Ahead of the opening night of her long-awaited ‘Celebration’ tour, Madonna has teased fans with what they can expect from the live shows by sharing some impressive statistics.
The Queen Of Pop is due to begin the UK and European leg of her 40th-anniversary tour at The O2 in London this Saturday (October 14). She will play six concerts at the arena in total.
The dates also come after the recent health scare the singer had earlier this year, which saw her admitted to intensive care with a serious bacterial infection and forced to postpone the North American leg of the Tour.
Now, sharing insight into the tour with fans, the singer has revealed the numbers behind her shows.
These reveal that the tour will mark the 13th culture shaping tour for Madge, and will include 78 shows across 15 countries (six of which include sold-out shows in London). For those attending, they can expect to see setlists that span across the singer’s four decades of hits, 17 archived costumes recreated, and a three-layered circular stage, inspired by the wedding cake of Madonna’s original VMA performance.
Four of Madonna’s children are also expected to appear on stage throughout the tour, as well as 24 onstage performers and a reunion with musician and DJ Stuart Price. For the performances, a 230ft combined length of catwalk is installed to get Madonna 105ft into the venue, and 3600 sq ft. of projection imagery is featured – the most amount of video ever used in a Madonna show.
Madonna performs onstage during the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards. CREDIT: Bennett Raglin/Getty Images
During the gig, the Queen Of pop will be lifted 30ft off the ground in an illuminated portal frame. This has been designed to act like a time machine and allows her to move at 1.5ft per second, 80ft across and 130ft down the length of the arena, representing her looking into the past, present and future.
Fifty different merch items will be available for fans, including vintage recreations of items from previous tours, and those attending the London shows can expect to see a “queen-sized” Madonna flag outside The O2.
Other figures account for the items the singer is bringing on tour with her – including eight humidifiers in her dressing room, three travelling mobile gyms, three physical therapists, and 40 pairs of boxing gloves – as well as the technical equipment that helps the shows get off the ground.
For the latter, over 200 members of crew are accounted for, as well as four rehearsal venues, 80 tonnes of production equipment, 3700 amps of show power, 600 lights to illuminate the stage and 14 spotlights for the singer.
Madonna speaks onstage during the 65th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 05, 2023. CREDIT: Kevin Winter/Getty Images
The update arrives following the singer revealing that the ‘Celebration Tour’ will mark her first time appearing on stage without a band, and will feature over 40 songs from her back catalogue.
Find all tour dates and any remaining tickets here.
In other news, Madonna is currently among the rumoured headliners for Glastonbury 2024. The speculation arose earlier this year, when co-organiser Emily Eavis said the festival had already booked one of two female bill-toppers for next summer.