For those trying to remain surprised, read this AFTER you see the show. I will be giving some surprises away.

when madonna made the announcement she was going on tour and said she wanted to turn the world into a dance floor, i was led to believe she was going to have an all out dance show. Simply put, this was not that show. i expected a very different vibe. no worries, though, i wasn't disappointed as much as i was surprised.

i danced the whole night. i think i only sat down during live to tell, drowned world, and paradise. The performance of live to tell, by the way, is so NOT offensive. the cross was a silly – and obviously attention seeking ploy – but in no way was it a mockery or insult to christianity. Quite the opposite, actually, when you see quotes from matthew 25:35 on the screen. i love ny is my least favorite album track but damn if ol' girl didn't RAWK it when she performed that back to back to back with let it will be and ray of light! very nice set of songs! the whole disco fever/saturday night fever segment was, of course, the best part of the show. hands down, when we saw those older images of vadge the audience went nuts! the disco inferno/music combo was fucking brilliant as was the erotica/you thrill me bit. really, that whole segment was absolutely flawless!

the opening segment was hot!! H A U T E!!! from the opening screen video straight through to like a virgin...and that entrance! get the fuck outta here with that entrance. brilliant! the dance routine for future lovers was the best of the show. really. i think her entrance was so good, it was almost like she had to fight through the rest of the show just to live up to it! (and that's not meant as a critique on the rest of the show as much as its meant as a compliment to that opening number.)

the closing of that first segment was a bit awkward, though. in my opinion, jump was wasted. i didn't care for the bars and the swinging and jumping around them. it seemed very unimaginative and incomplete, like they just couldn't figure out what to do or how to do it. jump is one of my favorite songs on confessions but, honestly, i would have preferred it were left off the setlist if this is the best they could come up with. it could have been a great closing track, complete with trampolines, acrobatic routines, a balance beam, and a gymnastic horse (bring things back to horses as a closer). that would have been much more exciting and fun to watch than a couple of guys jumping around a giant jungle gym while madonna looked, quite frankly, out of place at her own show.

i also didn't care much for drowned world and paradise. i loved the way paradise was performed...totally loved it. i just thought it brought the mood down waaaay too much. going from that great menage a trois (i love ny/let it will be/ray of light) to those two sleepers was like a record skipping at a disco.

all in all, it was a great show! i enjoyed it much more than the drowned world tour and i thought the setlist was superior to her reinvention tour. it was worth the wait and worth the money i spent. that said, it wasn't as visually pleasing as her previous outing and often times while my ears and feet were thrilled, my eyes were kinda bored. at times the show was a bit too minimalistic for such a steep ticket price. in other words, i don't think it lived up to its $350 price tag. i'm glad i "only" paid $165. I want to stress that I really loved the show. I was singing the whole way home and I was definitely riding a natural high the whole time. I have no complaints about the show, only some mild critiques. Regardless of those critiques, madonna managed to pull off what many performers completely fail at; for two hours I forgot how broke I was and I forgot about all the responsibilities that lie outside those venues doors. And in the end, isn’t that what a madonna show is all about?


[Edited 6/1/06 17:17pm]

first!

Lovely review, thank you. Seems like your pussy was pumped yet again.

great review, thanks for posting!

Glad to see you didn't stroke out when she got up on that disco cross

Glad you liked it and I'm glad the "Live To Tell" part wasn't totally tacky. I'm more likely to try to go now.

I haven't even seen the show yet, but I agree that the slower numbers should be left out as well. This setlist seems really schizo to me.

spot on review Sassy! and i agree, that the whole "turn the world into a dance floor" quote really wasn't lived up to. but i wsn't dissapointed in the least.

Where were your seats?

GangstaFam said:

here's a visual (and heartbeatocean was in the row immediately behind me!)...

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

you must have the strangest impression of me.

CHIC0 said:

not disappointing at all!

sallysassalot said:

Cool. Was the house packed?

glad you liked it.

55.00 - do you get to see anything?

GangstaFam said:

it was sold out but, no, it wasn't packed. the show started about 40 minutes late (which seems to be the norm with her shows) and i think they spent that time filling up the lower tiers with people from the upper tiers.

you know what's cool? We got to see this show while it's still "new" and fresh.I'm thrilled that she decided to begin her tour on the West Coast.Makes me feel special The Bay Area always shows her alot of love and she knows it.


She's got to release this show on DVD or I am gonna be pissed!

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

This part wasn't offensive or tacky at all.I liked it alot.For me,it was the emotional highlight of the show.

sallysassalot said:

I was in section 109....to the right of where Sassy and Heartbeatocean were sitting.I'm sure they will agree with me when I say that our seats were GREAT.For a show like this,you want to be facing the stage.On the first night,I sat in a section that was closer to the stage,but it was more on the side.

Before Tuesday night's show,I met the two dancers in this pic.They were just hanging outside the arena,walking around.VERY COOL GUYS! We talked for awhile.They're cousins and have danced with other artists,including Busta Rhymes.I wanted to ask them a million questions,but I didn't want to annoy them btw,this pic is taken from the performance of "Get Together"

[Edited 6/2/06 2:47am]

GangstaFam said:

You better go this show!! You will hate yourself if you miss TWO Madonna tours in a row,lol.

DavidEye said:

I'll live...

MartyMcFly said:

to tell?

sallysassalot said:

Until you rebuke your evil ways, I will never stop believing you're a sell out. But I still like you tho

great review! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

can you define sell out? i fear you're misusing the phrase or confusing me for someone else.

.
[Edited 6/2/06 16:46pm]

sallysassalot said:

I am not confused or misusing jack crap son You know exactly what I'm talking about

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

i've always been true to myself and i'm pretty sure that makes me exempt from sellout status.

lilgish said:

Probably a pretty strange angle from the back, but you'd see something. I have a friend who sat very close to the stage on the side in the $350 seats and she told me she missed a lot of the action, couldn't see all the screens, etc. It would be better to get an upper level seat further back to get the full view, in my opinion.

DavidEye said:

As I get more distance from the experience, I think the cross sequence was extremely powerful and deep. Definitely, the deepest most meaningful moment. Amazing how she can place that kind of reflective spiritual feeling inside a show about disco. Go figure. Pretty brilliant if you ask me.

DavidEye said:

I loved our seats!!! They were similar to where I sat for the Rolling Stones too and I'm starting to think center stage, lower level is my favorite position. Totally strange and karmic how we all sat right together.