Gonna Make You Sweat – Madonna at the Roseland Ballroom
Madonna’s promotional mini-concerts always serve as an introduction to her next reinvention. For her “Music” album she rode into town as a high-camp cowboy, complete with a black tank top that read “Britney Spears” across the chest. (Imagine the somber tone her tongue-in-cheek joke would take on now.)
In support of her last album “Confessions on a Dance Floor,” she popped up at gay haunts like the defunct Misshapes in New York and G-A-Y club in London strutting around in her infamous purple leotard. So, what does the 32-minute set she performed at Roseland Ballroom last night tell us about Madge’s new wardrobe and current state of mind?
Having ditched her razor-sharp leotard in favor of bedazzled Adidas track pants – Material Spice? – Madonna took the stage in a look that resembled a tailored version of the baggy tracksuits that the paparazzi routinely snaps her schlepping to the gym in. No longer a feathered-hair disco diva that just happens to have a flawless body, this latest incarnation of Madonna is taking full ownership of her reputation as the world’s toughest gym bunny.
While hardly a groundbreaking aesthetic choice, it makes sense. As New York nightlife, once synonymous with transcendental exuberance, becomes a thing of the past, the most popular place to pump a dance floor anthem is no longer on the dance floor. One of the few destinations where a wide cross-section of the city goes to hear a mix of hip hop, techno, and house music 24/7 is the gym. Equinox is the new Paradise Garage, and Madonna – her finger firmly on the pulse monitor – knows it better than anyone.
The latest album “Hard Candy” is sophisticated workout music at its best. It’s music to sweat, tone, and squat to. And that’s exactly what she did last night.
Whizzing through six songs (“Candy Shop“, “Miles Away“, “Hung Up“, “4 Minutes“, “Give It 2 Me” and “Music“) in just over a half hour is no easy feet. During her performance of her standout next single “Give It 2 Me,” a pulsating Madness-meets-Kelis track produced by Pharrell Williams, Madonna jumped up each time the chorus broke out with her hands stiffly above her head as if to perform a mid-air abs maneuver. “Don’t stop me now, don’t need to catch my breath,” she sang convincingly. It’s the type of mantra you might repeat to yourself when you’re desperate to reach that 1,000th crunch.
As expected, Madonna took care of her fans, many of whom waited for days outside the venue to score a ticket, and gave them everything they could have asked for: Justin Timberlake sang (and dry-humped) with her for “4 Minutes,” she flipped off the crowd the end of her heavy-metal take on “Hung Up,” and her body looks more impressive than ever. But still, watching Madonna clad in her glamorous exercise clothes run through the motions, I couldn’t help but feel like something was missing. Maybe that’s because the gym, unlike the disco, is not a place of total freedom. It’s a place of discipline and regimented routine. It’s the church of bodily control, not bodily freedom; a place to tone social norms rather than transcend them.
Thank god that Madonna still clings to the belief that dance music will set you free; but these days, she can’t seem to separate the music that helped define who she is as a person from the music that helps aid muscle definition. There’s something a little melancholy about that. You might feel great after leaving the gym, but it’s nothing compared to the sweet hangover from a night out dancing.
From NYTimes.com.