Perhaps Madonna’s career has caught up to her, threatening to eclipse the Queen of Pop. Or perhaps it’s the other way around, and Madonna has finally eclipsed her career. Depending on the perspective, both could be true, as evidenced last weekend at two capacity shows at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. The original pop tart appeared almost reluctant to fulfill the ‘greatest hits’ promise made when the Re-Invention Tour was announced. Much as her satellite Britney Spears did at the same venue in March, Madonna revisited early hits by radically reworking them.
Sporting long, loose blond locks – a less made-up, yoga-fueled version of the rave-ish Ray of Light persona – Madonna commanded center stage to strum guitar for a rocked-up version of Burnin’ Up, the song that made her a sex bomb among hormone-driven disco teens in 1983. She slowed Deeper and Deeper (from 1992’s Erotica) until it was almost unrecognizable.
She offered up several other past chart-makers while she and the cast flitted in 1920s flapper gear. She let the video screens do the singing while she took a costume break. All of which is to say, she repeated some of the devices used by Britney, leaving some to wonder who, exactly, is the Madonnabe. Clearly, however, Britney is the follower, aping – if not outright thieving – Madonna’s most superficial schtick, often to lesser effect. The differences are more than just expressions of age. Madonna has always exhibited key characteristics that Britney lacks: sincerity and self-determination.
Ironically, Madonna’s series of reinventions stems from a constant quest for self-discovery that starts with knowing yourself. If she’s tells you that Kabbalists do it better (which she did, via a emblazoned baby T), you know that that’s exactly how she feels – even if tomorrow she might go back to praying to Jesus Christ.
Certainly, Madonna’s past overt sexuality, from submissive boy toy to dominating kinkstress, fits uncomfortably on her spiritual body, but at least we know that whatever clothes she’s wearing, she picked them out.
Source: Las Vegas Mercury, James P. Reza
