“What’s more exciting – me or the Grand Prix?” Madonna asked the sellout crowd, halfway into her show at the Bell Centre last night. It was a rhetorical question, but the resounding “You!” left no room for doubt. The Queen of Pop was in the house, and she was rocking the house” T’cha Dunlevy writes on The Gazette today.

It has been 13 years since Madonna’s last visit, and this was only her third time ever playing our city, so yes, it was an occasion. Not only does Madge not come this way very often, shows of this calibre, magnitude and polish don’t either. It was pop music spectacle on a grand scale.

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She arrived as advertised, descending from inside a giant disco ball. This is her Confessions Tour, short for Confessions On a Dance Floor, the title of her club-cultured new album, from which she culled half her set list.

Clad in black dominatrix-style riding gear (complete with whip), she sang Future Lover, cooing seductively over a thumping beat. Eight dancers joined her – the men lurching about, dressed as horses, the women holding the reins.

Madonna strutted down the catwalk, exuding poise and eminent star power. She maintained control throughout the night, letting herself go in spurts, as the party vibe built to a carefully calculated climax.

Two songs later, she took off her hat and jacket, flashing a smile for Get Together, as disco fever momentarily kicked in.

“All right, Montreal! Are you ready to ride with me?” she asked. “Are you ready? Are you ready?”

Into Like a Virgin, waves of nostalgia and exhiliration filling the room. Mounting a stripper-pole-enhanced saddle, she proceeded to bump, grind, straddle and stroke her way through the song, somehow maintaining a sense of decorum.

This show was about control, almost (but not quite) to a fault. Madonna was setting us up, keeping everything tightly wrapped, and moving along at her own precise pace.

She paused for water, taking a well-earned gulp before announcing: “Ladies and gentlemen, mesdames et monsieurs – le spectacle commence.”

And it did. Her male dancers came out swinging for Jump, swinging and flying over monkey bars. As for much of the evening, they provided a flurry of activity, to which she played coy ringmaster.

She did the much-ballyhooed Jesus thing for Live To Tell, sung from a giant, discofied cross, a crown of thorns on her head. There was the bad-men montage to the a remixed Sorry interlude, featuring world figures including Nixon, Khadafi, Hitler, Blair and, of course, Bush.

She sang I Love New York, Ray Of Light, and a rollerskating, Disco Inferno remix of Music. La Isla Bonita was a vibrant standout in the homestretch, accompanied by a Latin-tinged acoustic guitar, with a saturated Fantasy Island backdrop. Lucky Star offered further satisfaction, and Hung Up wrapped it all with a bang.

Along the way, Madonna worked her magic, cast her spell and shared the showgirl savvy that comes from two decades at the top of the pops. I would say we won’t see anything like it for a good long while, but she does it all over again tonight.

From canada.com.