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[Edited 7/6/05 7:21am]

unique said:

OMG that moment was PRICELESS I had tears in my eyes when they did Wish You Were Here

EarthAirFireWater said:

Where the f*ck was Syd Barrett, though.....?







Floyd were very good, but they shoulda been on during the day, I think...It kind of killed the upbeat mood to have their reflective music sandwiched between The 'Oo and Macca.


The Comfortably Numb solo

Am I the only one who thought Madonna was rubbish and shaky? She used autotune aswell (I spoke to someone who was there and mingled backstage with his PR buddies).

Ellie said:

Like A Prayer was a touch too slow, the live ound for her set was't as good as for other acts, and like others have said, she should use a full, funky live band.

Still, speaking as a definite non-fan of Madonna, I thought she performed well and was a highlight for many.

Well I'm sort of an ex-fan. Still buy all her stuff and adore pretty much everything up to Ray Of Light. Seen her live twice now and she severely underwhelmed me both times. The second time I was right up at the front and she had no star quality whatsoever. Sometimes I think I'm watching a different show when I read raving reviews of her performances.

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[Edited 7/6/05 7:22am]

Madonna is flippin somebody off in the audience (first pic, upper left corner)???

unique said:

I think the difference between Robbie and Madonna is that Rob goes out to entertain and have a laugh by just doing his songs and being himself..madonna still wants to come across as all clever and artistic and, you know, "say something, maaaaan" and keep a hold of that mystique which, for me at least, she never had in the first place.

Or in short hand terms:

Robbie isn't trying to be something he is not and this means he trumps Madonna every time

unique said:

Whilst I kinda agree with you on the band thing (Madonnas band was live though, they just sound like a backing track), i have to say that I think Madonna puts more into her shows than almost any other pop artist out there. Every single tour she's done has been completely different. Everything down to different arrangements, to different songs to completely different choreography, she never repeats herself. Whist ive not been a fan of her band over the last two tours, i do believe that the shows she puts on are miles ahead of anything else others try. I guess the easier way to say it is that she's a performance artist rather than a rock star. She doesn't hold the normal conventions of rock shows that sacred and the idea of her doing a show like robbie williams' (who by the way Id class as an entertainer), it just wouldn't seem right.

rocknrolldave said:

Hmmmmm, there are some of us more cynical minded people who would say that Robbie spends most of his life pretending to be something he's not.....

I agree, Madonna can try to be a bit artistic at times, and a lot of the time its all a bit wanky, but i do find it laughable that you'd say he trumps her every time. Robbie is a populist. A performer / entertainer / crowd pleaser who turns up sings massages his ego and goes home. to be honest i find the comparison laughable.

aight now.i didnt watch the show but im a tad disgusted with madge's middle finger and all her back-up dancers.....


sorry folks..if she is your thing, rock on...but an event like this deserves a lil more dignified approach.....

who else screwed up by having dancers?

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[Edited 7/6/05 7:23am]

sosgemini said:

She had 2 dancers, that did solo bits. They were not backup.

The 20 piece choir was used for Like a Prayer and the ending bit of Music.

Axchi696 said:

Yes it's worthless trying to defend her, i don't know why i bother.
Even when she got all the positive press from tons of newspapers for once, people have a need to pick her apart saying bullshit about her miming and such other crap.

jayaredee said:

she's a public figure...people are going to have their opinion of her...good and bad.....

sosgemini said:

Well i wish you would watch the performance before passing judgement against her using dancers.

jayaredee said:

hold up,

1) dont give a fuck what i think

2) i can judge/think/feel however i want thank you very much...i based my statements on the pictures. even with your explenation i think it was tacky of her...and the other artist who turned this into Solid Gold...

3) happy 4th of july

sosgemini said:

I'm not American than you very much. Send your wishes to Mr. Bush
[Edited 7/4/05 9:57am]

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[Edited 7/6/05 7:23am]

CrozzaUK said:

Well you could argue that they both "massage their egos" but in different ways. I find Madonna fans love it when she does something different regardless of what it is just so they can say she's innovative and always changing. Sure she is, but she could fart on record and they'd cum over it. Oh wait, she already did, it was called American Life.


Oh and BTW, it wasn't fully live. She used an autotuner like she always does. No shame in it, but it wasn't fully live.
[Edited 7/4/05 10:36am]

jayaredee said:

I agree. I actually saw her performance (watched the entire day on BBC) and I think it was, like pretty much every other performance, entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable, which was the objective of them being there, right? Those dancers were amazing and in my opinion added to what was already a great performance.

For those of you who think Robbie Williams is out only to massage his ego, if you ever get the opportunity, watch his performance from Slane Castle a few years ago. I am not, absolutely not, a Robbie Fan but that performance really surprised me - it blew me away.

Some of the highlights for me were :

The ones that suprised me because I'm not a fan :
Robbie Williams, Elton John, Coldplay, Travis (I loved their slightly dodgy version of Stayin' Alive)

Never seen them live before and was thoroughly impressed :
Snoop Dog (what a performance!), Velvet Revolver.

Goes without saying :
The Who, Flopy Dink, Macca.
U2 would be on this list too, but having just seen them in Croke Park last Monday (showing off now), their 3 song set was, as TheFrog would say, meh.

slightly more than

Ellie said:

That has got 2 b the most ridiculous thing anyone has ever said about Madonna..

The biggest German tabloit "Bild Zeitung" is featuring a very huge pic of MADONNA’s Live8 performance in their report about Live8 - "a show like the eight world wonder", while the other stars are only shown in small pics.

They comment: MADONNA beats them all! First she took hunger-girl Bihan (now 24, behind a children pic 20 years ago) on stage. Then she sang "Like a Prayer" and screamed during "Music": "I wanna see your hands"! Madonna was toucing and unbeatable.



An excerpt from an article about London Live 8 concert published on today's Guardian:

Alt-rock stars Razorlight kick over mic stands, take their tops off, bend iron bars with their teeth, etc, in the hope of making an impression. It might have worked if they hadn’t been followed not just by Madonna, but Madonna on top form, hand in hand with a former victim of the Ethiopian famine, loudly berating the assembled journalists and VIPs in the "golden circle" in front of the stage. Within seconds of Like a Prayer starting, you forget Razorlight were ever on stage.


The telemeter of Israeli channel 10 says that Madonna's performance at live8 was the highest rating of all stars performing yesterday. She also received amazing positive reviews for her performance.


by Roger Friedman / FoxNews

But it was Madonna everyone wanted to see, and even the most jaded of the A-list poured out from behind the celebrity barrier to catch her three song set of "Like a Prayer," "Ray of Light," and "Music." Dressed in her white mom-goes-to-a-chic dinner suit Madonna launched the first song with a gospel choir and had the newly dense crowd swaying and clapping. But was this Madonna or a replacement android? Maybe she even sensed it. By the time "Ray of Light" began off came the jacket, up went the middle finger, and she sent out the F-word to wake up her old fans. Madonna was back!
And here's the thing: she's never looked better. Her face is tight and shining. Her body is lithe as ever. Her voice is rich, supple and perfect. However she's doing it, Madonna is defying logic. She's doing Madonna, and while it seems a little sterile compared to the real Madonna, it works. She's still the superstar. Joss Stone, the 18-year-old phenom, should take note: you can have a great voice but you need a persona. Madonna's is overflowing.


by Davina Earl on 7/3/2005

In one of the most emotional moments of Live8, Queen Madge took to the stage with 24-year-old Birhan Woldu - the living symbol of hope from Bob Geldof’s 1985 Live Aid campaign. Woldu was caught on film twenty years ago – given just ten minutes to live by doctors. Sir Bob said: ‘see this little girl? She had 10 minutes to live 20 years ago and because we did a concert in this city and Philadelphia and all of you came and some of you weren’t born, because we did that, last week she did her agricultural exams in the school she goes to in the northern European highlands.” Woldu herself addressed the crowd: ‘Hello from Africa...We Africans love you very much . It’s a great honour to be here to stand on the Live8 stage and please continue to support Live8 and we love you very much and thank you.’ Madonna was visibly moved and appeared humbled as she clasped Woldu’s hand and sang eighties classic ‘Like A Prayer.’

Speaking to the Sunday Mirror after her performance Madonna said: ‘Today has been successful in terms of raising awareness but more than anything the pressure its going to put on the world leaders to decide whether to remove debt and increase funding - that’s the most important thing and hopefully we will have achieved that.




If Madonna -- then in a trouser suit and sporting brown hair -- had sounded a bit raw in Philadelphia in 1985, this time in Hyde Park she was vibrant -- a real star of the show....in a memorable moment, Madonna grabbed Birhan and engaged her in a dance.

Source: Graham Jones for CNN


Madonna, a genius of the media event, played Live 8 just right. Dressed in white and surrounded by the London Community Gospel Choir, she sang spiritual dance-floor anthems - "Like a Prayer," "Ray of Light" and "Music" - and pumped her hips, demanding and getting a full-park singalong for a chorus: "Music makes the people come together."

Source: Jon Pareles, NY Times


And, as twilight drew in, the power of music itself; despite all the new names on stage, unheard of if not unborn back in 1985, it was Madonna who really kick-started the Hyde Park concert with some good old thumpy, dancy stuff rather than what I think modern musicians refer to as 'maundering jangles'.


Madonna: She's not the queen of pop for nothing. During Music, she got everyone clapping in unison the way Freddie Mercury did in 1985. This will be remembered as one of the Live 8 moments, with the crowd desperate to worship her regal presence. 10/10

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/h...645039.stm


MADONNA wowed crowds at LIVE 8 this evening with a spectacular performance.

The star kicked off her set with ’Like A Prayer’, backed by the a full choir, who - like the star and her band - were dressed completely in white. Madonna was also joined onstage by an Ethiopian woman who had been, in Bob Geldof's words "10 minutes from death," until the money raised at the first Live Aid concert helped save her.

“Are you ready to start a revolution," Madonna asked the crowd. "Are you ready to change the world?"

Running through ’Ray Of Light’ she finished with an extended version of ’Music’ bringing break-dancers to the stage and leading 200,000 fans in a singalong. The concert marked a return to the Live 8 stage for the singer.

Madonna performed at the American leg of the first Live Aid concert in 1985 where she played ’Holiday’, ’Into The Groove’ and ’Love Makes The World Go Round’.

Speaking about her involvement with the 2005 concert, which aims to raise alleviate developing world debt and establish fairer trade, she said she wanted to thank Bob Geldof for making the whole thing happen.

The singer is currently working on the follow-up to 2003’s ’American Life’ album and her appearance marked her first live engagement of 2005.

source: NME.COM

2 Jul 2005 The star delivers a blistering performance.

The Queen of Pop sent over 200,000 Live 8 music fans into delirium this evening, performing three souped-up versions of her biggest hits. Before the hits though, we got a glimpse of Birhan Woldu, the child featured in the 1985 Live Aid film, which touched the world. Recently qualified as an agricultural student, Woldu was just weeks from death when featured in '85, according to Geldof, who used her appearance as an example of how just one life had been saved due to Live Aid. Taking to the stage in a silver satin suit, Madonna was rousing, passionate and demonstrated clearly why her 'Queen of Pop' tag is so deserved. Opening with 'Like A Prayer', the star questioned the crowd 'Are you ready to start a revolution!', 'Are you ready to change the world'. Accompanying her was a full choir, also dressed white. By the time 'Ray Of Light' and 'Music' came, the mix had changed into a bass-heavy breakbeat hybrid, with a myriad of b-boy dancers invading the stage. 'Music' weighed in at six minutes running time, with an extended chorus of 'Music, makes the people, come together' in which Madonna convinced pretty much every one of Hyde Park's 200,000 crowd to clap along. The 15-minute set was received by many as the day's standout performance - so far that is. Madonna also performed at the first Live Aid concert in 1985. Then, the set list included 'Holiday' and 'Into The Groove'.

soundgenerator.com



i think Madonna stole the show as expected

Martinelli said:

Honestly, it could have been my mum up there. I was standing right next to this woman who I'd almost worshipped between the ages of 8 and 21, and there was just no "WOW, that's a superstar standing there" feeling.

Ellie said:

The autotoner was only used during parts of "Music," because that is part of the song. You can hear her missing and strainging for notes during LAP and ROL.

I love how she was the first one to say f*ck, and than appoligize lol.

also love how she got bitchy with the people in the golden cicle who weren't dancing.

Ellie said:

the moment she rose from the stage during the transtition from Beast Within to Vogue til the moment the screens covered her up during Holiday. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. I missed all the videos and hot dancers cause all i could do was watch her. I've been closer to other acts and i'd stop watching what they were doing on stage and watch them on the view monitors cause they couldn't hold my attention in person. Madonna and Prince are the only people who i can't take my eyes off of. Maybe you weren't into it. i dunno but everyone i have spoken with who has seen Madonna at any part of her carear say that she has presence like non other.

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[Edited 7/6/05 7:21am]

ehuffnsd said:

She didn't apologize for saying "fuck," she apologized to her band after saying "well go!" waiting for them to start playing.

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[Edited 7/6/05 7:21am]