Madonna doesn't give Vancouver fans an encore

Georgia Straight music editor Mike Usinger has written a review of last night's Madonna show in Vancouver at B.C. Place. If you want to read a professional's evaluation, check out our concerts section on Straight.com or go here.

I'm not a music writer, so keep that in mind as you read five impressions I had of the show.

1. Madonna didn't seem to form much of a connection with her fans. This stood in sharp contrast to the last stadium show I saw featuring George Michael, who was simply adored by his Vancouver fans.

2. On the big screen, Madonna looked unhappy at various points, which made me think that she was soldiering through her performance because she had to and not necessarily because she wanted to.

3. Madonna wanted to prove that she's still in superb physical condition at the age of 50. There were lots of calisthenics to prove this, but there wasn't a lot of heart.

4. "Like a Prayer" is a very good song. The rest seemed pretty shallow to me, but I'm not a Madonna fan. I was there to make someone else happy.

5. Madonna's dancers were outstanding, and well worth the price of admission, as high as it was.

She didn't give the fans an encore. I wasn't surprised.