Increasingly, the massive arena tours of the great artists of the 20th and 21st century have become an artistic effort of theatricality, extravagance and creativity, often over musical presence and sometimes, hopefully, in tandem. Nothing is different for Madonna, who performed at the Los Angeles Staples centre last night (Oct 10th 2012).

Here is just a brief list of what the lucky audience was privy to in Madonna's MDNA show, reported on LATimes.com: “Human contortionists festooned with wings. Robed monks, mysterious crooning priests. Gunfights in seedy hotels. Dramatized murder, with blood splattered on a billboard-sized video screen. A warrior-ninja spinning nunchuku... a floating drum line that played while hanging from the support beams, twirled a baton in unison with dancers/cheerleaders, and comforted a troop of soldier-dancers with an acoustic guitar...” It wasn't just Madge's backing musicians, singers, and dancers that were a part of this spectacular show, as “[Madonna] floated on a chrome carriage above the stage [and] crawled on a staircase near the audience, clasping the hand of a fan...” With all this, it's no wonder that ticket prices began at $100.

Attending the incredible performance were a whole host of the bright stars of Hollywood; Neil Patrick Harris, Jessica Alba and Heidi Klum were all in attendance. Plus, reported in the Hollywood Reporter, Madonna, ever the mogul for philanthropy, dedicated her song 'Human Nature' to Malala Yousafiza who was murdered by the Taliban this week. Madonna stopped the show, let the arena go quiet and said 'time for a serious chat', continuing, 'This made me cry... the 14-year-old schoolgirl who wrote a blog about going to school. The Taliban stopped her bus and shot her. Do you realize how sick that is?... Support education! Support women!"

Madonna performed favourites 'Vogue', 'Like a Prayer' and 'Papa Don't Preach'. The MDNA tour was a celebration of her 12th studio album (released earlier this year), but her first under new management Interscope Records. So far, so good.