Madonna 2020 Palladium Residency

This was just a one off thing in Miami; not one of her tours. It is horrific. Not unlike ‘Up For Grabs’ which unsurprisingly was horrific also. It’s a shame that the reputation of her live shows is based on her fantastic ‘Who’s That Girl’ and ‘Blond Ambition’ tours rather than the diminishing quality of her subsequent shows. The MDNA one almost recaptured the excitement but I think that was more to do with being squished into an arena at 10.30pm with the air con switched off than what was going on onstage.

I'm hoping that the theatre setting will help her relax a bit. When we saw MDNA at Murrayfield we were treated to a rehearsal and soundcheck of pretty much the entire show as the stadium filled up, where she chatted with the crowd, went through most of the songs and generally looked like she was having fun. It was a very special thing to be part of. Capturing that more relaxed atmosphere would be a treat in itself! I remember Kylie's Anti Tour: a small venue, no costume changes, just Kylie, her band and tonnes of fun. I have loved all the huge productions Madonna has put on but I am looking forward to (hopefully) seeing her try something different.

How can the Palladium be intimate?

If you’re sat in the side stalls you get more intimate with the person next to you the further towards the edge you get. I’m sure whatever vaudevillian strip show she has planned will be excellent but the new music so far is unexciting so I’m out.

Just watching it now...bizarre!  

Would have preferred the lottery to be honest! 9:00am on Monday is not good, especially if going for the cheaper tickets!

Anybody saving up for Madonna's Palladium show?


I expect it will be a hell of a show!

Coming off various of the above comments:

What I've wanted for years is for her to do some shows in small venues where she is just the frontwoman of a band. But I doubt she has the inclination to do that and I very much doubt these new dates will be that. It'll be the usual big production, just scaled down to fit in theatres. That she seems to be adopting this 'Madame X' persona makes my heart sink. Is it 1992 already?

Regarding her miming most of her shows: I've seen a few of her shows but haven't been since the Confessions tour, that being in my view her last album that was any good. She didn't seem to be miming at any of those shows, as the vocals simply weren't all that good or polished. They weren't bad, they were just what you'd expect from Madonna live, ie not brilliant. There's a certain kind of acoustic you get with mimed vocals, which definitely wasn't there at the shows I saw. But I've seen televised ones in recent years and some of the vocals on those did look and sound mimed.

I've registered for the Palladium just for the experience should I get lucky. In all honesty though, as someone said earlier I'm not enthused by the new tracks released so far. She has a record of very weak lead singles and this was the worst yet, with the follow-ups not much better. But I usually find there are some much better non-singles tracks on all her albums. I do respect her policy of new stuff dominating the shows, as it should be but it does mean excellent older songs are left out.

Interesting reading the earlier comments on how relaxed she was at Murrayfield - I've always thought she is one of the absolute worst audience communicators, all very hectoring, stilted and shouty. Someone mentioned Kylie M - I think the very opposite, warm chatty and relaxed. Madonna by comparison makes me cringe when she goes into I'm Going To Shout At The Audience For A Few Minutes mode.

Part of the small print said that if you get a code and don’t get tickets you can use it for additional dates, so more are definitely planned.

Hope she doesn't sound as awful as she does on eurovision

Yes have to agree, a dreadful performance. Not sure why she had all the steps after the Brits incident!

I consider myself a lapsed fan, and haven’t bought tickets on day of release since ‘the play that must not be named’. But I often relent at the last minute in case I’m missing something and find something on a secondary site or from a grubby tout outside the millennium stadium ...”I’ve got fifty quid, what have you got” (turns out a VIP section seated ticket worth over £100...leave it til 7pm or til you see them panicking 😂). Admittedly she always puts on a ‘show’, and was really the first to do so, but she is repeating herself now and she’s done monks and crucifixes etc to death. Given the state of her voice last night and the pretty dreadful music I can’t see it being that massive. Her last few tours have always had availability up to the last minute. Surely she’ll get the message soon?