Arthur Fogel breaks down Madonna’s Madame X Tour
Pollstar Live! talks to Arthur Fogel, Live Nation’s President of Global Touring and Chairman of Global Music, who is also the man overseeing Madonna‘s tours for the past 18 years. In their conversation, he breaks down what to expect from the Madame X Tour, the superstar’s first jaunt since 2015’s Rebel Heart Tour.
How many tours have you done with Madonna?
This will be my sixth. I started with her in 2001. Prior to that, she had toured, I think twice in 15 years? So, this is the sixth in whatever 18 years. She’s Madonna, right? This particular tour is a bit of a twist because she’s going to play multiple nights in smaller venues. It is not an arena tour or stadium tour.
What kinds of places will she play?
For instance, in New York, we’re playing Brooklyn Academy of Music. Basically, we’re going to do eight or nine cities over the course of the tour. Really, it comes from this album, it’s just a different kind of vibe. It lends itself more to intimacy. As we talked about it, it seemed to make sense to go this route rather than into bigger buildings. That’s what we’re going to do.
Is she doing multiple nights at each spot?
Yes. We’re playing three cities in Europe – London, Paris, and Lisbon. That’s it over there, and here, we’re doing LA, New York, Chicago, Miami, Vegas, Boston, Philly [The Met Philadelphia]. Multiple nights in each of those cities.
Yes. We’re playing three cities in Europe – London, Paris, and Lisbon. That’s it over there, and here, we’re doing LA, New York, Chicago, Miami, Vegas, Boston, Philly [The Met Philadelphia]. Multiple nights in each of those cities.
If she’s doing BAM I’m guessing it’s going to be fairly theatrical?
Listen, Madonna’s shows always have that dimension to them, but I would say it’s much more about the musical tone and vibe than it is pure theatrics. Maybe you’ve heard the first single? It’s definitely sort of Spanish influenced, world music-y, as much as a pop record.
Madonna doing BAM and the Wiltern and all these smaller theaters sounds like another innovative approach and iteration of the business. I would never have expected to see Madonna play those places in a million years.
I think it’s important, over a touring career, to change things up. It’s a part of what excites fans, keeps artists energized. I mean if you go out and do the same thing every tour, eventually that catches up to you. I think it’s great when people change it up, do different things, certainly, as it relates to creating music. There used to be a lot more tolerance for people changing things up and trying different things. I think doing that live is really important to longevity as well.
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