sallysassalot said:

Not at all.Go ahead and view it with your computer muted.You won't know what song it is.

DavidEye said:

ok...that didn't give anything away. i already knew there was a equestrian (sp?) section of the show. i'm really not understanding how that theme fits into a tour supporting a disco record but, hey, i can't figure out vadge on a cross fits into anything either.

L.A. Daily News

Article Launched: 05/22/2006 12:00:00 AM PDT

Madonna late to the party, but starts tour riding high

FRED SHUSTER, Music writer

Pop diva Madonna kicked off her "Confessions" tour 45 minutes late at The Forum on Sunday, but fans said they'd wait another two hours if they had to for the colorful dance music icon.

The show, the first of four Los Angeles dates by the singer, was packed to the rafters as fans turned up early to party in the parking lot to await the return of the Material Mom for her first L.A. show in years. Madonna hits boomed through the overcast skies outdoors from car stereos before doors finally opened.

Once inside, fans lined up to buy T-shirts, wristbands, keychains and other items on one of the most-anticipated opening nights of the year.

"She's nasty and sexy and has no regrets," summed up actor Marc Imme, 23, of Toluca Lake, a Madonna fan who came to the show with several friends. "What I like about her is she's an innovator who breaks all the rules. Her music is always ahead of its time."

The show was set to start at 8 p.m. but opening night glitches and mind-boggling traffic snarls caused the delay. Fans cheered celebrity sightings of Rosie O'Donnell, Salma Hayek, Nicole Richie and others seated among the well-dressed crowd.

A spectacular opening in which Madonna was lowered onto the catwalk from the ceiling hidden in a giant disco ball drew roars. When the orb landed on stage, it opened like a blooming flower and the 47-year-old singer stepped down, wearing a tight equestrian-style outfit and snapping a riding crop to the beat of the first number, "Future Lovers."

"As I grew up, Madonna symbolized female empowerment," said Andrea Holt, 27, a marriage and family counselor from Fort Collins, Colo., who flew in to catch the tour-opener at The Forum. "She tested limits and I liked that. And she went through phases in her life. Now, she's focused on her family and a lot of us can relate to that."

Madonna's "Confessions" trek, which continues Tuesday and Wednesday at The Forum and then returns June 3 to Staples Center, will be moving throughout North America until the end of July before heading to Europe and Asia.

Even at ticket prices topping $350, seats sold out rapidly at most venues and continue to be available at outrageous rates over the Internet.

Madonna's most recent disco-themed album, "Confessions On A Dance Floor," has been a huge hit, topping the charts in 40 different countries since its November 2005 release.

"I love that she went back to her dance roots," said Christy Boric, 27, a social worker from Phoenix. "She always reinvents herself she's always one step ahead."

The 22-song concert was broken into four sections, covering hits including "Like a Virgin," "Ray of Light," "Lucky Star" and the recent "Hung Up."

Sitting halfway up in the stalls, nightclub host Sergio De La Vega, 28, of Los Angeles wasn't worried that Madonna was a bit late coming to work.

"It's Madonna I'd wait two hours if I had to," De La Vega, wearing a Madonna hoodie, said. "I've been a fan since I was 7."

Elsewhere in the audience, customer service rep Antonio Briseno, 26, of Buena Park said he'd spent $200 on Madonna merchandise at The Forum and had no regrets.

"The thing about Madonna is, she puts you in a good mood when you're down," he said. "She's a woman of power. Her attitude, her style it's just right. And that's why I'm a fan."

man,I can't wait til next week! Reading these reports are driving me crazy

i was just going to post this! brilliant minds and all...

i did skip a little bit of the review, though, when he started to talk about how the show started. all i saw was "a spectacular opening where madonna was..." and i closed my eyes and scrolled down a bit. i should just stop reading the damn articles and posts really. i'm totally torturing myself!

sallysassalot said:

Are you staying away from the Madonna fansites?

DavidEye said:

looking forward to 31 may!!!

DavidEye said:

oh heck yeah! those queens will give everything away!

sallysassalot said:

I'll be there that day,and the day before

sallysassalot said:

I'm reading the early reports,and I like what I'm reading

DavidEye said:

i was thinking about going on tuesday and bargaining with some desperate scalpers. then, when i saw the photos of the disco cross mess, i decided once would be enough. maybe i'll be totally surprised by what she does with that but as of now i'm actually very disappointed about it.

DavidEye said:

did you read about the picketing outside the arena?

sallysassalot said:

Without revealing anything about the show, there are fans saying that it's a very moving performance of LTT and when you know the rest of the story you'll see the connection and realize it's not a dig at Christianity.

sallysassalot said:

Yes,I read something about that.The folks who work at the Forum are on strike,right? She should have just played all of her L.A. shows at the Staples Center.

sallysassalot said:

but what if you go on Wednesday and enjoy the show tremendously? You're gonna hate yourself for not going twice

jayaredee said:

it would have been more exciting to me if it was a performance of oh father. i was kind of hoping for that. it would be a very artisticly interesting reinterpretation of that song.
[Edited 5/22/06 1:07am]

DavidEye said:

well, i do have to pay a visit back east sometime this summer. if i like the show that much, i'll see it in philly with some friends from back home.

sallysassalot said:

I'm hanging out with Badujunkie before the Tuesday show.I'll look for you on Wednesday.You planning to have drinks/dinner before the show?

Madonna Kicks Off 'Confessions' Tour In L.A.

05/22/2006 3:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Lyndsey Parker

An onstage roller-disco complete with a fleet of satin-jacketed rollergirls and -boys. A shofar (Jewish horn) solo and traditional Hebrew incantation by a turban-swaddled man named Isaac, followed by a Fosse-style chair dance and some ghetto-blaster dry-humping. A politicized video montage starring Adolf Hitler, Dick Cheney, Tony Blair, Osama bin Laden, Richard Nixon, George Bush, and starving African children. A futuristic mechanical bull equipped with oddly gynecological-looking steel stirrups. And no less than seven costume changes, including three leotards, one unitard, a Saturday Night Fever Tony Manero leisure suit, a crown of thorns, and an electric cape emblazoned with the rightful title of "Dancing Queen."

All of this may sound like the makings of Cirque Du Soleil, the Eurovision Song Contest, Live 8, a lost weekend in Vegas, and an evening at either the Kabbalah Centre or Coyote Ugly rolled into one. But of course, it was just the opening night of Madonna's much-hyped Confessions tour in Los Angeles.

Proving that music does indeed make the people come together, Madonna debuted her new show-of-shows before an adoring mixed audience of drag queens, moms, grandmas, club kids, and yuppies at L.A.'s Forum on Sunday, May 21 (her first of three sold-out nights at the 16,000-capacity venue). She launched her set with a sultry homage to the Donna Summer/Giorgio Moroder disco anthem "I Feel Love" while dressed in equestrian fetish-wear and brandishing a whip (a nod to both her recent horsey W photo spread and the 2005 horse-riding accident from which she has triumphantly recovered), and from that moment on, she was off and galloping, taking the audience on a truly wild ride.

She showed she could still be shocking after all these years by singing "Live To Tell" while suspended, Christ-like, from a mirror-paneled crucifix; demonstrated her basic but unexpectedly solid guitar-playing skills during "I Love New York" (while looking like a supremely badass rock star in a patent-leather motorcycle jacket and glammy feather boa); revealed some bull-riding moves that would make Debra Winger green with envy; and was basically a walking (make that strutting) advertisement for power yoga as she flaunted her finely muscled, mind-bogglingly age-resistant physique in shiny, second-skin Spandex throughout.

Despite the surprising and disappointing lack of an encore (what, no "Like A Prayer"? no "Borderline"? no "Material Girl," even?), during her breathless two-hour set the Divine Miz M justified not only her audience's love, but her somewhat exorbitant $350 ticket price as well. It can safely be said that those 16,000 fans got their money's worth, and then some.

Whether she decided to sing Live to Tell on a cross or on a park bench i wouldn't care, it's easily in my top 5 Madonna songs. I can't wait to hear her sing it again.

jayaredee said:

But the word "karaoke" would imply that she actually sang live...
[Edited 5/22/06 1:45am]

jayaredee said:

Agreed.I wouldn't care how she sang it,I'm just thrilled that it's included in the setlist.

jayaredee said:

Great review,but I don't know why the writer is surprised that there was no encore.Madonna never does an encore

During Let It will Be yesterday, she lay the microphone on the ground while she danced and accidently kicked the mic into the pit, missing several verses until someone in the pit handed her the mic.

Yet more proof she doesn't lip synch, of course the assholes will still find excuses for their wishful thinking.

jayaredee said:

I remember during one show of the Reinvention Tour,she messed up during "Express Yourself".She started singing the chorus before it was time,and she said "Oh shit!".She often makes funny little mistakes onstage

DavidEye said:

she did that with Material Girl when i seen her.

And of course we remember the BA tour with the technical screw ups. I remember one of the recorded shows had her forget the words to Sooner or Later and she started making up random shit until she remembered and took off.

jayaredee said:

Madonna just announced an 8th show at Wembley,for those of you who live in that area.Tickets go on sale this Friday.

.
[Edited 5/23/06 2:32am]