Here I Am - Flesh and Blood

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Here I Am——Flesh and Blood 🩸 If only knees didn’t twist and cartilage didn’t tear and nothing hurt and tears never fell out of our eyes.........But alas they do and Thank God for this important reminder that we are human. I Fell 2 nights ago on stage when a chair was literally pulled out from underneath me by mistake and I landed on the floor on my tail bone. I made it thru the show last night but just barely because I hate disappointing. However today even I can see that this broken doll held together with tape and glue, needs to stay in bed and rest for a few days so she can finish the tour with a smile on her face and in one piece. ❌ Thank You for your understanding Paris! 🇫🇷 🙏🏼 #madamextheatre

A post shared by Madonna (@madonna) on Mar 1, 2020 at 9:41am PST

Comments

[Chris]

Hi Tracy, Andrew,

I also noticed the lack of comments/interest on the boards. Even on datalongue there isn't much from the fans, almost as if many of us have moved on from her at this point. I personally wouldn't risk the investment of a ticket for another tour given how poorly her punctuality has been since MDNA Tour forward. She can't help the injuries, but she could have modified the tour early on, less dancing (especially in heels), more focus on the music etc.
The issue of who would sponsor and insure another tour from her is also something to consider.

In the end, the Madame X era probably will be her last 'commercial' phase. If she keeps going down the grill wearing, f-you to her fans attitude of late, I don't know what will be next besides more 'sassy' songs with Bitch in the title, which is her choice, but I probably won't be on board for it.

[Andrew]

Excellent comments. And I really like the Madame X album by the way but I didn't bother with this tour despite living in reasonable proximity to London. (The sort of distance you'd get home easily IF the show ended at a reasonable time.) She made her attitude abundantly clear on previous tours and I heeded her advice. Even so I didn't expect the tour to be as problematic as it was; she has completely blown her credibility as a reliable professional and it's hard to imagine a promoter wanting to take her on in future. Sad that it's come to this but she has only herself to blame.

[Tracey]

@Chris: Another thing I meant to add is how quiet the fan comments have been for this tour. I know we now have M's Twitter, Instagram, etc., but, in the past, whenever M toured the comments were buzzing with life about the tour. If you go back on this Board to when the tour started, hardly anyone has posted about their tour experiences...and the few that have seem to have been underwhelmed.

[Tracey]

@Chris: I really can't imagine that anyone other than the most die-hard of fans (Stans?) would risk buying tickets in future. For that is what a Madonna concert has become: a risk. She is just too unreliable, and it is not just the high ticket prices: it is any travel costs, hotels. etc. Moreover, she has a rapidly diminishing fan base. In recent years, Confessions was the only album (I believe) that resulted in an uplift in her career (proven) and attracting new fans (which were lost again from Hard Candy onwards). Even when I went to see Madame X, one of the first questions I was asked by people was whether she did any of "her old stuff". All that said, I think the only way she can make a success of a tour in future is for it to be a proper greatest hits tour - with the songs performed as they were released, not mangled up versions like she did with Hung Up - and with her simply singer, whilst the dancers and back-projections bring the physicality to those amazing hits.

[Chris]

Good comments. I wonder about another tour or even album. This is it for the Live Nation deal. since Madame X wasn't a commercial success, it may not be a given that she will get another contract or deal. That being said, it is possible being free from the confines of traditional contracts she might venture into new musical territory.
It does seem she doesn't have much respect for the fans, she was very punctual at the Girlie Show and Drowned World Tours, but ever since MDNA it has changed. I just can't be out till 1 or 2 for a concert on a weeknight. I work with the public too and have never been late, Cher manages to start on time, so does Morrissey, Aimee Mann, Elvis Costello....the list goes on.
Only time will tell, but I do hope the future is bright for Madonna and her fans.

[Tracey]

Whether these injuries are genuine, or whatever the actual extent of them may actually be (pole dancing and cycling on the Maldives, and dancing around a cake at the end of the Palladium run, would suggest not so bad - I have suffered a knee injury, so I know), I think one of the key issues is M's attitude. Had she not treated fans so appallingly on this tour - the outrageously/ridiculously late start times, the rudeness towards fans, the fact that she does a shorter show yet you still pay the same (top dollar) ticket price - then I think there may have been more sympathy towards M. I was no fan of the Madame X album (and I am still not), but I do think the show is one of the best she has ever done... if only I had not been "treated" to the short version, grrrrrrrrrr. It's a shame she is bowing out - I really cannot imagine there will be another tour, but who knows? - with so much ill-feeling amongst a lot of her fans.