Until Thursday, pop fans had wondered whether Colorado was the kryptonite to pop star Madonna’s Superwoman.
The Material Girl, who turns 50 in August, has toured the world many times, but the Centennial State has always been flyover country.
That is set to change this fall. Concert promoters announced Thursday that Madonna will play the 18,000-seat Pepsi Center on Nov. 11. Tickets go on sale May 31.
“I never thought it would happen,” said Amy Hebert, a Boulder fan who traveled to Las Vegas to see Madonna the last time she toured.
Her friends were buzzing after the announcement and already making plans to get tickets for shows here and in Los Angeles and New York.
“I woke up at 9 a.m. this morning to five text messages and three or four phone calls,” Hebert said.
So, what has taken Madonna so long to make a date with Denver?
Fans exchange countless theories, but Madonna’s stop here is likely the result of her recent $120 million promotion deal with Live Nation.
The concert giant is known for mining concert gold from medium-sized markets. Also, the Colorado date falls between stops in Las Vegas and Houston, so a route through Denver makes financial sense.
“I can’t see how this isn’t one of the biggest shows of the year,” said Peter Ore, a vice president in the Denver offices of Live Nation. “U2, the Police, Springsteen — they’ve all been here. Nothing against them, because they’re all great, but this is huge.”
That might be a promoter talking, but there is little doubt Madonna is one of the biggest music stars on the planet. Her latest album, “Hard Candy,” debuted at No. 1 in 27 countries last week. She has sold nearly 63 million albums in the U.S. alone, 200 million worldwide.
Her live shows are celebrated for their spectacle — and raunch. Her last tour, “Confessions,” played to 1.3 million fans in 25 countries in 2006.
During his 36 years of promoting shows, Denver concert legend Barry Fey booked two big Madonna shows — in another market, Phoenix.
“Usually I’m very chauvinistic, and everything had to play my hometown for me to handle it,” Fey, now retired, said Thursday from his Denver home. “But not Madonna. It never worked out with the routing.”
Plus, there were politics involved. After the passage of Amendment 2 in 1992, which banned state laws that protected against discrimination based on sexual orientation, a loose coalition of cities, organizations, media outlets and celebrities formed a Colorado boycott.
Madonna was among those who signed up. In 1993, she told Time magazine that she would shun Colorado “until the amendment is lifted.”
The amendment was actually never enacted; it was declared unconstitutional a year after the boycott was announced. But Madonna fans have blamed those bad vibes as their diva announced world tour after world tour with nary a mention of a Colorado show.
“Madonna will do exactly what she wants,” Fey said. “She always has, and she always will.”
Fans seemed willing to forget the past Thursday and sounded happy for the opportunity to shell out the $55 to $350 that tickets will cost. “There are a lot of excited guys in Denver right now,” said Denver blogger Nic Garcia.
One of Garcia’s friends, Jim Barker, sees Madonna’s arrival in Denver as a sign of the city’s maturing pop music scene.
“Bigger pop concerts are coming to town, and that means more people are interested in seeing the big, quality pop acts here,” said Barker, a local DJ who spins Fridays and Saturdays at the new Wilde Dancebar & Lounge. “I couldn’t be more excited.”
Ricardo Baca: 303-954-1394 or rbaca@denverpost.com
This article has been corrected in this online archive. Originally, due to an editing error, Amy Hebert’s name was misspelled.
