Madonna returns home after European tour

NEW YORK, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- Madonna has returned to the United States after her European tour and is set to perform five sold-out shows in the New York area, Live Nation said Thursday.

The pop star's "Sticky & Sweet Tour" is to continue Saturday at New Jersey's Izod Arena with Madison Square Garden dates set for Oct. 6, 7, 11 and 12, it was confirmed Thursday by Live Nation, the tour's international promoter.

"Now that I've warmed up in Europe, I'm ready to come home and do the show for my U.S. fans," Madonna said in a statement about her tour, which features 3,500 wardrobe elements, 36 clothing designers, 100 pairs of kneepads, 12 trampolines, 69 guitars, a traveling personnel of 250, five keyboards for Kevin Antunes, the musical director, three members of the Russian Romani group the Kolpakov Trio, 18 dancers and one set of Swavorski crystal-encrusted ear phones.

Following the New York-area performances, the tour is to play multiple dates in North America, including Boston, Toronto, Montreal, Chicago, Oakland and Denver before wrapping up Nov. 26 in Miami.

The tour then travels to Mexico City where the scheduled Nov. 29 and 30 shows sold 100,000 tickets in three hours, Live Nation said.