Gary Flockhart: Going gaga over Madonna’s latest gig

Published on 19/07/2012 15:31

NO, I wasn’t at Noel Gallagher’s gig at Edinburgh Castle the other night. Thanks for asking.

Truth told, I would have loved to have gone along, but the personal invite never arrived.

Call me paranoid, but it’s left me wondering if I’ve said something to upset him. Noel, we’re still cool, right?

No matter that I missed that one. The big gigs are coming thick and fast right now, and music fans in the Capital haven’t had it this good for yonks.

On Saturday I’m off to Murrayfield to see Madonna. Completely unmissable that one.

Madge went down a storm at Hyde Park earlier this week, and if she repeats the trick at the home of Scottish rugby, then those heading along are in for a treat.

Forget that her last album, MDNA, was a bit of a disappointment. With a back catalogue like hers, Madonna can’t fail to deliver.

Sure, she’s been slated in the past for an over-reliance on backing tracks and backing singers to fill in the gaps while she’s pulling off those trademark dance routines, but you don’t go to a Madonna gig to revel in the vocal gymnastics. You go for the sheer spectacle of it all.

She might never admit it, but I get the impression she feels she has something to prove again - and that’s why she’s really upped her game on her latest tour.

Even the most loyal Madonna fan would agree that Lady GaGa has stolen some of her thunder in the last few years - and that must hurt.

A telling moment came during the Hyde Park gig when the 53-year-old superstar threw in a few bars of Lady GaGa’s Born This Way during Express Yourself, then danced around singing “She’s not me, she’s not me”.

She’s right about that. And while it may be true that Madonna’s best days are behind her, there’s no denying she could teach today’s pop stars a thing or two about putting on a show. GaGa included.

That’s why of all the big gigs taking place in Edinburgh this summer, Madonna’s is the one that jumps out screaming EVENT.