DavidEye said:

she hit me at a bad time -- my finances only allowed me a cheap seat. but tonight -- OMG how i would have loved to be on the floor. knowing what a fan you are, if you can -- DO IT!

madartista said:

I'm gonna do it! You just convinced me

madartista said:

I love the Drowned World Tour,but I think there were several "slow" moments where the show lost energy ("Mer Girl"....that awful country song "Oh Dear Daddy",etc).'Re-Invention' was better.My only complaint was the unsatisfying finale of "Music" and "Holiday".I can't wait to see how this new tour compares to the others.

DavidEye said:

The Drowned World Tour is one of my least favourite tours. It didnt work on many levels for me. Highlights were the opening number, bringing Candy Perfume Girl to a white noise, the lovely version of I Deserve It, The beautiful version of What It Feels Like For A Girl, and the acoustic La Isla Bonita. Apart from these individual performances I didnt like it. I particularly hated the Geisha section, and didnt like her look at all. She looked rough throughout that tour.

ReInvention was the perfect antidote to alot of stuff she was doing at the time (the American Life debacle, the GAP advert, the VMA performance) and it helped me remember why i love madonna. It wasn't the perfect Madonna show, but it was the best thing she could have done at that point.

Im not 100% convinced by this new tour, Ill have to see it first, but what Ive seen I love. I love Confessions so I cant see how i wont enjoy this as a show.

CrozzaUK said:

'Drowned World' was a bold,challenging show and I liked it alot when I saw it in 2001.But recently,I watched the DVD and I found many flaws.The main problem is the pacing.There were just too many slow moments.The show starts with "Substitute For Love",which is sorta like a ballad....after an energetic version of "Impressive Instant",she slows things down (once again) for "Candy Perfume Girl"...and so on.The show didn't maintain the high energy level that you usually find at a Madonna show.This show was more like a play,which is fine,but maybe the setlist should have been re-arranged a little.Perhaps she should have opened the show with "Impressive Instant" then followed it with "Ray Of Light"? Keep the groove going for awhile!

DavidEye said:

You guys are sounding like those Prince fans who are always complaining prince hasn't done shit since purple rain

MikeMatronik said:

ehuffnsd said:

congrats! I look forward to your review

MikeMatronik said:

If Im honest, i compare all her live shows to the Blond Ambition tour and The Girlie Show. Those two were her at the peak of her creative curve IMO. Im not saying she's not done anything since (I've loved almost everything shes done actually), but i dont think she can compete with the showmanship she displayed through those two tours. She can put on all the expensive gimmicks, and in live performance she is still by far the most creative imaginative and innovative pop star out there, but i still feel there is something missing from her last three tours when compared to those two.

DavidEye, I have to disagree with you that the DWT was bold and challenging. I thought it was madonna going through the motions of her live repetoire. I felt the Punk bit was contrived, the Geisha bit was trying to be too artsy. It wasn't a bad tour, and I totally agree with you that the flow was all wrong, but i didnt like the creative ideas either.

'The Girlie Show' remains her best tour.Shame on her for not doing more dates in the US! Not only was it her most visually exciting show,but it's also her most "musical" tour.What I mean is,her band played a large role.The arrangements of the songs were amazing....they really stretched out a bit,playing longer,extended versions of the songs.The drummer Omar was particularly great.

DavidEye said:

I couldnt agree more, that band was absolutely killer. Ive posted this before on madonna forums and got shot down by everyone saying how her band now is just "amazing" and couldnt be any better. No disrespect to herr current band as Im sure they're all talented, but most of the time I could be listening to a backing track there's so much programmed stuff in there. And im sick of these tinny drums. When she had Omar the Drummer and Louis on percussion, they could keep up with all the programmed shit on erotica and for vogue, and it sounded amazing, and so much more powerful.

CrozzaUK said:

I totally agree!! She really needs to get Omar and Louis back.

DavidEye said:

i think the thing that is missing is Madonna interacting with the audience. i'm hoping after she gets used to this set she'll talk more to the audience.

ehuffnsd said:

a Q & A live from the cross.

CinisterCee said:

that would be hot

CinisterCee said:

I was thinking more on the lines of Janet.

Madonna could pick a guy from the audience and tie him to the cross. Then when the cross is raised she could proceed to rub her ass and tits all over him.

jayaredee said:

lilgish said:

Meh it wouldn't do much besides bragging rights.

If it was one of her male dancers than YES.

DavidEye said:

You have your point. GS was very organic. Very fun!

I adore the Rain performance from it! Maybe the best vocal performance she did (also Nikki and Donna were superb!)

MikeMatronik said:

So madarista tell me, what was the audience's reaction to the cross? Apparently opening night people booed and walked out, lol.
I think she really struck a nerve this time.

jayaredee said:

I didn't hear any boos, and I didn't see anyone leave. If they did, it certainly wasn't many, because it was still packed at the end.
It was my favorite part of the show. Absolutely breathtaking -- the million rays of light that reflected back as the cross was raised. In the evidence of her brilliance. My Christian sensibilities were not offended.

CrozzaUK said:

I agree with you to a certain extent. But I think her band now works for the type of music she is doing now, which is much more electronic than during the Girlie Show era. She's into programmed and electronic music now, so I think that's how she wants it to sound, not a reflection on the band's talent or lack thereof.
But I would love it if in the future she did a more organic band record with not so much programming, even though I love COAD.

There are many reasons she is the most successful female of the rock era. One of which is the fact she puts together a show like no one else ever could.


The show opened with Future Lovers. It started out as a video shot during the W photoshoot with Steven Klien. On the two side catwalks the dancers rose up from beneath the stage dressed as jockeies or bdsm horses. The guys were the horses and the cherography was very horse related. As this was going on a giant disco ball was being lowered down to the main catwalk. Madonna was on the screens doing the spoken intro to future lovers and than the mirror ball opened like a flower and out she came. Up until now i though the best enterence to a show was Kylie during the fever tour but this takes the cake. The dancers and Madonna interacted like a bdsm horse show for the song which included parts of Donna Summer's I Feel Love. I couldn't see most of what was going on the end of the catwalk because that was behind me so all i saw was the mirror ball and their backs. But as they moved down the catwalk she passed within 4 feet of me. They hit the mainstage and Madonna took off her jakcet. She than started Get Together by herself dancing and singing and two of the dancers came out and joined her. THe videos were images of Madonna and than they'd turn into negatives of the same picture. Most of the pictures were from teh RollingStone cover shoot. The third song was Like A Virgin which happened on teh side catwalk across the stage from me. She did a pole dance on a carousel. Very sexual. It's good to have sexual Madonna back. The video was sceens of horses and people falling off of them and the XRays and MRI's of her broken bones. After that came Jump and a trapezee was lowered down on to the catwalk and the dancers were flying around Madonna as she sang. It was totally amazing. The video was cityscapes and fire escapes.

Madonna was lowered below the stage and the big screen came back down on the mainstage. Then it let up like the light of a confessional with little crosses everywhere. The music to Live to Tell started and we could hear Madonna's voice say I have a tale to tell... and than one of the dancers voices started talking about growing up an abusive home. He was doing dance on the side trapazee and there was a video of an abused child. The second dancer came out and started talking about the abuse she had at the hands of her strict Relgious father, who was Muslim. There videos of women in burkas and she was dancing wildly on the catwalk next to me. The third dancer than came out at the end of the main catwalk and he started talking about his early life in the ghetto and joining a gang, and images of drive bys were on the screens. The whole Forum was silent. Than the cross was raised from the floor of the stage with Madonna and the starting of Live To Tell. THe cool thing about the big screen was if nothing was playing you could see through it so the screen was being raised as numbers started to count. At the second verse it had gotten up to 25million. Than images of AIDS Striken Africa and statisitics started to appear on the screens. It was amazing to see Madonna after going 13 years without saying anythinga bout AIDS in concert to showing it's affects today. As the song ended Matthew 23:38-40 flashed on the screen 38 And when saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 And when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, even these least, ye did it unto me.

Then Forbidden Love started. The dancers were men holding hands and doing differnt thing with their hands together. Very much a statement on gay rights. Madonna at one point went over and joined one of the two sets and they all were doing the motions together. The screens were images of cells forming religious symbols The song that followed was Issac. With Yaztik aka Issac joining her on stage to sing his part of the song in Hebrew. It sounded amazing and a girl was in a cage in burka dancing while he was singing and than Madonna rose up from under the catwalk and sang and danced. As Madonna got closer to the mainstage and the cage the cage opened and the girl came out and dancer wildly in her burka tell Madonna touched her and she took it off. Than did some more bellydancing before being lowered in the stage. Madonna walked to the end of the cage and sang some more and the male dancers came out and they all did a great number. the screens were a hawk flying through the desert. Than came Sorry as fight between the boys and the girls. Who won? The girls. I don't remember what was on the screens. Than Madonna struted down the main catwalk passed by me and hit the end and did Like it or Not and just danced with a chair. Than she walked back to the mainstage and was lowered beneath it. A remix of Sorry started, sceens of poaching, war, Bush, Blair, Chenny, Rice, Rumsfield, Hitler, Osama, Pope Benedict XVI, Bush I, Saddam, Nixon, and few other world leaders were shown. THe remix was hot. The video was very pointed.

The thrid section kicked off with Madonna saying don't take this song personally and went into a rocked out version of I Love New York like she did at coachella. This time she said If you don't like my attitude you can f-off just go to texas and suck george bush's dick. The video was the skyline of NY and was followed by the rocked out version of Ray of LIght with the stars and galaxies and Madonna yelling at us to jump. Her guitar playing is much much better than before. Let It Will Be was next. great engery. Same as Coachella. The screens were just the video of her dancing on stage. She slowed things down with an accoustic version of Drowned World which was beautiful and Issac came back and sang with her. Next came an accoustic version of Paradise Not For Me. Which at first I didn't like because the song has no meledy. But after Issac started to sing it in Hebrew i let it go and enjoyed the beauty of the song. This section was the section most people were like what's going on. It really seperated the casual fan from the hardcore.

After Paradise alot of people were sitting down, and the place was dark. than a video montage of all her videos started and people started cheering and than the music for Disco Inferno started. The dancers came out in roller skates for a great number and than Madonna did a meshup of Music and Disco inferno. HOT!!!!! HOT!!! HOT!!!! the place was off the hook. Madonna in a white polyester suit Followed up by a strip tease and a disco version of Erotica... she used the lyrics from the unreleased version. The levels were off for this song though. I could hardly here here. Donna and Nicki were much louder than her. and the dancer was a tango. This was followed by a disco version of La Isla Bonita... my least favorite of the night. NOrmally a really pretty song, but it just seemed like it lost something in this mix. Madonna was wearing a Abba inspired body suit and out came a cape that had lights on the inside and Dancing QUeen on the outside. She did Lucky Star with Donna and Nicki, not the old Niki but a new one, and it was a fun little ditty was mixed straight away into Hung Up. She was lowered beneath the stage as the songs were changing and came back out in a purple leotard. It was great way to end the show. And the screens saying Have You Confessed?

I still can't believe i was 4 feet away from here at points and no more than 15feet away at any one time.

I have this point of view.

Set One Equstrian was Madonna confessioning her points of view of power over her life and sexuality
Set Two MIddle Eastern Madonna confessioning what she thinks is wrong in this world
Set Three Glam Rock Madonna confessing her thoughts on fame.
Set Four Disco Inferno Madonna confessing her love of dance.

ehuffnsd...did you go to the show yet? Is that your review?
[Edited 5/25/06 2:08am]

ehuffnsd thanks for the review, nicely written.

And you know what, the way you analyzed the tour sections seems well guided.

Jay...you going to the show?

DavidEye said:

Yes, at first i wasn't but i couldn't resist. Madonna has me wrapped around her finger and she knows it.

I have tickets for June 21 in Montreal and hopefully i'll get tickets for the June 22 show as well.

jayaredee said:

Good for you! do you have to travel far?

DavidEye said:

No i'm in Toronto so i can just take the train.