Madonna – Xcel Energy Center – St. Paul, Minnesota – October 9th 2015

Madonna brings her Rebel Heart tour to St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center October 8, 2016, much to the delight of her Midwestern fans.

Thirteen thousand fans from not only all over the Midwest, but all over the world are at this show.  After all, with the exception of her last show in 2012, it’s been twenty-five years since Madonna has played Minnesota.  And regardless of if you care for her or not, she’s a legend, and she puts on a hell of a great show.

No stranger to controversy, the show begins with a number of songs from the new album, including, “Iconic”, “Bitch, I’m Madonna”, “Holy Water” and “Burning Up”, with a slew of scantily clad nuns dancing on and around poles.  The “Holy Water” segment concluded with her own version of the Last Supper.  Things took a completely different turn when the stage was flipped to a Grease style set for the song, “Body Shop” and an acoustic version of “True Blue”.  “Body Shop” seemed an odd choice for the show, in my opinion.  I flat out didn’t care for the song, especially after hearing a number of new songs from her that I had never heard before, having not yet listened to the “Rebel Heart” album.  It was the song when a good amount of the audience took time to go to the bathroom, get a drink, or take a look at their phone, so I knew I wasn’t alone.

Luckily, the show got kicked back into gear after “True Blue” with “Deeper and Deeper”, as well as a full performance of “Like a Virgin” with a snippet of “Justify my Love”.  Although the night was filled with a large variety of her catalog.  However, she leaned heavily towards the music on her new album, rather than giving the audience more hits.  And let’s face it, when you’re seeing someone as big as Madonna, you want to hear the hits.  Especially when she has only been to the city twice in twenty five years.  There were some really great highlights to the show, however, such as Madonna calling out specific members of the audiences and essentially, making their year.

All in all, I would say if you have a chance to see Madonna, do it.  You will be in for a great show, even if you don’t know any of the songs.  The stage show is amazing and the dancers put their all into every song as if it were a full on performance.