The Queen of Pop

“It’s time for the good times
Forget about the bad times, oh yeah
One day to come together to release the pressure
We need a holiday”

Eva and I both liked Madonna when she first burst onto the scene in 1983. We saw her perform a few songs at Live Aid in Philadelphia in 1985, but we hadn’t seen her since. I have to admit I haven’t really paid much attention to Madonna since the 80s and dance music’s not really my thing (probably because I can’t dance), but for Christmas, I decided to surprise Eva with tickets for her show at the Wells Fargo Center in Philly on 1/25/2024.

I know she’s not for everyone- Madonna always seems to be in the headlines, pushing the boundaries. But no one can deny the “Queen of Pop” has been a force in the music scene over the past 5 decades. A total of 44 Madonna singles have topped the official chart in at least one of the world’s top 10 music markets, from “Like a Virgin” (1984) to “Give Me All Your Luvin’” (2012). Globally, she has sold more than 100 million singles, and according to Billboard, Madonna is the most successful solo artist in Hot 100 chart history, second overall behind the Beatles. One of the highest-grossing touring artists in history, she became the first ever woman to accumulate $1 billion in concert revenue. Forbes has named Madonna the annual top-earning female musician a record 11 times across four separate decades (1980s–2010s). She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008, her first year of eligibility. Madonna was ranked as the greatest woman in music by VH1, and as the greatest music video artist ever by MTV and Billboard. She was also listed among Rolling Stone’s greatest artists and greatest songwriters of all time. So although I’m not a huge fan, I figured this was certainly another one of those “See them one last time” shows to put in the books.

The crowd came ready for the show- I was definitely underdressed! I could have done without the DJ playing for an hour at the start- I still have the thumpty-thump ringing in my head. By the time the show started at 10:00, the crowd was ready to party. There’s no band on this tour, only occasional moments featuring guitar, cello, and her daughter Mercy James on piano, so it’s up to Madonna and about two dozen dancers to keep the energy level up, and that they did. The show was a retrospective look at her amazing career with a talented and diverse group of dancers, several costume changes, singing from a box flying over the stands, lasers, special effects, a touching tribute to those who died of AIDS, erotic dance routines, topless dancers- this show had it all. At one point her troupe was dressed like a thousand different Madonnas throughout history, including my favorite- her character from A League of their Own. While I was a bit disappointed she didn’t sing several of her hits (including “Material Girl” or “Borderline”) it was certainly an entertaining show from the Queen of Pop.