to hear.
Madonna’s energy at the top of the show was just so thrilling, too. She immediately acknowledged that she was ready for a hometown show, and the audience was absolutely eating it up. Detroit is proud of the artists that it produces, and you could tell that Madonna is proud to call Detroit home.
“That’s how we do it in Detroit,” she said at the top of the show, which of course got the devoted crowd super excited. She even went on to say, “how cool you have to be to say you’re from Detroit,” and honestly, I couldn’t agree more.
She explained that the show was going to tell the story of her life since she’s been doing this thing for four decades. Long before that was Britney, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift or Olivia Rodrigo, there was Madonna. She invented having an “era” and opened the door for her fellow pop stars to do the things they do today. It really was a celebration of this woman’s glass-shattering career.
As the show went on, the production value only got better, and at 65-years-old, she let the audience know that she wasn’t slowing down any time soon. Hits like “Like A Prayer” and “Hung Up” got the audience moving, and it was also nice to hear some deep cuts, like “Erotica” and “Justify My Love.”
One moving moment was her remembrance of the AIDS crisis. She performed “Live To Tell” from her album “True Blue” while images of people who died from AIDS early on in the crisis appeared on screens throughout the arena. It was a sobering moment, and one that I’m glad she did. She lived through it while so many of her friends and fans died from the horrible disease, so it was a touching moment that we all needed reminding of.
One of the best moments of the show for me was the ballroom section. You know Madonna had to perform “Vogue,” and it was fabulous to see her pay homage to the Harlem ballroom scene in New York City that inspired the song in the first place.
All of Madonna’s dancers literally vogued on stage, while she and a special guest judge (whom I did not recognize) gave the dancers praise. You could tell it’s the favorite part of the show for Madonna and her dancers, and it was for the audience, too.
My personal favorite moment of the show was her little acoustic set. She went on a long speech again, but this time talked about her mother and her father. She told us that her father, at 92, was in the audience, and explained how much she learned from him. They fought, she went on, but the lessons he taught her were life changing.
She then said that she hoped her father was proud of her, even adding on “I hope you’re proud of me, Detroit.” It was a great moment, and it was made even greater when she mentioned the Detroit Institute of Arts, how she went to her first gay bar in Detroit and how she still remembers her first ballet teacher from the city. It was a great night for Madonna and Detroit.
You can take the girl out of Michigan, but you can’t take Michigan out of the girl, and that was evident by how much Madonna talked about being home.
She then went on to sing an acoustic version of “Express Yourself,” which was my favorite song of the night. It turned into an arena-wide sing-a-long, and everyone in that arena was having the best time ever. She followed it up with “La Isla Bonita,” and every Madonna fan in the building was in absolute heaven.
She ended the show singing “Ray of Light” perched over the entire crowd from above, a moody version of “Frozen” and of course, “B*tch I’m Madonna.”
All of her dancers were dressed as different versions of Madonna, from a Rockford Peach in “A League of Their Own, “Material Girl” Madonna and even Super Bowl Halftime Madonna. Like I said, Madge invented having an era, and this celebration of all the versions of Madonna we know and love was the cherry on top for a perfect night of music and fun.
Live on Madonna, and thanks for always keeping Detroit in your heart.
