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Strap on your cone bras and get ready to get into the groove, because the Queen of Pop is landing in London this week. Madonna’s long-awaited ‘Celebration Tour’ is finally here, as everyone’s favourite material girl will step onto the stage at the O2 Arena this week.
Celebrating 40 years of being a pop icon, Madge will be cracking out all the greatest hits. Stuart Price, Madonna’s musical director recently told the BBC: ‘A greatest hit doesn’t have to be a song. It can be a wardrobe, it can be a video, or a statement.’ We’re hoping this means she'll be putting on her Marie Antoinette get-up from the 1990 MTV Awards.
To get you in the mood for a proper celebration, this is all the information you need ahead of the Madonna concert.
When is Madonna playing at London O2’s Arena?
After kicking the ‘Celebration Tour’ off in the Big Smoke back in October (on Oct 14, 15, 17, 18, to be exact), Madonna plays the O2 again this week on December 5 and 6.
When will Madonna come on stage?
Madonna’s exact stage time hasn’t been announced, but with a rumoured 40-strong set list her show could be at least two hours. O2 shows usually end at 11pm for weekday events. Her previous London shows saw Madonna come on stage between 8:50pm and 9:05pm.
What time do doors open?
Doors open to the O2 arena at 6.30pm.
Is there a setlist for her Celebration tour?
Madge and her team are remaining tight-lipped about the ‘Celebration Tour’ set list, but we do know it will span all four decades of her career, meaning hits including ‘Like a Virgin’, ‘Material Girl’, ‘Hung Up’, ‘Papa Don’t Preach’, ‘Vogue’ and ‘4 Minutes’ are all likely to be performed.
Fans are also convinced she will be playing songs ‘Erotica’ and ‘Frozen’ as they are rumoured to have been heard in rehearsals.
How much are Madonna tickets for O2 London?
Unsurprisingly, tickets to see Madonna in London don’t come cheap. When they were first released, seated O2 Arena tickets were on sale at face value for between £47.55 and £432.25, with VIP packages going up to £1,307.75 each. Ouch!
Currently, tickets for these shows are on sale starting at £158 and going up to about £540. Find tickets on AXS here.
Is Madonna’s Celebration tour sold out?
Madonna initially sold out the London Stadium in a matter of minutes. However, after the tour was postponed due to the singer’s illness, there are a crop of tickets still available on Ticketmaster and other resale sites. Be warned though, they will cost you a pretty penny.
What are reviews saying about Madonna’s London tour?
Predictably, the reviews have been excellent. Alexis Petridis in the Guardian revealed how the October show catered to Madonna’s eras and paid tribute to her influences, from eulogies to victims of the Aids crisis to a tribute to Prince.
Mark Savage of the BBC said that the Queen of Pop ‘brought out her crown jewels’ and that the set celebrated her ‘radical legacy’.
A five-star review from Helen Brown at the Independent said: ‘We should never forget how much Madonna changed the world – hers is a life and a legacy worth celebrating.’
Where is Madonna playing after London?
Where isn’t she playing? Having already played around mainland Europe for shows in places like Paris, Berlin, Barcelona and Lisbon, she’ll next head over to North America for shows in the US, Canada and Mexico.
In total, the ‘Celebration Tour’ will have 78 shows. You can see them all on Madonna’s official tour website here.
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