Sunday, May 11, 2008

Madonna Omits Michigan From Her 2008 Tour Schedule

Last Thursday, the dates for Madonna's 2008 Sticky and Sweet tour were announced. Once again, the former Material Girl has left her home state of Michigan off the list of places where she will perform. Although Madonna has toured the U.S. in 2004 and 2006, her last stop in Michigan was in 2001 as part of her Drowned World Tour. As of now, the closest her 2008 tour comes to Michigan is when she performs in Toronto on Oct. 18 and Chicago on Oct. 26. This makes me mad for a couple of reasons:

1. Although she is in no way obligated to play in her home state, you would think that she might take into consideration the fact that she has many fans in Michigan who would love to see her live. Some might argue that those fans could travel to see her at one of the nearby cities I mentioned earlier. However, I think that asking a fan to buy a concert ticket and on top of that shell out more money to travel to a show outside their area is asking alot.

2. Also, Madonna bringing her tour to Michigan would help pump some life into our sluggish economy. There are those who might say that the state of the economy would have a negative effect on ticket sales and that's why Madonna has chosen to skip Michigan. However, things are tough all over the country and I think that Madonna's most ardent Michigan fans would pay to see her no matter what.

I heard someone speculate that Madonna's decision not to tour Michigan over the past several years stems from her reluctance to deal with her relatives who still live in the state (apparently some are would-be hangers on). However, I think that someone of Madonna's stature can make herself inaccessible if she so chooses. If Madonna has relatives here who are sponges, I don't blame her for not wanting them around. However, I don't think it's fair to punish her fans in Michigan.

To be fair, there could be other valid reasons why Madonna has decided to leave Michigan off her tour schedule for the 3rd consecutive time. However, I can't imagine what they could be. Given that Michigan is the home of such major concert venues as The Palace of Auburn Hills and The Fox Theatre, Madonna's decision not to bring her tour here seems to be a conscious snub.

Because of the space between dates on the tour, there's a possibility that more shows will be added. However, chances are that these new dates would involve additional shows at venues already on the schedule instead of dates in new cities.

Can you imagine Michigan bred artists such as Bob Seger, Aretha Franklin, and Kid Rock consistently giving the brush off to their fans from here? Me neither.

8 comments:

pjazzypar said...

This is disappointing news. I am a fan of Madonna's and although I no longer live in Michigan, I think it should be a privilege for her to perform there. She has been pissing me off a lot lately with this "I am better than everybody" attitude. She would do well to remember where she came from and pay homage to the place that made it possible. You would never hear of Prince planning a tour and leaving off Minneapolis. That just wouldn't happen.

Jessica said...

Yep, in my opinion she doesn't really care about her fans...I can understand leaving it off maybe once in a while, but every time...no! That's just annoying!

Bar L. said...

Wow, that's pretty snotty if ya ask me.

Holly Smith said...

I am a huge fan of Madonna's MUSIC...but not of her attitude. What a snobby move to skip out on her home state!

The Rock Chick said...

I almost forgot that Madonna was an American...LOL...easy to do with that British accent of hers.

I agree. I think if she's passed Michigan by 3 times, there's some reason for it, but it could be that she's just strange ;) just my opinion, of course!

It's not like she doesn't have security that couldn't keep out anyone she doesn't want to see, so it really shouldn't matter if there is someone there she doesn't want to see. That person could just as easily be at a show here in Chicago.

I like most of her music, but she's not someone I'd rush out to buy tickets to see. I am thinking of seeing Tina Turner, though!...I think her tickets go on sale tomorrow.

pjazzypar said...

Hey RC,

That's funny about the accent. Tina Turner is another one who has affected an accent that contradicts her Nutbush, Tennessee upbringing. I would love to see either one of these ladies in concert, but I am leaning more toward Tina Turner because of the phenomenal work she did on "Private Dancer". I don't know if it was her rise from the ashes so to speak that made her really sell that album vocally, but I do know that it remains the work that defines her.

X. Dell said...

I dunno. I could imagine me, as an artist, brushing off Cincinnati, my home town. There was a reason why I left, you know.

Malcolm said...

Pjazzy: It just seems to be another case of "Madonna being Madonna". She's been pissing me off for years with her attitude.

Jessica: I agree. If it happened once, you might be able to chalk up to scheduling issues or something. But three consecutive tours... come on Madge!

Barbara: For years, Madonna has seemed to have the mindset of "I can do what I want and the hell with everyone else". Although I am just a casual fan of Springsteen, he always seems to recognize how important his fans are to his career.

Holly: I would love to hear her reason for not coming to Michigan. It's not like people are expecting her to play a corner bar in Bay City, MI.

The Rock Chick: Since she resides in the U. K., I'm willing to give Madonna a free pass on the British accent. Although I wouldn't be surprised if she plays up the accent a bit.

As for her leaving MI off of her last 3 tour schedules, it could be a plausible explanation. I for one would love to hear it.

I was surprised to hear about Tina touring again. According to Wikipedia, Sophia Loren convinced her to return to the stage. If you do go see Tina, I look forward to reading about it on your blog.

X. Dell: If her tour did come to MI, she would most likely be here less than a week. You'd think she would be able to stand it for that short a period of time. She could even arrange it so that she'd have an extra day to wash the MI dirt off of her before she resumed her tour.

 
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