Rewiew by Elena Vassileva, Daily Trojan

It has been a long time since discussing Madonna‘s body became a truism: the incredible stamina and the formidable biceps on this modestly-sized woman, as well as the chameleonic malleability of her face, have solicited as much space in review columns as the consistent doubt over this divine blasphemer’s talent.

Madonna‘s status as the invincible diva is no longer at issue, and what is at issue even with her fans is how much longer this body is going to last as it is put to the test of the mind-bending dancing routines in the tour concerts.

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Madonna fan would be heard saying, “She’s a goddess“, while the less favorably inclined would concede “She’s incredibly fit, she’s almost like a machine,” and still both parties would part with a sense that Madonna’s body is beyond physical demise.

The third Inglewood concert had been postponed due to her stomach flu, which in itself seemed bizarre; the concepts ‘Madonna’ and ‘malady’ do not seem to go together.
On June 3 in Anaheim, having cut the final part of the concert to just “Thank you“, Madonna fainted backstage in full sight of those less fortunate who had cheaper tickets way above the stage.

“Reinvention” is probably the single most-used attribute of Madonna’s talent, which even the music snobs had to acknowledge, and therefore it is almost disappointing to find out that the name of her new 50-date tour is Reinvention.

Unless this actually is the last tour, which, many believed, was the case with her 2001 Drowned World, a less eclectic as well as a less physically demanding performance.
Kicking off with its three dates at Inglewood and two at Anaheim, the tour appears to be structured to demonstrate the richness of the past material. It features bold and unexpected covers of hits of much heat like “Express Yourself“, “Material Girl“, and “Like a Prayer“, that in their day infuriated nearly every parent in America.
All of the controversial hits are now re-interpreted through stage design, costume, dance choreography and the background videos. Where appeals to the ‘father figure’ bordered on the incestuous and had a score-settling tone to them some 15 years ago, the same lyrics now acquire spiritual and human depth that is serene and reassuring.

The Madonna who had chained herself in a sado-masochistic setting and who had given herself to kissing Black Jesuses with abandon – to name only some of the most insidious instances of defiance of everyone that her videos were replete with – sings John Lennon’s “Imagine” and disappears under the stage with the words “No more war, No more wars“.
Even before she says it, you know that her new incarnation is that of a guru. Putting on a T-shirt which says “Kabbalists do it better” in front of the audience for one of the songs, Madonna seems to have streamlined her awesome energy resources for the promulgation of a single worldview that exudes peace and harmony but that also undermines the image of agent provocateur that we have loved for so long.

As with any of Madonna‘s shows, Reinvention is a confirmation of unprecedented show biz work ethic that is probably responsible for the widespread suspicion that Madonna may be only part human.
Where the other part of this awesome formidable woman has come from we may never find out, but it is obvious that fans will have their compasses pointed to the blinding light of Her Stellar Highness for many years to come.