Madonna performs on the Madame X tour in this undated photo. Courtesy: Stufish. SAN FRANCISCO — “Who is Madame X?” Madonna asked halfway into her two-and-a-half hour show Tuesday at Golden Gate Theatre, the final concert of a three-date residency. The show was just as much a performance art piece…

Taylor Swift finding her inner rainbow at a concert at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California on May 11, 2018. Photo: Roman Gokhman. A common criticism I get on Twitter about this column, other than that I hate Europeans, is that I’m stuck in the past and hate modern…

Ever since she stepped into the spotlight in the ’80s, Madonna has been putting out iconic pop anthems that transcend time. She’s reinvented herself many times, so it’s surprising that her newest album Madame X falls flat in comparison. The album lacks a central theme, leading to a disjointed listen.…

Baby Nirvana Good news! We’ve made it to the ’90s in RIFF Rewind. OK, yeah, it’s still technically 1989. But any list that includes Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails and Faith No More’s “Epic” is basically the ’90s, right? In fact, I was surprised by the latter two of those…

Wham! The cuts in this top five songs of 1984 were tough. The Cars’ “You Might Think” and Sheila E’s “The Glamorous Life” are favorites of mine, and I’m sure I’m going to get backlash about leaving out Frankie Goes to Hollywood, the Talking Heads and Tina Turner. But who…

  Illustration: Vivian Shih It’s “love and hate” week at RIFF. We’ve taken on the theme of Valentine’s Day to talk about both sides of love. We’re starting off with my favorite love songs, but there are some caveats: These are only since 1980. There’s a whole bunch of really…