Review: It’s effects alive for Madonna at the MGM

Lisa Ferguson

Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2001 | 8:28 a.m.

"Music makes the people come together."

And that they did Sunday night for the second half of pop queen Madonna's sold-out, two-night stand at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Thousands of them, in fact, donning a rainbow-colored array of shiny cowboy hats, feather boas, fishnet pants, obscenity-laced T-shirts ( just whose mother are they referring to, anyhow?) and enough rhinestone-studded tank tops to make Liberace jealous.

Hope those getups were comfortable, seeing as how the crowd was kept waiting 47 minutes for the Material Mom and her small army of dancers and musicians to materialize onstage. When they did finally appear, fans who paid dearly for the privilege to attend -- prices for the nearly impossible-to-get tickets hovered in the hundreds to thousands of dollars range -- were treated to a 90-plus minute production show (it resembled a pop concert only slightly) that moved seamlessly from one "act" to another.

In the industrial-hued, punk-rocker segment of the show (the first of four themed sections), dancers rose to the smoky stage from platforms below. Madonna, donning a black-and-white kilt and a slashed black shirt, grabbed a guitar and strummed some relatively easy chords on "Candy Perfume Girl," striking rock-star poses and looking every bit like Hole frontwoman (and Madonna rival) Courtney Love in Love's early grunge days.

A video appearance by Mike Myers as Austin Powers followed with "Beautiful Stranger," Madonna's contribution to "The Spy Who Shagged Me" soundtrack. There were some onstage antics between a shill of a stagehand and Madonna's backup singers that served no real purpose. "Ray of Light," complete with some old-fashioned writhing around on the floor (there's the Madonna we know and love), closed the first act.

More video -- of Madonna in a geisha-like getup singing "Paradise Not For Me" followed, with nearly naked dancers descending from the ceiling and contorting to the floor -- set up the second segment.

For "Frozen," she again rose from beneath the stage sporting a black wig and a kimono with massive sleeves supported by poles.

Then came the martial arts portion of the evening, a obvious ode to "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," complete with a sword fighter, surreal flying stunts and tons of karate kicks (wouldn't be surprised to learn that Jackie Chan had choreographer credits here).

After pulling off the wig, Madonna whipped out a shotgun and blew away an annoying interpretational dancer who had been circling the stage, providing a bit of comic relief (a nod to the works of her filmmaker-husband Guy Ritchie, perhaps?). Next was a perplexing Japanese cartoon, riddled with violence and what appeared at first to be a rape scene, but wrapped with a wink to the porn-movie industry. Hmm?

The cowboy couture came out for the third segment, which began with Madonna -- decked out in rhinestoned bell bottoms and jacket -- again strumming the guitar (one gets the sense that she can't play but a few chords, especially since she's backed by another guitarist throughout the show) on "I Deserve It."

"Wake the (expletive) up!" she commanded the audience shortly after finishing the tune. And she was right: The crowd seemed unusually sedate in the presence of the pop-music legend.

The hit "Don't Tell Me" did the trick, bringing the audience to its feet to boogie as she and her dancers mimicked moves straight out of the song's video.

That was followed by her brief ride on a mechanical bull -- another crowd pleaser -- during "Human Nature."

Breaking into an exaggerated Southern twang, she sang a redneck ditty called "The Funny Song" (which wasn't too terribly funny), and couldn't figure out why laughter was minimal. "If you're having a good time, you better tell it to your face ... I thought people were crazy in Vegas."

It was a Latin-flavored Madonna (in a black pantsuit) and crew for the fourth segment, which featured a short "instrumental interlude" of "Don't Cry For Me" from "Evita"; a Spanish rendition of her recent single, "What It Feels Like for a Girl"; and another guitar turn on a version of "La Isla Bonita" that felt truer to its tropical-island inspiration, complete with flamenco dancing.

The pimp gear -- a large purple hat, oversized white-fur coat and a sparkling "Mother (expletive)" T-shirt -- was paraded for the favorite "Holiday." Just in case we didn't get the get-up, Madonna called out "Pimp" and the audience hollered back "Ho." Thanks for the help.

The show closed on a energetic note with the hit single "Music," when the stage turned into a giant dance party for Madonna and her players, and fans went wild. A video montage of Madonna images, then and now, played behind the performers, and a shower of gold confetti rained on the audience.

All of the theatrics were great -- if you're a fan of Madonna's acting abilities (1986's "Shanghai Surprise," anyone? How about '93's "Body of Evidence"?). But if it was music you wanted -- particularly her golden '80s oldies -- you were, for the most part, out of luck. "Like a Virgin" and "Borderline" were not on the menu. And that was unfortunate, since the handful of favorites that she did appease the audience with were extremely well received.

So take a hint, Breathless Mahoney, for the next time around -- assuming there will be a next time. (Madonna seemed just miffed enough by the audience's bridled enthusiasm that it wouldn't be a surprise if she dropped Vegas from her list of future tour stops.)

And our apologies if we "crazy" Las Vegans didn't live up to your expectations. But maybe it's that we were hoping for a little bit of "Papa Don't Preach" and "Like a Prayer" when we misdirected our mortgage payments to see you.