Around 40,000 came to see the self-styled "Queen of Pop" in the Welsh capital on August 23. Madonna's 50 years are an illusion with her streamlined physique  put to entertaining use by pole dancing antics and outdancing her backing dancers. She lived up to her strapline by arriving to Candy Shop on an ornate moving throne on which she slithered in fetish wear legitimised for the audience by Givenchy with a cane accompanying her fishnets and knee-high boots.

The stadium's closed roof added to the theatrics creating a super-sized studio effect. The Sticky & Sweet tour promotes Madonna’s current album Hard Candy, which topped the charts when it was released in April.

“This concert was very different from usual as it was the premiere of a world tour," said Gerry Toms, stadium manager. “Madonna and her production team had been in the stadium for some time setting up the new stage and lighting, as well as managing hours of rehearsals. A huge attraction was that it was the opening night of her tour so a lot of time and effort was put in which created a flawless performance.”

With wardrobe a significant feature of any Madonna tour, not to mention turning 50, the singer chose French couture house Givenchy to dress her for this tour. Two outfits from Givenchy have been designed for her by Riccardo Tisci taking design cues from "‘Gangster Pimp"/Art Deco and "Gypsy" style. Givenchy is among a reputed 36 wardrobe suppliers for this tour which also includes Stella McCartney and Roberto Cavalli.