On this day 23/08/2008 Madonna

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On this day, 23 August 2008, Pop icon Madonna played Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, the opening night of her Sticky & Sweet Tour, with support provided by trance DJ Paul Oakenfold.

In all, the tour started in Cardiff on August 23, 2008, and ended in Tel Aviv on September 2, 2009. The 2008 legs also marked Madonna's thirteen-year return to Mexico and the continent of South America, and the 2009 legs marked her first shows in Sweden in sixteen years and Israel in fourteen years.

The tour was described as a "rock driven dancetastic journey". It was divided into four acts: Pimp, where S&M was the main theme; Retro, where Madonna's classic songs were performed while displaying work of deceased artist Keith Haring; Gypsy, a fusion of Romani folk music and dance with the performances ranging from melancholic to joyous; and Rave, where high-energy uptempo songs were performed. The last section of the show included a special 'request song', to which the audience was invited to sing-along. Some changes were made to the set list during the second European leg of the tour in 2009, including a dance tribute to deceased singer Michael Jackson.

Setlist

Act 1: Pimp

"The Sweet Machine" (Video Introduction) (contains elements of "Manipulated Living", "4 Minutes", "Human Nature" and "Give It 2 Me")

"Candy Shop" (contains elements of "4 Minutes" and "Beat Goes On")

"Beat Goes On" (contains elements of "And the Beat Goes On")

"Human Nature" (contains elements of "Gimme More" and "What You Need")

"Vogue" (contains elements of "4 Minutes" and "Give It To Me")

Act 2: Old-School

"Die Another Day" (Remix Interlude) (contains elements of "Do You Wanna Get Funky", "Planet Rock", "Looking for the Perfect Beat" and "Mortal Kombat")

"Into the Groove" (contains elements of "Back in the Day", "Toop Toop", "Body Work", "Jump", "Apache", "It's like That" and "Double Dutch Bus")

"Heartbeat"

"Borderline"

"She's Not Me"

"Music" (contains elements of "Put Your Hands Up 4 Detroit", along with excerpts from "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life")

Act 3: Gypsy

"Rain" (Remix Interlude) (contains elements of "Here Comes the Rain Again" and "4 Minutes")

"Devil Wouldn't Recognize You"

"Spanish Lesson"

"Miles Away"

"La Isla Bonita" (contains elements of "Lela Pala Tute", "Doli Doli", and "Me Darava")

"You Must Love Me"

Act 4: Rave

"Get Stupid" (Video Interlude) (contains elements of "Beat Goes On", "Give It 2 Me", "4 Minutes" and "Voices")

"4 Minutes"

"Like a Prayer" (contains elements of "Feels Like Home" and "Don't You Want Me")

"Ray of Light"

"Hung Up" (contains elements of "A New Level" and "4 Minutes")

"Give It 2 Me" (Jody Den Broeder Remix) (contains elements of "Fired Up!" (Club 69 Mix))

On this day 30/07/2006 Madonna

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On this day, 30 July 2006, American superstar Madonna played Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium on her Confessions Tour with support provided by Paul Oakenfold. It was the opening concert of the European leg of the tour.

The concert was divided into four parts: Equestrian had horse-themed and bondage elements, Bedouin featured Middle Eastern and religious aspects and was accompanied by messages, Glam—Punk consisted of both rock and stripped-down performances, and the final Disco segment was based on the genre of the same name.

Setlist

Equestrian

Future Lovers

(with samples of "I Feel Love" by Donna Summer)

Get Together

Like a Virgin

Jump

Bedouin

Confessions

(Video interlude)

Live to Tell

Forbidden Love

Isaac

Sorry

Like It or Not

Glam-Punk

Sorry

(Video interlude, remix)

I Love New York

Ray of Light

Let It Will Be

Drowned World/Substitute for Love

Paradise (Not for Me)

Disco

The Duke Mixes the Hits

Music

Erotica

La Isla Bonita

Lucky Star

Hung Up

Madonna kicks off tour in Cardiff

Around 59,000 fans have been in Cardiff to see Madonna kick off the European leg of her world tour at the Millennium Stadium.

The show was Madonna's first ever performance in Wales.

The Millennium Stadium is the biggest venue to date in the star's Confessions world tour, which began in Los Angeles in May.

The show in Cardiff was the first of 21 dates across Europe. Eight are being staged in London.

The singer included an equestrian theme during the opening in Cardiff.

Chris Lamb, from California, said 150 workers from the USA, along with 200 local people worked on the set since Monday.

"People are not coming to see a rock concert - this is a show, closer to theatre than a rock concert," he said.

DJ Paul Oakenfold opened the singer's concert at 1900 BST, performing for around an hour and a half before Madonna's two-hour show.

Traffic Wales said it had put in place plans to cope with the extra traffic.

Project manager Simon Jones said: "We work with the council, the stadium and the emergency services to ensure that the event runs smoothly."

Madonna's European tour continues to Wembley Arena and finishes in Prague before it moves to Japan in September.

'CONFESSIONS' FACTS

The show was rehearsed for 1,000 hours over a period of 12 weeks

There were 27 performers, including the band, 22 dancers, and Madonna herself

The stage and equipment weighs 200 tons

Eight pairs of shoes and boots and seven costumes are worn nightly by Madonna

The disco-ball rocket ship for the start of the show weighs one-and-a-half tonnes

400,000 watts of power are used for every performance of the show

The tour director said the set was "enormously technical" and was state-of-the-art with its video show.