Madonna live in concert

Can a Madonna concert be tame even if it is in a relatively conservative Middle East country? Unapologetic, pulsating and edgy best describes her artistry. We waited an hour and a half for her to take stage and this wait was peppered with jeers, taunts, catcalls and boos as the MJ tracks kept playing on loop, false starts and cheers for the random crew making an appearance and the strange case of three chefs making their way through the crowd with a shawarma spit and baskets of bread. Plus, my friend and I were intrigued by the fact that the stage was being thoroughly mopped even though it had not been used. Was it some kind of divaesque demand or pre-act ritual?

Then she came on. With monks clad in red, a big censer swinging and bells tolling. From there on it was a fantastic display of theatricality. The song selection may have disappointed most of the crowd but there was no denying that when it came to performance, not many can match the sheer force that is Madonna. We all knew that this would be a toned down version of a regular Madonna concert but who knew that even the watered down version would be so provocative and gasp inducing? Grinding and pumping on and against her scantily clad dancers—both male and female, religious imagery, graphic images of guns and splattered blood, provocative strip dancing, conical metal bra and all she tantalised and pushed as far as she could that invisible line of decency she was expected to toe—at one point she almost kissed a lady dancer.

What was the most exciting aspect of the concert? Me actually being able to see Madonna—not just on the screen but on stage. We were not that close, but bobbing and weaving my head, and standing on my toes I did really, really see her.