Madonna’s tour to feature “over 40 songs” and no band on stage for first time

12 October, 2023

Madonna

Madonna‘s upcoming ‘Celebration Tour’ is set to feature “over 40 songs”, and will not include an onstage band.

The Queen Of Pop is due to begin the UK and European leg of her 40th-anniversary tour at The O2 in London this Saturday (October 14). She will play six concerts at the arena in total.

Ahead of the first show, Madonna’s musical director Stuart Price spoke to BBC News about what fans can expect. He described the run of dates as “a documentary through her vast career”, which will showcase more than 40 songs from the star’s back catalogue.

“A greatest hit doesn’t have to be a song. It can be a wardrobe, it can be a video, or a statement,” explained Price, who produced Madonna’s 2005 album ‘Confessions On A Dance Floor’.

The ‘Celebration Tour’ will use the singer’s original multi-track recordings, and Madonna won’t be joined by a live band onstage for the first time since the start of her career.

“There are live musicians that perform at different parts of the show,” Price said. “But what we realised is that the original recordings are our stars. Those things can’t be replicated and can’t be recreated, so we decided just to embrace that.”

He continued: “With Madonna, everything is always about recontextualising stuff, finding ways to take strong original messages and see how they resonate in the era that we’re in now.

“A lot of the powerful moments [in this show] are to do with where the music intersects with something that society was going through, especially something emotional, like the Aids crisis. Those moments are incredibly powerful.”

Price also confirmed that Madonna is back to full strength after she was admitted to intensive care with a serious bacterial infection over the summer. The health scare forced Madge to postpone the North American leg of the ‘Celebration Tour’.

“The person that is going to take the stage looks incredible, sounds incredible, performs incredible,” explained Price, adding that the singer has “very high expectations of how much hard work people will put into something”.

Elsewhere in the interview, Price talked about the “big challenge” of putting the setlist together for the tour. The producer previously served as Madge’s musical director on her ‘Drowned World Tour’ (2001), the ‘Re-Invention World Tour’ (2004) and the ‘Confessions Tour’ (2006).

Meanwhile, The O2 has created a Madonna-themed flag similar to the Royal Standard flag that has been put on top of the venue. Check out the image in the post above.

You can find any remaining tickets for Madonna’s ‘Celebration Tour’ here (UK) and here (North America).

Madonna’s 2023 UK tour dates are as follows:

OCTOBER 
14 – The O2, London 
15 – The O2, London 
17 – The O2, London 
18 – The O2, London 

DECEMBER
05 – The O2, London 
06 – The O2, London 

In other Madonna news, the artist is currently among the rumoured headliners for Glastonbury 2024. The speculation came after co-organiser Emily Eavis said the festival had already booked one of two female bill-toppers for next summer earlier this year.

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