Madonna Tour 2012: She strips, gets booed and delivers one heck of a show!
By John Gonzalez | gonzo@mlive.com MLive.comon November 09, 2012 at 8:56 AM, updated November 09, 2012 at 8:57 AM
DETROIT, MI -- The Madonna Tour 2012 made a stop in her home state, and in true Madonna fashion, the pop icon did not hold back throughout her two-hour performance.
Thursday's concert at Joe Louis Arena included a little bit of everything: Stripping, booing and plenty of music -- just another day (night) at the office for music's most-famous Material Girl. (The show didn't start until 10:42 p.m.)
On MLive.com Detroit, entertainment writer Eric Lacy said Madonna's homecoming concert at Joe Louis Arena "delivered an incredibly choreographed show...that featured a 21-song set list and plenty of envelope-pushing theatrics."
"Envelope-pushing theatrics" is what you expect come to expect from our girl -- now a 54-year-old mom who leaves nothing to the imagination.
But a few moments stuck out that fans will be talking about today:
The Booing: Right after a cool, stripped down and acoustic/percussive version of "Open Your Heart" (co-written by Flint native Gardner Cole), Madonna took a few minutes to celebrate President Obama's re-election. The initial cheers turned to boos when she started to refer to his acceptance speech. "I'm ecstatically happy that Obama is our President!" After a shrugging off the boo birds she said, 'Oh, c'mon.....What's so great about the United States of American is that we live in a Democracy and we can vote for who want to be our leader. So you can boo all you want....at least you had the privilege of voting."
The Stripping: Yes, she takes most of it off in a "stripped" down version of "Like a Virgin." With the big projection screens on both sides of the stage you get to see a lot of Madonna -- and I mean a whole lot. She encourages fans to throw money on the stage, which will go to Hurricane Sandy relief efforts. Most fans were not close enough to make a donation. But we got an eyeful.
Family and Friends: During the booing, Madonna mentioned that her dad was in the crowd, and that there even was division between them over the Presidential Election. "We don't have the same political opinions. We still love each other. I accept him and I love him, and that's how it should be towards each other, no matter what." Son Rocco, 12, was also in attendance and even came out t! o break d! ance. He got to be on stage when his mom encouraged fans to shout the F-Word during her booing episode.
As for the concert, it was a little light on the classics from her '80s hit machine -- and more over the top from when I first saw Madonna on her "Like a Virgin" tour in 1985 at Cobo Arena.
But it was indeed Madonna, at her best, putting on a theatrical, multimedia and jaw-dropping show that makes you wonder: What's next?
That's what entertainers do. That's Madonna.
Email John Gonzalez at gonzo@mlive.comOr follow John on Twitter at Twitter.com/MichiganGonzoOn Facebook at Facebook.com/GRGonzo