After teaming up with Grindr to take over the gay district in April, Madonna and the LGBTQ+ app joined forces on Thursday (June 4) to transform Times Square with a surprise pop-up performance for Pride Month at its new venue, The Square.
It's an unusual place because you don't immediately realize it's a concert hall until suddenly it becomes reality. One moment you're looking at an LED screen in Times Square, and the next, its previously invisible walls slide open to reveal a performance space; as if one of Times Square's skyscrapers has suddenly opened up, revealing the coolest secret party going on behind the walls of the most photographed intersection in the world. And you don't have to squint: 18,000 square feet of LED screens are designed to enhance the experience inside the building (at least until the walls close back in).
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At 6:27 p.m. ET, the nearly invisible doors of the Times Square LED screen opened to reveal a surprise performance by the Queen of Pop, which began with the undisputed hit "I Feel So Free" from the album Confessions II accompanied by Stuart Price at the DJ booth. (Price is the visionary producer of her classic 2005 album Confessions on a Dance Floor , who returned to the studio to work on Confessions II .) After touching index fingers like God and Adam, Madonna and Price invited New York to join them in a confessional jam that included three tracks from Confessions II and three tracks from Confessions on a Dance Floor.
«Well, New York, are you ready?» asked Madonna, the woman who came to New York in the late «70s with $35, a dream, and a whole lot of guts, and then conquered the world. »Come on, gays. Happy Pride!« The Grindr-sponsored event opened with »I Feel So Free,« »Bring Your Love« (without duet partner Sabrina Carpenter), and the new track »Love Sensation.« Even performed live on one of the world’s busiest intersections, »Love Sensation” sounded like a startlingly powerful nod to Confession II — not a pop single, but a future favorite among fans.
After Madonna presented Confessions' second album With the help of a dance troupe, she created a captivating medley of tracks from album Confessions on a Dance Floor, opening with the low-key hit "Get Together," moving on to the sassy "I Love New York," and ending with "Hung Up" (and, naturally, briefly stepping over the plastic barrier separating her from the crowd). During the break between Confessions и Confessions II Madonna switched the venue's lighting to the Pride flag and transformed Times Square into a massive cinema for a montage showcasing Pride's radical and rebellious origins.
A select group of lucky audience members secured prime viewing spots for the 15-minute show from the red steps of TKTS in Times Square, courtesy of Grindr; meanwhile, despite the street barriers, a slow but steady stream of tourists made their way through the center of Times Square, many of them enjoying iconic hits like "Hung Up" as they strolled along the sidewalk, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the artist had come over them, that the music was the artist himself.
Madonna and Grindr's collaboration began in late April with an exclusive vinyl album art release. Confessions II, the long-awaited sequel to Madonna's 2005 masterpiece Confessions on a Dance Floor. As part of the collaboration, a limited-edition Madonna x Grindr merchandise collection was released, including hats and T-shirts featuring song lyrics and images from the vinyl record cover (some items were available for purchase at the Times Square party).
Madonna recently sat down with Ivy Mugler, Raul Lopez, Jeremy O. Harris, Bob the Drag Queen, and Marcelo Gutierrez in a candid Grindr chat where she shared the best sex she's ever had and discussed her best bedroom playlist.
What The Sphere did for Las Vegas, The Square hopes to do for New York City, reimagining concerts as cultural multimedia events. One advantage: the venue is located in a hotel, allowing artists to travel from their hotel room to the global stage without leaving the building. While Madonna isn't the first to perform at the venue (Charlie xcx and others have recently performed there in a more limited capacity), she is the first to play The Square in its entirety. As always, many artists are likely to follow Madonna's lead by performing on this unique Times Square stage before the end of the year.
«We thought she was perfect for connecting with fans across generations,» says Jeff Marks, CEO of Innovative Partnerships Group, the company that transformed the Times Square space into The Square. «Younger fans still love her, as we saw when she appeared at Coachella with Sabrina. She’ll be at the World Cup [headlining the first halftime show with BTS and Shakira on July 19]. She’s the best, and she has a way of connecting with anyone in the world. I don’t think anyone would say they don’t like her. And given the branding they’ve chosen, I think it’s going to be a huge Hollywood triumph for them, and they’ve been around for a long time.».
Twenty-four hours after turning Times Square into a dance floor, Madonna will perform at the Tribeca Festival on Friday night (June 5), debuting a 10-minute visual project based on the first six tracks from album Confessions II . After the premiere, Madonna and the project's directors, David Toro and Solomon Chase (TORSO), will chat with Jimmy Fallon.
In late April, Madonna appeared with Sabrina Carpenter during Sabrina's second weekend at Coachella; their duet "Bring Your Love" was released shortly afterward and entered the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 74. The album's lead single, "I Feel So Free," also reached number one. Billboard Dance/Mix Show Airplay, becoming her first number one hit on the chart in 18 years. Album Confessions II, in the recording of which she again collaborates with the producer of the original album Confessions by Stuart Price, out July 3.
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