Madonna plays exclusive gig

Madonna has played her most exclusive UK gig in years today, in front of an audience of just 500 lucky fans.

The queen of pop was performing an intimate show at the HMV store in London’s Oxford Street.

News of the one-off gig sparked a mad scramble yesterday by fans desperate to get their hands on tickets.

They queued for hours to secure the special wristbands which will guarantee them entry.

Madonna was performing songs from her new album American Life, accompanied by her band and producer Mirwais.

It is her first UK in-store appearance and could be the only chance fans get to see her play live in this country in 2003 – no tour dates have been announced.

The star won’t have far to travel to the gig as she lives a stone’s throw from the HMV store with husband Guy Ritchie and daughter Lourdes.

On Wednesday she performed at an even smaller event in France, singing for an audience of just 200 guests of a Parisian radio station.

She thanked the French for their opposition to the war in Iraq, telling them: “Here in France I feel at home.”

When the 44-year-old, finally arrived at around 4pm, several fans rushed out to see her but did not manage to get more than a glimpse of the star as her car sped in to the store’s goods entrance.

Some fans had bagged their place in the queue yesterday afternoon and had been standing there ever since in an attempt to get the best view of the Queen of Pop during the concert.

Friends, Isabel Munilla, 27, from Hammersmith, West London, and Tomasz Zaremba, 27, from London Bridge, south London, had been queuing together since 3pm yesterday.

They had got their special wristband to guarantee them entry after queuing for five hours on Wednesday.

Isabel said she had taken two day’s of from her job working at the London Eye to come along.

Tomasz, a student, who slept on the pavement in an alleyway at the side of the store with her friend last night, said: “To me, she’s my idol. It doesn’t matter how many years go by – she gets better and better. She’s at her musical peak.”

Accounts worker Natalie Coleman, 19, from Chingford, east London, said she had been queuing since 10am.

She said: “I’ve been queuing here for seven hours and we still haven’t been let in. But it’s all going to be worth it. I’m hoping she will play some of her old songs.”

Others who are not so lucky were standing outside the front of the store, which had been closed, so they could listen to Madonna as she performed her set.

They sang along and danced to Like A Prayer, during what was thought to be a sound check.

Barry Waddington, 23, from Chigwell, Essex, said: “I didn’t know about it. This wasn’t very well publicised. A friend told me today and I rushed here on the tube with my Madonna jacket.

“It’s a shame, but as long as I can hear her, it’s better than nothing,” the school assistant said.

Other Madonna devotees, who were not lucky enough to have the special wristband, made do with making off with some of the promotional material that had been lining the walls of the HMV building.