Madonna strips for action in her return to concert fray

INDIO, Calif. -- The T-shirt said it all: “Madonna in the dance tent!�

And dance she did at the Coachella Valley Arts and Music Festival on Sunday night -- but not before stripping down (behind a screen), losing a glittering purple jacket and velvet pants in favor of a blue violet leotard, knee-high boots and a purple boa. The outfit highlighted the 47-year-old’s well-muscled physique.

Then she karate-kicked, writhed and pelvic-thrusted her way through three songs from her latest album, “Confessions on a Dance Floor,� and three older hits.

Madonna was barely through her second song when she addressed what was on almost every festival-goer’s mind.

“This is my first festival,� she said to wild applause from the capacity crowd of several thousand.

Madonna paused a moment, then joked: “Now who’s going to share their drugs with me?�

Far and away the most commercial artist in the festival’s seven-year history, pop music’s Material Girl arrived with six dancers in tow and more than a share of controversy. Some critics and alternative music fans complained that her inclusion among the festival’s alterna-rock stars and underground electronica and rap acts signaled a shift toward a more mainstream Coachella.

Perhaps in response to that perception, Madonna played Coachella as a “dance act.�

Asked if she belonged there, Roger Vambrazano of Los Angeles, 24, said: “Look around. This is the most crowded any tent has been all day. I had no expectations coming in, but she blew me away.�

During her closing number, her first hit single, “Everybody,� Madonna appeared visibly out of breath.

“She looks tired,� someone in the crowd was heard to say.

Although she performed individual songs at MTV Europe’s Video Music Awards and with the Gorillaz at the Grammys in February, Madonna’s 40-minute Coachella appearance marked the first time the singer has done an extended set in two years. On May 21, 23 and 24, she’ll be at the Forum in Inglewood.