October 14th 2023.
Madonna is taking her Celebration tour to an impressive 15 different countries. On Saturday, the 65 year-old singer powered through a minor technical glitch on the opening night of her tour at London’s O2 Arena. The Material Girl had previously been hospitalised with a serious bacterial infection earlier this year, making her return to performing even more special.
The show nearly descended into chaos when there were sound issues after the song Burning Up. But Madonna handled the situation like a pro, pausing the show to explain her crew had needed to ‘press the reset button’. She regaled the audience with tales of her youth, confessing: “This is exactly what you don’t want to happen on your opening night, so this wasn’t planned, I’m sorry.”
The Like A Virgin singer recalled how difficult things were when she was in her first band and she was ‘broke and hungry and making zero cash’. But she could ‘see the future’. She also admitted she would ‘date men who had showers and bathtubs’ as she had no way to wash at the time, asking men she thought were ‘cute’ if they lived alone and had a shower before asking them to get dinner.
Speaking to the thousands in the crowd, Madonna asked them: “Am I imagining this? Oh my God, it is so good to be back London.” After the tech issues were resolved, Madonna made up for the wait by launching into lively versions of Open Your Heart and Holiday.
The pop legend also revealed her children were in the audience supporting her, adding: “I’m pretty damned surprised that I made it this far and I mean that on so many levels… How did I make it this far? Because of you. I’m going to take a bit of credit too.”
Ahead of the gig, Madonna had touched down in Manchester to practice for her blockbuster dates, which will also take her across Europe and then back to the US for the North American leg of the Celebration. To really get into the spirit of things, Madonna chose to rent out the entire Stock Exchange Hotel in the heart of central Manchester, with 40 rooms costing up to £500 per night – and for the time being, it’s all Madonna’s.
At the O2 Arena, a Madonna-themed flag much like the Royal Standard flag was even created to mark the occasion. This is Madonna’s first tour since her Madame X shows, which ended in 2020. Fans are sure to be delighted with the return of the pop legend, and we can’t wait to see what her future tours hold in store.
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