Madonna Turns Up Heat in Desert Concert

By Stephen M. Silverman

Monday May 01, 2006 07:35 AM EDT

Madonna at the Grammys on Feb. 8

Michael Caulfield/WireImage

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Yahoo Buzz
• E-mail

Even though the temperature was already in the 90s, Madonna turned the heat up even further for thousands of fans at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in the Southern California desert on Sunday.

Some 30 minutes after her scheduled time, the Material Mom was nonetheless cheered when she finally made her entrance. And what an entrance it was: inside a glittering disco ball that split in two so she and her dancers could launch into her opening number, "Hung Up."

In all, reports the Associated Press, Madonna – gearing up for her first tour since 2004 – performed an abbreviated set of six songs in less than a half hour. Within that time, she requested that attendees stop tossing water in her face and suggested that they check out her backside, reports USA Today.

Take the Madonna Quiz

• Take the Madonna Quiz

The sold-out, two-day fest featured 47 acts on Sunday's bill alone, giving fans so many choices that they had to miss some bands to catch others. And, clearly, those attending had their specific tastes. "I'm here for anything but Madonna," Alessandra Ambrosio, a Brazilian model, told AP. "Madonna is too pop to be here."

On Saturday, Kanye West, clad in a Miles Davis T-shirt and a red bandanna around his neck, received tremendous crowd approval. He approved of himself too, reports the Los Angeles Times. Calling his hit single "Gold Digger " "the new national anthem," he said: "Even though the Grammys got it wrong, this was the song of the year."