By Joanie Cox-Henry
Photo by Ricardo Gomes
Madonna's shows have been known to get pretty hot, and I mean this literally and figuratively! The Queen of Pop has a history of killing the air conditioning while playing indoor arenas and the Kaseya Center was "Burning Up" just like her hit song.
Despite the arena feeling like a sticky, middle school locker room in the dead of a South Florida summer, Madonna grabbed the mic and scolded the Miami production staff for keeping the air conditioning switched on too high and ignoring her repeated requests to have it turned down.
"You don't know how much I've been waiting for this whole f****** show. I am working my ass off, I deserve it. Respect me. The show will not go on until you respect me," Madonna blasted.
I attended the April 9 performance of Madonna's two Miami shows that started the previous night. Despite the 8:30 p.m. time on the ticket, Madonna didn't take the stage until around 10:15 p.m. I knew she would be starting late. After all this wasn't my first Madonna rodeo. I'm not sure why people go to see her and complain about the heat or the delayed start time. She's been doing this for years and still selling out shows wherever she goes.
The truth is once Madonna hits the stage " Nothing Really Matters!" She opened with that number and proceeded to take the crowd on a glittery, nostalgic ride through four decades of her iconic career. Madonna is 65 now and still moving with the prowess of a well-dressed puma. She's still having the time of her life and has family and friends on tour with her including her very talented 18-year-old daughter, Mercy, on a grand piano in this show.
Despite multiple technical difficulties at this show, [Mercury is in retrograde so I'll give it a pass,] the show went on as Madonna embraced various versions of herself onstage from her earliest boytoy "Like A Virgin" days to her cowgirl "Don't Tell Me" era to her "Vogue" phase and beyond. She performed mostly all of her hits including "Open Your Heart," Like A Prayer," and "Erotica."
Another highlight of her April 9 performance was a poignant rednition of "Live To Tell," Which Madonna sang inside of an apparatus that floated her around the sold out venue. I also loved her rendition of "Bad Girl," one of my favorite songs from her 1992 album Erotica. It has always been one of those albums I like to listen to from start to finish. Back in the day when we would all buy an entire CD for one song, this album was perfection from start to finish. No skips and all play.
The dance numbers, elaborate costumes and sets and general vibe of the show also appropriately reflected the grand, unapologetic "Celebration" that has defined Madonna's sinfully sweet career.
She set the stage on fire at one point, on purpose of course, and bumped and grinded her way through delicious dance hits.
Things took an even more sizzling turn when she invited pal Ricky Martin [click his name to see it] on stage to get a few lapdances from her dance troupe. Videos have since emerged that Ricky or should I say "Dicky Martin" was getting noticably excited and "Livin' La Vida Loca" in his pants!
For better or worse, love her or loathe her, Madonna is still giving audiences around the globe a show they'll never forget and that helps me "Justify My Love" for her. If you get a chance to see her on the Celebration tour, carpe diem the hell out of the chance. Wear something you don't mind sweating in, don't forget to put on some deoderant for the fans around you, and take a disco nap, if you can, before you go!
Here are some fun images captured from the night! My friends, Fred and Frank, dressed up as Madonna! They got mobbed for a million photographs but I am used to being with friends everyone wants a picture with! It was a super fun night in the Magic City!
LOVE YOUR WRITING! Fab show! Glad you had a great time :)