Monday: tickets to see Madonna at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and the American Airlines Arena in Miami went on sale. Demand was not overwhelming. There are lots of great seats to be had in the $400 range. (Did I just write that with s straight face?) Madonna’s ducats are tres expensive. But September is a long way off; you can save up. The top ticket range for official seats is $895 on Ticketmaster.com. Yikes. Premium seats are a lot, lot more. The price may be an obstacle. The rest of the Rebel Heart tour tickets will start to go on sale shortly.
What will help ticket sales? Madonna’s “Rebel Heart” album. As I wrote in January when it was “leaked,” the album is excellent. If radio gets on it, and clubs start playing it, “Rebel Heart” should be a nice hit. It’s loaded with hit singles, from the lead off “Living for Your Love” to “Devil Pray” to “Illuminati.” There are nice mid tempo numbers, too, like “Ghosttown” and “Joan of Arc.” For dancing, you can’t beat “Unapologetic Bitch.”
A lot of the songs are about Madonna breaking up with her latest boytoy. Since teens buy albums, it will be interesting to see how they relate to a 56 year old woman singing about the problems of a middle aged celebrity. But the production is completely contemporary, and the record could not sound better. It’s also designed– Madonna is not stupid– to be produced on a stage. It will be huge fun to see these songs come alive with Madonna’s usual panache.
One issue: I love this song called “Addicted to the One that Got Away.” For some reason it’s not on the main album. But find it on the deluxe edition. It’s worth it. I hope Madonna has it on her set list in the fall.
