I just got back from two days of debauchery, drinking, smoking, gambling, and madonna...all of my addictions in one!

The show was OFF THE CHAIN! I must say I was the most apprehensive I've ever been walking into an M show being that I think the cross thing is dumb and the pictures I'd seen online looked whack and I wasn't thrilled with the setlist (La Isla Bonita, Paradise, Isaac... ) but DAYUM...she's like wine as a stage performer, just gets better with age. She was every inch a rock star during Let It Will Be, a sexy pole dancer during Like A Virgin, and the BEST...John Travolta during Music. The last quarter of the show was the best segment of any Madonna tour ever. I was a little bored during the mid section which gets all messagey and slow numbers...I dunno, during the whole middle Eastern thing I was thinking oh no, this might be her worst show ever...but by Ray of Light it was totally turned around. The way she segues from the slow Paradise to the mix of Disco Inferno with Music...the fact that she actually sang part of I Feel Love...LUCKY STAR! Never loved this song, but the new version is HOT HOT HOT. And "Erotica"...seeing her do the title track from my fave album of hers mixed with a little known B Side...and her dancing has never been better. The way they made up Hung Up for the encore kicks her other performances of it in the ass. I can't wait to go again Tuesday!

My only gripes:

1. The video screens....suck. Mostly. Except of course the video footage of her...but the backdrops and designs and graphics are way below par compared to ReInvention.

2. Isaac...I still...I don't know why she brought this Hebrew singer on the tour. Doesn't enhance it whatsoever. The two numbers he is in are the two weakest by far. They both bog the otherwise great momentum down. My dad goes "what a way to kill a concert." lol.

3. The cross, the thorns, the Catholicism, the pictures of suffering childern..."I've heard it all before, I've heard it all before..." BORING. I don't want to see that shit at a Madonna show, and the cross thing is SOOOOO 1989. Been there, done that, time to push some new buttons girl.

4. Too many Confessions songs in a row in the middle. I love the album but damn, remember there are casual fans in the audience who want Material Girl and Cherish. Break it up a LITTLE.

5. No more long stretches of songs about not being fulfilled by fame all in a row (Let It Will Be, Drowned World, Paradise)...if you didn't like being famous you wouldn't be up there on stage and we wouldn't be in the audience. You get to pay your bills by shaking your ass in a retro leotard in front of thousands of people paying hundreds of bucks to worship you. The rest of our jobs suck.


Now...The BEST parts...

1. Costumes. THEY KICK REINVENTIONS ASS!

2. The choreography. Second only to the Girlie Show...kicks REINVENTIONS ASS ALL THE WAY IN.

3. Vocals. Much better than any other show before. Relaxed, confident, not trying to sound to singery and not at all nasal like RIT.

4. Body. Damn bitch. Humping the floor, humping the boombox, humping the stairs, humping the dancers...those quads and hamstrings are some of her best works of art.

5. Stuart Price. Man is A GENIUS. You can tell he had much more creative control as musical director and the overall flow of the show than ever before...and he kills it. He rules.

Ok...longest post in history. I'll shut the fuck up now.

glad you liked it... and Stuart himself is like Madonna and how they both would rather new mostly newer material... i don't think guy or ingrid have much control in getting Madonna to do older songs.

ehuffnsd said:

Well of course he would want newer material - he produced it.

VoicesCarry said:

he made the comment orginally during an interview piror to DWT

glad you enjoyed the show....i think

i can understand what you're saying about her playing the hits for casual fans, but she's played them all before. the Drowned World Tour perhaps being the exception along with Confessions of mainly newer material. she probably thought 'they've had plenty of chances to see me sing the hits'. lol
andyou've got to try out new material and grow. but i do think 1 or 2 previous hits would've been nice.

as far as the choreography, it seemed a bit, if not a lot, toned down from previous concerts. i.e. DWT and RIT. however,"Jump" and "Future Lovers" stand out.

the video screens..well yes. they did not compare to RIT. i don't think anything ever could. but i read it was a much more stripped down tour, so i excpected it.

"Get Together" was an early highlight. Madonna by herself, a mic, and her dancing. classic. the crowd really responded to that when i saw her.

i was laughing at the light up cape though. pulling out the oldest gag in the book. i remember saying out loud.. "no she didn't!!"

no one puts on a show like MADONNA! NO ONE!


my biggest gripe is that i wish they'd release studio versions of the live versions from her tours!!!
[Edited 5/28/06 13:33pm]

ehuffnsd said:

For an artist with her sort of career, as long as they don't do lame album tracks, I am OK with a tour that focuses on newer material. But when it's bullshit like Paradise (Not For Me), uh uh, don't waste our time.

CHIC0 said:

agreed. i remember she talked about doing a live album of the girlie show...shit would have been off the hook.

as far as get together...i was a bit diappointed as it's one of my favorite new songs and it was...ehh...how many times is she going to recycle those knee bends from five years ago?

but "jump" my fave song be her in the past 7/8 years...that shit was awesome.

badujunkie said:

for some reason i was picturing dancers jumping from the ceiling on bungie chords. lol

i also think in general,especially with Madonna fans, they have an insatiable appetite for her performances. we want her to perform every song she ever done.
she'd still be on the 1st show of the tour right now.
[Edited 5/28/06 13:48pm]

Paradise is my fave M song...but from that MP3 i heard (opening night)
It sucked..that Yitzak/Isaac man was off Key & completely ruined..
Still, It's kinda refreshing Madonna not being the one who's off key..

Sounds great, i wasn't going to go but with all the glowing reviews and being a huge M fan i couldn't resist.

So it's only a matter of time before the clueless posters come here and complain about her lip synching

jayaredee said:

I wish I could go with you . That would be a good night out.

CHIC0 said:

They actually released the Erotica/You thrill Me mix on Icon. Someone ripped it and shared it with moi.

VoicesCarry said:

Aww, well they're crap seats so i don't know what kind of time you'd have

jayaredee said:

We could buy little glittery binoculars

VoicesCarry said:

VoicesCarry said:

That's too cute.

You know how she likes to do obscure tracks on tour such as "Paradise" and "Drowned World." Well, i've been getting back into Bedtime Stories and realize that album has gotton no love on any tour. She performed only a few of the singles. What about "Sanctuary," "Love tried to welcome me," or "Inside of Me."

Martinelli said:

when i first heard Paradise... my complaint was that the song has no real melody. but once i let go of that and sat back and took it in and listend to Issac sing a bit in hebrew i started to ,like it. The screens for that song were great.

i think this was the best cherography Madonna has done since the Girlie Show. i also think Stuart is growing into being a MD. I don't know if will ever compare to Jai Winding... who i think was her best... yes i think he was better than Patrick Leonnard when it came to put the shows together live.

did anyone get the program?? Is Michael McKnight back on board for programming?

jayaredee said:

i was thinking the same thing. besides the mini promo tour when it came out..nothing. the three tracks you mentioned would've been a nice addition to this tour. and i wish she would've kept "you'll see" on the DWT.

CHIC0 said:

You'll See wasn't used alot because of her voice and the range in the song.... some days she'd be able to pull it off others she wouldn'tj

ehuffnsd said:

stuart price

CHIC0 said:

i know he's the MD... but Michael is back on board doing programming and extra keys under the stage like he has since Who's That Girl?

ehuffnsd said:

in the programme is reads..

stuart price - musical director, keyboards, & programmer
there's no mention of Michael. not that i can see anyway.
[Edited 5/28/06 17:46pm]

CHIC0 said:

how sad!!! It's just Donna now as her longest employeed person

jayaredee said:

I would love to see "Inside Of Me".

VoicesCarry said:

me also.
anything from bedtime stories, my second fave M album. survival, forbidden love...hell, even take a bow. love that album. i hate how around the time of DWT she said it was a "celebration of my last 3 albums." yeah...human nature and secret...wow, what a full on tour de force of that album.

I am SO looking forward to seeing her in Japan this September--hopefully my work schedule will allow it! If I make it, it will be my first time seeing her! I've even almost talked myself into splurging for one of the best seats (almost $500!). Thanks for all the commentary!

CandaceS said:

It's good to see her going back to Japan, making it seem less like an American and European venture.

I'm seeing her tonight and tomorrow night!