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It’s a Monday night and about an hour before I am ready to leave to go see the final night of Madonna’s takeover of the Wiltern for her “Madame X” show I get a text from her publicity firm telling me the show is running late due to technical issues and not to arrive at the venue until 11.

Of course the late starts have become a very public issue for an otherwise very private show, where no phones are allowed and you are transported into her incredibly elaborate and unique world. Someone even attempted to sue her for the late starts.

She addressed that during a speech on the theme of the show, “Artists are here to disturb the peace,” quoted from, as she put it, “The great James Baldwin.” In the speech, as she talks with the audience about fighting for freedom she warns them you won’t always be popular, you won’t always have the most Instagram followers and you won’t always be on time because being a freedom fighter takes time.

“Madame X” is Madonna at her best, unapologetic, uncompromising, unyielding and in complete control. She isn’t going to apologize for not finishing until 1:30 on a Monday night. And hell I saw Prince many times where he didn’t even take the stage until two. Rock stars, or in the case of Prince and Madonna, pop stars with rock star swagger, adhere to their own rules. And that’s what makes them special and why we love them. It is the attitude and their ability to express and do the things we wish we could but often aren’t allowed to.

Madonna can start a show after 11 on a Monday. For most people you can’t just say, “F**k it,” as she does in the show, “I’ll start work when I want.” This said if you are going to keep people out until two on a Monday night you better have the show to back it up.

“Madame X” is a revelation. It is, in its own way, as revolutionary in live performing as Vegas residencies were when everyone like Rod Stewart, Barry Manilow and others started doing those years ago. “Madame X” feels like a play thanks in large part to the incredible projections that act as another character. It is performance art, and brilliant performance art with a message.  

The show, as has been documented, starts with the aforementioned Baldwin quote being typed onto the screen as two silhouettes looking like 1940s film noir characters act out a noir sequence.

It is hard to properly do justice to the immersive nature of the show. In much the same way there are those big blockbusters that have to be seen on the big screen, “Madame X” needs to be experienced to be fully appreciated. Madonna has, not surprisingly, because she is a marketing mastermind, done the show a tremendous service by banning phones. It’s not a piecemeal work.

Sure there are a ton of Instagrammable moments, but as compelling as the individual moments such as “Like A Prayer,” “Vogue,” “Papa Don’t Preach” and “Medellin,” with Maluma projected onto the screen larger than life so it feels like he is there, are, it would be a disservice to see them in their 30-second snippets.

In great complete works of art, which “Madame X” is, there are of course highlights, like the ones I mentioned above, particularly “Like A Prayer,” which is stunning.  But you likely don’t watch one episode of Stranger Things or one scene from a movie, read one chapter in The Great Gatsby or when the Beatles Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band came out people didn’t just listen to “A Day In The Life.” You listened from start to finish.

In “Madame X” Madonna takes you through an arc, so as much it is a joy to hear songs you know like “Express Yourself” songs such as “Frozen” and the powerful encore of “I Rise” are just as important moments in delivering the message of the show. And in her uncompromising manner she has a lot to say, from the speech she delivers on reproductive rights and the nine states trying to overturn Roe V. Wade in “Papa Don’t Preach” to the videos of activists in “I Rise,” Madonna backs up her thesis, “Artists are here to disturb the peace.”

As she says, it’s not always going to make her most popular. But Madonna has been the most popular. And as great as she was, at times as that, Madonna as an outspoken artist pushing herself and the live form is way more compelling, fascinating and ultimately rewarding.

More at Forbes

Most of us know music legend, Madonna, is on her latest tour titled Madame X. She’s garnered headlines already because first off, this is Madonna – a sixty-one year old icon who is still actively performing, and well, she may have been late and a fan pushed a lawsuit against her tardiness. Who cares! It’s Madonna! Recently, I was one of the lucky people who were able to see her latest tour and I have so many thoughts I need to share with you.

I was first blue-balled by the Madame X tour. A great friend of mine dangled the idea of being a plus one the prior night, but a friend he had took him up on the offer. I was a little bummed, knowing the price of a Madonna ticket during the holidays wasn’t necessarily in budget. I would be blindsided when the same friend, who saw the show the night before, asked if I wanted to go – he was getting tickets – again. Obviously I couldn’t pass up the offer, especially if someone is wanting to see the show again; this had to be good. The two of us would head to The Wiltern, a swanky spot in Los Angeles’ Korea Town neighborhood.

Upon entering the establishment you are absolutely required to lock your phone in a secure, magnetic bag. Basically it’s like a pouch that has one of the retail stores detectors on it – and only an employee could release it for you. It’s legit unbreakable. It’s a little shocking at first. Our phones are not only probably our biggest addiction, but a comfort zone. Immediately you have to be a little insecure: I’m in my later 20s, so my phone is regularly superglued to my hand. #Triggered. After grabbing a cocktail and venturing to the restroom (which in my opinion had to of been better than a bathhouse in the ‘70s), it’s time to take your seats among the Madonna fans AKA your gay peers.

We were close to the stage. It’s not a grand ballroom or the Staples Center, it’s intimate. The people around us couldn’t be more friendly. Without the lifeline of our phones, it’s bizarre to remember what it’s like meeting strangers in person is like. The fun conversations with our neighborhoods didn’t last long, because shockingly, Madonna was on time! Time to start the show…

Right off the bat we are showcased a prologue of the show. Madonna tells us to basically let loose, we’re going to be uncomfortable, but at the end of the day this is art. It’s not a concert, but theater, artistry, and she’s making certain that we walk away with conversation rather than just “That was amazing!” and the like. This introduction is projected on a screen in front of the audience as “Madonna” types it out to us on a typewriter. With the punch of every letter, an African American performer is “shot” on stage – he moves with every hit of a bullet. Eventually, Madonna lights up the stage and performs her newest work but every so often treats us to an oldie that gets everyone up and dancing. It’s sensational, moving, and without question the best “concert” I’ve ever been too. Madonna takes you out of your world and introduces you into hers. It’s basically like a cult – and I was honored to drink the juice.

Madonna outperforms those who she has decades of age on. She does the splits not only on the stage, but upside down in the air while hanging from a harness. It’s insane – she was doing cirque de solei! A surprise was her children who performed along side her for a song, it was a tender moment if you knew what her children look like (my friend pointed them out to me). She speaks softly to the audience often. Seriously, I felt like we were having more of a chat with Madonna than watching her perform – and she did plenty of her songs, 80% new, 20% classics. The experience is magical and worth every penny. Her message is clear throughout: This is an inclusive, diverse environment. It’s Madonna’s world and she has invited us in. It’s magical and Madonna needs to be cherished at all costs.

However, there were a few scandalous moments during her performance. While the gunshots are a little alarming – seriously, there should perhaps be a warning before heading in (I didn’t see one) – she also protests against police brutality and is incredibly vocal against reigning President Donald Trump. I’m not a Trump supporter, but I’m also not a devote Liberal, so there were moments of intensity that pushed an agenda. But, this is Madonna and I knew what to expect and wasn’t going to be someone who’d walk out of the glorious performance I was watching. This is Madonna’s art and it’s a site to be seen by anyone. She’s truly the eighth World Wonder. You must see Madame X.

Shout out to the guy next to us who literally passed out and convulsed on the floor. I hope it was the magic of the performance that you fainted from and not a letter of the alphabet that is used as a party drug…

More at Instinct Magazine