Although recorded in 2004 during the titular world tour, this Madonna concert was never properly released, though this 2010 semi-official release at least fills the gap. It’s hard to tell exactly if this is a partially edited recording or a multi-camera live feed with occasional editorial inserts, but either way, the show itself is a lot of fun to watch. Madonna goes through a long list of her classics here, with everything from “Vogue” to “Papa Don’t Preach” to later smashes like “Frozen” and “Music,” all the while featuring a number of songs from her then-latest release, the polarizing “American Life,” which boldly (if clumsily) confronted American complacency in the face of an unjustified global war awash in innocent blood. The stage is rather stark for a Madonna show but it does a few nifty things along the way (particular during “American Life” and “Holiday”) and while Madonna herself is at the peak of her rather stiff, mid-aughts humorlessness, overall this is an entertaining, good-humored and satisfying two-hour pop spectacle.
Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)
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