LiveToTell86 said:

Confessions:
Section One Madonna confessions on love and sex
Section Two Madonna confessions on the world
Section Three Madonna confessions on fame
Section Four Madonna confessions on dance

i don't think there is anything in sticky and sweet quite the same way.. than again i'd have to see it again in it's entirity to figure out what the themes might be.

OK, so totally unbiased, I sat down and gave the show another chance last night. My dear friend who is also a lifelong diehard M fan (the first M show I took her to was RIT) has a bootleg copy sent to her from her friend in China. (Think the show was from Brazil).

--Body and opening costume with white hat, and her 3rd colorful costume - amazing. Beautiful. elegant, sexy, wonderful to look at. She looked DAMN good.

--Vocals: horrendous. Horrendous. She put the 'ho' in 'horrendous' this time around. Maybe she refuses to lip synch at ALL, maybe it's the vocal techniques she's learned over the years she now tries to employ, maybe she now takes herself 'seriously' as a singer - whatever the case, the mixing of her vocals, her pitch, tone, delivery, control, and vocal quality were the WORST I HAVE EVER HEARD HER ON TOUR. VIRGIN TOUR AND BA INCLUDED. My friend remarked that Borderline sounded like 'bad, drunk karaoke.' I don't think she hit one note on that song. If I had a dime for every note she missed, I would have raked in more $ than Live Nation from this show. Vocally she hit her peak on RIT. Her dancing especially shone on Confessions. As an all around entertainer, Girlie Show is still her best, technically speaking on dance and voice.

--Choreography: FIRE. JAMIE. KING. every dumb step she and her dancers did was in sets of 4. The choreography in 'Music' and 'Beat Goes On' (step, kick, step, kick) was the most rudimentary, LAZY, phoned in bullshit I have ever seen her do onstage. Worse than that 2003 VMA mess of a routine. Horrible. Detestable. Wretched. Words can't do justice. And it's not just 'she's old now, she can't dance' - Confessions was only 2 years ago and her dancing in 'Erotica' and 'Sorry' was off the chain! FIRE. THAT. TIRED. AEROBICS. INSTRUCTOR. NOW! And her attempt at dancing more 'street' - especially on 'Candy Shop' - lord, help us all. Janet's worst, most played out, most recycled moves from Rock Witchu were 100 times better than the best moments of S&S, choreographically speaking.

--Setlist: not that bad. I rescind. For every lame choice (Must Love Me, Doli Doli, the bad reinventions) there was a 'Vogue,' 'Like A Prayer,' or 'Music.' The songs she chose from HC were mostly all strong choices, save 'Devil' and the title song. That whole track does her NO favors. Also, I would have happily done without a couple of the HC songs in loo of two of the best from that album - 'Voices' and 'Incredible.' Oh well. Love that she threw in a request section. That's where she sounded the best!

--No cohesive theme: Confessions was so outrageous, from the equestrian to the Middle East to NYC to Disco - but somehow it worked. It all belonged under the same roof. It was seemless. This just seemed half-assed, tired, and uninspired. How many more times does she need a 'Latin' or 'Gypsy' or 'World Music' section heavy on ballads and folk versions? Wasn't the pimp ghetto thing done originally on BA and then rehashed for DWT? The Japanese / Anime influence? SO 2001. The 80s jump roping? Was that the best 'new' idea she could come up with? Keith Haring? She's been using him as an influence for her look and her performances since 1982.
[Edited 12/29/08 18:26pm]
[Edited 12/29/08 18:28pm]

How did this woman have the biggest selling tour of 2008, if the show is lousy?

angel345 said:

That's what I've been asking myself ever since I Paid a shit load to see her!

ehuffnsd said:

Those are very vague. "Love and sex", "world", "dance"? These could describe any of her tour segments.

badjunkie said:

Sorry, but your memories of BAT should be revisited. Those vocals were the "ho" in "horrendous", check "Open Your Heart" or "Sooner Or Later" at the Barcelona show and you'll see.
She does use a lot of backing tapes on this tour (just like in BAT) and I agree that "Borderline", "4 Minutes" & "Ray Of Light" sound bad, but on CT she had that with "Like It Or Not" & "Let It Will Be" plus that tour had a lot more lipsynching. The RIT had better vocals indeed but that tour had a LOT more "just standing there" numbers!



The cohesive theme thing has been overrated on her tour since day 1. What was Equestrian in "Get Together" CT, Military in "Material Girl" RIT, cabaret in "Die Another Day RIT, Metropolis in "Where's The Party" BAT and so on. She usually slips into some kinda costume and everyone assumes she has a theme or a message while that only stood in the religious segment of BAT & Geisha DWT.

The Latin thing is going to be done forever because of "La Isla Bonita", it was on practically 5 tours by now. There was no "world music" before though, neither Gypsy, I believe those are brand new for her tours.

What pimp ghetto thing on BAT? There was only a gross pink fur section on that tour, that had nothing on this one. The DWT Japanese was much different, that was centered around martial arts and geisha while this has the superhero rave theme.

The guitar/acoustic segment will always be there, just like the rock stuff because she needs to take break from dance numbers. Or you'd prefer her just standing behind the mic like "Frozen" RIT?

And as for rehashing, I think the RIT was far worse, with doing the Louis XVI style "Vogue" AGAIN after VMA 1990, or the cabaret segment with "Hanky Panky" that was already done on BAT... And I always say that since she tours in every 2 years now, I think fans should give her a break about "not having enough" ideas. She had 8 years to come up with DWT after all!

Oh and it's all about opinions, so I say that I take *any* dancing on S&ST over the boring and tired "Erotica" routine from CT. That kinda choreography puts me to sleep, I'm glad that after 3 tours, that was left out by now.

About "Sorry", that number was criticized by the vast majority of fans that it's only "yoga poses"...

LiveToTell86 said:

So...she gets a pass for being lazy with coming up with shit? It's her only job to sit there and come up with ideas for her shit...I don't get why you're nit picking at certain ideas and then claiming she doesn't even have a unified themes on her shows??? She does! At least she tries to...

i am a FAN. i was born a fan and will die a fan. but i speak up when she sorely disappoints. i feel she has been half assed about her career output for the past 2 years. Sorry. I do. If you love S&S, great, I wish I did too.

angel345 said:

generally, you buy concert tickets before you've seen the concert

errant said:

Yeah, but bad reviews from the first dates would have slowed sales on later dates if it were that lousy.

The DVD is coming out in March, possibly a double disc, released by Universal. That's what MadonnaOnline.br revealed the other day. Can't wait!!!

funkteer said:

What happened? Why did she give you the finger?

I think its her best concert and because I think she is the best touring act I think this is the best tour ever.
Confessions Tour is so overrated. I prefer this tour because its more fun, I think she had the blast of her life. She hadnt danced that fearlessly since Blond Ambition. She looked amazing. Believe me, I saw it from the first raw in Budva. She was magnificent. Highlight: The Beat Goes On, Give It To Me, LAP, Vogue, La Is La Bonita, You Must Love, Devil and everything in between.

angel345 said:

She gave the audience the finger on every single show of the Confessions Tour, at the end of "Sorry".

jtfolden said:

weren't most of the tickets sold before she even performed a show?

This is the order for me:

Drowned World
Confessions
Virgin Tour
Blonde Ambition
Girlie Show

LiveToTell86 said:

Some artists take bows and blow kisses. Madonna at the ripe old age of 50 gives her fans the finger.

Fuck u too, Madonna!