After nine years without a concert in Mexico, Madonna is back for five live shows at the Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City.
The first two sold-out concerts were on Saturday and Sunday, with three more to go for the “Queen of Pop.” They will be on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, and all 16,500 or so tickets for those shows were snapped up in a hurry, as well.
The concerts mark the end of a long, worldwide tour for the 65-year-old legend — almost. The Celebration Tour will still have one more show: a free May 4 concert on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The tour began July 15, 2023, in Vancouver, and the shows in Mexico will be numbers 76 through 80. As Madonna’s first retrospective tour, it serves as sort of a documentary about her amazing four-decade career.
Each show includes more than 25 songs over nearly 3 hours. The stage designs pay homage to different areas in New York, where Madonna began her career, and the dancers wear outfits inspired by those worn by the cultural icon throughout her career — including the Marie Antoinette dress she wore at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1990.
According to media reports, the “material girl” arrived in Mexico City on Tuesday of last week, along with at least one of her six children, 18-year-old daughter Mercy James. Another adopted daughter, 11-year-old Estere Ciccone, has appeared in some performances of “Vogue” on the tour as a DJ and dancer.
On Wednesday, Madonna had a private, catered event at the Frida Kahlo Museum. Located in the city’s Coyoacán borough, the Blue House is a favorite spot for visiting celebrities, such as Argentine singer-songwriter Nicki Nicole, whose now-ex Peso Pluma planned a private dinner for her there in 2023.
Of Madonna’s show on Saturday night, the Mexican newspaper Excelsior wrote: “16,500 people packed the Palacio de los Deportes to pay tribute with ovations and applause to a legacy that goes beyond music and that touches on religion, sexuality, preferences, bodies and that only she can do all of this — grouped together in a completely inclusive celebration, where no one is different.”
The show began with Michael Jackson’s 1979 hit “Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough” booming over the speakers, at which point Madonna was introduced by Bob the Drag Queen. She took the stage at 10:38 p.m.
Her first song was “Nothing Really Matters” from the 1998 “Ray of Light” album. Descending from a circular platform, she was dressed in black and wearing a crown. The next song was 1982’s “Everybody,” one of her earliest releases, followed by “Into the Groove” from the 1984 album “Like a Virgin” and featured on the soundtrack of the 1985 film “Desperately Seeking Susan,” starring Madonna.
Madonna spoke a lot to the audience, mostly in English, at one point saying, “When I was a girl, I discovered Frida Kahlo and I grew very interested in this woman, in her face, her clothes and her deep gaze … The first time I learned about her, she drove me crazy and she is my inspiration.”
She concluded that anecdote by saying, “Gracias, muchas gracias.”
