CARDIFF, Wales — The queen of pop began her world tour late last month, appearing before fans on a throne as a retinue of dancers wriggled their way across a stage at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.
An army of fans wearing pink cowboy hats and boas waited nearly two hours for Madonna's concert to get under way, erupting into screams at the first song — "Candy Shop" — from her new "Hard Candy" album.
It carried the usual Madonna fixtures: sequins, fishnets and bondage-style outfits drawn from the 3,500 items of clothing reportedly whipped together by 36 designers specifically for the "Sticky and Sweet" tour. Promoters promised a "rock-driven danstastic journey" supported by a traveling crew of 250 — including a chiropractor, personal trainer and a masseuse.
The show itself includes eight costume changes, 16 dancers, and $1.85 million worth of Swarovski crystals. It is billed as a musical mishmash of "gangsta pimp," Romanian folk, rave and a nod to the blonde Material Girl's roots in the '80s New York City dance scene.
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Tabloids clucked approvingly at the more than 600 hours of rehearsal time and the monthslong exercise regime said to have gone into the show, with the Sun saying the singer was in "incredible shape" and crowing: "She's still got the old Madgic."
However, others wondered at the singer's carbon footprint, questioning the amount of carbon dioxide pumped out by ferrying Madonna's wardrobe, makeup and freezers (for ice to soothe the dancers' aching feet) across the world.
After Cardiff's opening concert, "Sticky and Sweet" moves across Europe, hitting London's Wembley Stadium on Sept. 11 and Paris on Sept. 20. From there, it goes to North America in October (with no Arizona stops) before wrapping up Dec. 18 in São Paulo, Brazil.
Madonna's last tour was her 2006 "Confessions."
