After her “Drowned World” tour, Madonna‘s fans were fulfilled but not satisfied.

So many years of waiting for the iconic pop star to return to the stage conjured certain expectations, the inclusion of familiar songs chief among them. For $250 a ticket, some groused, the least she could do is pull out “Like a Prayer.”

Not usually one to acknowledge her fans’ cravings, Madonna nonetheless registered this discontent from the millions who have kept her rich, bicontinental and able to change accents as often as she stretches onto a yoga mat.

Where 2001’s “Drowned World” was all about her-her-her, this new, cannily named “Re-Invention” tour is more focused on what should matter most: the fans. Well, except, perhaps for that $300 price tag for the best seats in the house.

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From the moment Madonna rose from a hatch in the floor, muscled thighs arched in a pretzel pose, bum knee wrapped in a black bandage, her proficient side was on display.

Gamely positioning into a headstand and walking on her hands during “Vogue” would be impressive enough. That she sang every word while keeping pace with her dancers, who, like her, were decked out in Victorian garb, was a none-too-subtle message to the young wannabes she eclipses in every way.

On this fifth night of the tour at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas – the show comes Sunday and Monday to the MCI Center in Washington – Madonna trotted out a set list that segued from the moody density of “Frozen” to an “Express Yourself” performed in military fatigues with synchronized rifle tossing.

Much of the stage setup allowed Madonna to exhibit her political and spiritual leanings, from the grim, apocalyptic video of explosions and whirring helicopters that accompanied “American Life” to a close-up of Jesus on the cross in the fading moments of a stirring, gospel-heavy “Like a Prayer.”

Fans who might be concerned with the “Re-Invention” tag and how it applies to their favorite Top 40 singalongs need not worry much.

The gritty guitar overhaul (played by Madonna) given “Material Girl” infused the ’80s-greed ditty with newfound punch, while the show’s highlight, “Into the Groove,” was as much a tribute to husband Guy Ritchie’s ancestry as it was a playful rump-shaker.

Bagpipers and a drumline dressed in Scottish kilts strolled the stage for a traditional melody before Madonna’s band – which popped up on different parts of the stage all night – kicked into the Missy Elliott Gap commercial version of “Into the Groove.” Madonna leapt from underground in her own kilt, kicking up her heels and racing in circles with her dancers, while Elliott, also in Scottish attire, rapped from the video screen.

Now that’s reinvention.

It was also the point of the show when Madonna’s onstage aura shifted from acting the ultimate professional, able to click her red heels through the cabaret of “Hanky Panky” and shimmy her hips during the hillbilly waltz that is “Don’t Tell Me,” to a 45-year-old outstanding physical specimen having a blast.

A note-perfect – but not perfect enough that it wasn’t live – “Papa Don’t Preach” incited the sold-out crowd of about 17,000 to remain standing, as they had for the first 90 minutes of the concert.

Her black “Kabbalists Do It Better” T-shirt – which she chucked into a pit of fans at song’s end – wasn’t so much a religious statement as a tongue-in-cheek joke. Those old (or young) enough might recall Madonna’s duplicate shirt from the “Papa” video, except that one bore the message “Italians Do It Better.”

Nostalgia also swelled in the arena during “Crazy for You,” perhaps the most curious inclusion on this tour. Madonna dedicated the movie ballad to “all of my fans who have been there for me for 20 years,” an oddly sentimental expression coming from a performer who usually keeps herself at a comfortable distance from the public.

For just a few moments, she was a hopeful twentysomething onstage, aching to one day rule the world.

It will be tough for ticket buyers to quibble with the quality of this show, from the song list to the eye candy to the prowess of Madonna. Her priorities as a wife and mother have stripped her live platform of blatant declarations of her favorite vice – sex – but the provocative nature of her brain will be enough to keep people talking.

“Re-Invent Yourself” blasted the message on the video screen as Madonna disappeared from view. Why not? She certainly makes it look easy.

Article by Melissa Ruggieri, Richmond Times Dispatch