The MDNA Tour - DVD Review

About a year ago, i reviewed Adele at the Royal Albert Hall, a concert DVD, i think that was probably the latest concert film i had seen, until now. The other night, i settled down for a sketch and a watch of Madonna's latest tour DVD, The MDNA Tour, the tour took place in 2012 and was the highest grossing tour of the year, in addition to becoming the second highest grosing tour ever by a female artist, behind Madonna's Sticky and Sweet Tour from 2008, and higher than The Confessions Tour from 2006. The tour was filmed in Miami in 2012 and was broadcast on Epix.

Despite being majorly filmed at the shows in Miami, the show also uses footage from other shows of the north american leg of the tour, the show was filmed in HD using multiple cameras mounted on the stage, giving the audience the feeling of actually being on stage with Madonna. The editing between the multiple shows is seamless, and there is no break between songs, the show is highly edited using multiple cuts per song, adding to the phrenetic energy of the performance, the DVD is essentially a two hour music video, highly produced and well directed.

Thematically the show is split into four segments, the first, entitled Transgression, deals with themes of violence, religion and sex. The second segment, entitled Prophecy features music that brings people together. The penultimate segment is entitled Masculine/Feminine, features the iconic cone bra and is an exploration of eroticism, masculinity and femininity, nudity and power. The final segment is called Redemption and has an appropriately religious feel, with Madonna taking the role of Pope (of course)

The DVD is highly impressive, particularly for Madonna's performance, at 55 Madge shows no signs of slowing up, her dancing is energetic and entirely on point and her vocals are surprisingly even and strong. What is mostly impressive with this DVD is how brilliantly successful is is as a DVD, many concert tours struggle to find a reason to be filmed, and the MDNA tour needs no reason, the show is energetic, visually stunning and thematically engaging, the tour itself and this DVD is a testament to Madonna's work as a visionary artist and her unique voice in the music industry today. Rating: A+

 Madonna: Fuck Yeah!