http://c1.zedo.com/jsc/c1...tworks.com

By Christian Toto


The mother of reinvention seems more like a master of recycling these days. Madonna, the erstwhile Material Girl-turned-Britney-Spears-mentor, dropped by the MCI Center Sunday night for the first of two District stops on her Re-Invention Tour '04.
Unlike her last tour, Madonna obliged with a healthy dose of fan favorites, from "Like a Prayer" to "Into the Groove."
What stood out for those who have tracked her career through its many phases — virgin, less than virgin, bad actress and children's book author — is that today's Madonna isn't exactly sure who she is.
The show trots out the singer's hit parade of shocks, from political swipes to erotica unhinged, but each came out as if sanitized by time or (gasp) good taste.
She no longer wants to titillate us, and her polemics always fall short of genuine insight.
Madonna, now 45, is one of several '80s icons, including The Cure and Prince, hitting the road again this summer. But while Prince's tour finds the multi-talented musician winning fans anew with his craft, Madonna dazzles with pyrotechnics. The best she can muster musically is to strum an acoustic guitar while a crush of musicians perform behind her, mostly on the periphery of the stage, without a ray of light to illuminate them.
Flanked by massive video screens for much of the affair, Madonna entered from a rising platform to "vogue."
Never mind her occasional British accent, which she should have left behind in her hotel suite.
The singer's voice, an able instrument but hardly her calling card, remained hale throughout the night.
"Burning Up," a nugget better left buried, somehow made the oldies cut, while "Material Girl" got an irony-free treatment. She brought a jazzy touch to "Deeper and Deeper," which showed vocal nuances we didn't know she had.
The best blend of music and the concert's visuals came with "Like a Prayer," which she sang before a backdrop of black churchgoers streaming on the video screens.
The protest singer in her blanketed the night with morose good intentions.
Helicopter sounds and footage of wounded children made it abundantly clear Madonna is against war, but it's equally obvious she isn't interested in mocking our troops. She probably realized she looked smashing in a military beret and olive green shades and took it from there.
Later, she sang an uninspiring version of John Lennon's "Imagine" that was saved only by reverberating guitar chords. She then segued to Scottish bagpipes and drums, which begat "Into the Groove."
One could think for days and not come up with a more incongruous match between music and theme.
The night concluded with a big sign that read "Reinvent Yourself."
One day it might occur to her to actually be herself, and see what happens. It could be the only reinvention she hasn't tried yet

AKA an obvious Madonna hater




Re-invent / Re-cycle. Hint to Christian.. the dictionary is your friend.

Main Entry: [1]re·cy·cle
Pronunciation: (")rE-'sI-k&l
Date: 1926
transitive senses
1 : to pass again through a series of changes or treatments: as a : to process (as liquid body waste, glass, or cans) in order to regain material for human use b : RECOVER 6
2 : to adapt to a new use : ALTER
3 : to bring back : REUSE

Main Entry: re·in·vent
Pronunciation: "rE-&n-'vent
Function: transitive verb
Date: 1686
1 : to make as if for the first time something already invented
2 : to remake or redo completely
3 : to bring into use again
- re·in·ven·tion /-'ven(t)-sh&n/ noun

They basically mean the same damn thing.




WTF?!?!
Again...why do people (artist included) have to be just 1 thing all the time? Wouldn't be much of an artist if you ask me.



If she would've done the oposite, it would've been.."she's old trying to be sexy.." She can't win either way with some people.






A performer twirling fire for about 5 seconds of the whole show is pyrotechnics?



Hear comes the music snobbery again. I wonder if he can even strum a guitar. This late in the game, people are still using the "non-musician" approach. If that's the case....why bother attending a Madonna event? She's played instruments early on in her career. Writes, produces...but she's not a real musician. This sh*t of "real music" gets to me. If people don't 'write' their own songs, or even play an instrument; they automatically become less than. Then when they do they're not as good as. "Yeah...real musician..spiritual cool..soooo deep. That's real music....blah blah blah.





Most original statement I've read so far. NOT




Can we say "contradiction".





Don't agree. But that was funny!!




Did he see the same performance I did? One of the biggest crowd pleasers of the night! Oh well..to each their own.



WHAT?? So..next time she should do the expected? Every love song should have butterflies and roses.. Yeah let's be more unoriginal.




Ok..that closing statement just blows his whole article. People are so damn afraid of change, and taking risks, that when others do, they crucify them.



I can respect him not being a fan. But the article was poorly written and from a 'singular' point of view. Next time he should attend the show of an artist he enjoys.

or aka " I don't know what hell I'm talking about. Don't take me so siriously "

I'm not reading the hate -- but Madonna's re-inventions were much more interesting than the 5 minute blitz of Purple Rain hits that Prince is currently serving up.

actually, nothing he said made the show sound bad! apart from his personal opinions on madonna, herself, he made the show sound good.

idiot.

Chico1 said:

The author is absolutely right about her musicianship... So she can play 3 freaking chords on guitar and you Madonna lovers are acting like that is a big deal. And the quote about her playing instruments, well her skill so ridicuously amatuerish and average why you Madonna asskisse...errr fans even mention it amazes the hell out of me. If I am wrong then prove it, show me footage because the only time I saw that woman playing any type of instrument was on the HBO special and it was 3 chords at the most but damn Madonna was quite pleased with herself.

gman1966 said:

I'm a HUGE Madonna asskisser and I'm not saying shit about her musicianship. The guitar playing is one aspect of a huge show. So while you are a belligerant ass, you aren't wrong about her musicianship. She is an ENTERTAINER. "I'm not the best singer, I'm not the best dancer, but that's not what I'm about. I'm about being provocative, about pushing people's buttons." That she does, and she puts on a fucking amazing show while doing it.

madartista said:

[snip-sos] she needs all that over-produced bullshit to carry her average ass live performances!!!!

gman1966 said:

But see, the performance alone wasn't average. Just as a fan I'm gonna go over the top in loving what I saw, this writer went way over the top in negativity. The people I saw this show with in Vegas loved it -- the crowd was totally into it, and even the version of Imagine had the crowd going crazy. I expected to be totally turned off by the song, but she carried it off well.

asg said:

I'm not going to knock Madonna for recycling. Original is a lot harder nowadays than when she first came out, because she actually has to use her image and the theatrics to sell her music and that's what....hmmm 90% of the new female entertainers are doing now. Let's face it, Madonna was never a fan of competition. I remember when she made that hater comment about how "Gwen Stefani needs to stop copying my image" and "Oh, my album is at number 3, that Mariah album must be at number one again". She's said snotty comments about Whitney and Lauryn Hill too. It's one thing to be outspoken, but being that much of a bitch about not being number 1 over an artist who can....hmm actually sing is pathetic. I still can't understand why she's such good friends with Britney Spears after she made that rude comment about Gwen Stefani....Britney Spears is copying Madonna's image waaay more than Gwen. They're starting to look alike, because I thought that Madonna was Britney on the Grammies. Their shows are similar in that they consist of lots of glitz, many costume changes, and choreography that takes the focus off the fact that neither of these two broads can sing worth a flip. They need all the theatrics, because they don't have the real talent to just do a show without them. More power too them, but I'm not going to congratulate them for the spectacle that is done by the lighting specialists, stylists, and choreographers.

gman1966 said:

1st. Sounds as if someone's a bit bitter. 2nd of all, no one's kissing anyone's ass. And 3rd. Name calling? Something about yourself you're uncomfortable with?

So if she didn't play any instrument, would you have bothered posting on here? You make it clear at every chance you get to put Madonna down. Fine. But there's no need to call people that enjoy her music ass kissers.


Exactly my point. Not everyone was born a musical genius like you. Or perhaps even a child prodigy. So good for you. Give yourself a pat on the back.

'oh my God..she's picking up an instrument. What's she doing? She's not a REAL musician like me. that's so stupid' Yeah..God forbid anyone should attempt or even be interested in playing an instrument. And as a matter of fact..I DO have footage, and pictures of her playing, drums, and guitar before she was even signed to a major label. Oh wait. That still wouldn't be good enough would it? Do I care to show it to you. No. I ,nor any other fan of any artists should have to prove anything to anyone. So while the millions and millions of "ass-kissing" people who've bought her albums, attended her concerts, and sing along to her voice; (which obviously know nothing about real musicians ) You can just be content that you are the alpha the omega the begining and the end of all that is a REAL MUSICIAN.

Take Care and God Bless.

Chico1 said:[quote]

gman1966 said:

Never questioned her popularity, I know she is a superstar and honestly what Madonna has accomplished is amazing and believe me I have ultimate respect for that. I am stating the facts, you are the one that is posting and defending her weak ass musicianship and it has nothing to do with being a "musical genious". So what you have footage anybody can doodle on instruments. The author was stating irrefuteable facts that she was trying to make more out of her performance oon the guitar than it was then you guys come on this site and say "Wow Madonna was playing guitar!!! in all her glorious 3 chords!! Wow....You see, Madonna is a musician!!!". AND AGAIN I saw that HBO special and she was playing at least only 3 chords but to you I guess that is phemonenal!!!

estelle1981 said:

She had 5 costumes, i've seen prince do up to 6. And nothing is orginal and hasn't been for many many many many many many years. It's all been done and said before so who cares who copies who. I've heard Whitney Mariah lauryn Janet and aslew of other female artist bag on Madonna so its just part of being human. Madonna and Britney are prob friends cause they can relate to each other. How many people can really relate to someone who has had their entire life in the media for 21 years? I'm sure it's lonely at the top and and if they can find someone who understands more power to them.

what is the best way to promote yourself when you are washed up and old news, oh yeah, you can kiss the biggest star.....oh yeah you kiss her
[This message was edited Wed Jun 16 2:00:20 2004 by Atomheartretta]

what is the best way to promote yourself when you are washed up and old news, oh yeah, you can kiss the biggest star.....

I apologize for repating myself, but am a huge fan of Marilyn Monroe and I do believe Madonna is in hiding when Marilyn met troops, and no one please say any war has any differences

gman1966 said:

Considering that she's on the year's highest-grossing tour,I don't think too many of her fans really care that she's no Eric Clapton on guitar.Funny,you claim that you're no fan,but yet you always seem to watch what she's doing.You watched the "Drowned World Tour" when it aired on HBO,and no doubt,your ass will be watching the current tour when it airs on CBS.You've become a joke...annoying yet amusing at the same time,lol.

Madonna is the real deal.Don't hate,congratulate

Atomheartretta said:

Crack is whack

Prime Madonna
In A Show That's More Circus Than Concert,the 45-Year Old Ringmaster Reigns

By David Segal
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday,June 15,2004;Page C01


By the time the skateboarder began riding a half-pipe ramp set up in the middle of the stage,there was no choice but surrender.The guy was soaring to the right,then to the left,just like they do in the X Games,and at that point anyone who wasn't already entertained into submission had to wave the white flag.

Still to come was a troupe of bagpipers,a tapdancer in white tails and a trapeze trio that swayed and contorted in unison.An hour into the Madonna concert at MCI Center on Sunday night,the realization dawned: Our Material Girl was never going to run out of material.

Certainly not until she had wheezed new meaning into the word "concert".It's unclear what a night at the "Reinvention Tour" should be labeled,but the words currently available won't suffice.Madonna has created a new performance hybrid,one that lifts and blends elements of Broadway,Cirque du Soleil,Rock the Vote rallies,art installations,extreme sporting events,church sermons,disco dances,and gun-spinning military drills.For a few songs,it even looked like a rock concert.

Here's the weird part: It's not a mess.It's actually kind of amazing.Pretentious and annoyingly preachy at moments,yes.Strangely devoid of titillation and almost tame by the standards of her naughty-naughty phase,sure.But measured in verve,nerve and technical wizardry,it's hard to leave this epic extravaganza feeling anything less than awe.

Just the seamlessness of it all is impressive.What's here---and what was repeated for a second evening last night---is a series of elaborate set pieces and costume dramas without a unifying thread,aside from Madonna's recording career.You imagine that a horde of roadies,miles of wire and a bank of IMacs were needed to make the gears of this machine whir correctly,yet the whole thing unfolds,wheels into place and lights up without a hint of effort.Even Madonna doesn't seem to be sweating much,which is a miracle,and not just because the air conditioning at MCI Center was turned off for much of the show (safe bet that was the star's idea;she hates air conditioning).She's onstage every minute except the time it takes to switch outfits.

The difference between this show and the last,the "Drowned World Tour" of 2001,was striking.That show seems standoffish compared with this one,in part because Madonna has finally worked through whatever issues prevented her from performing her earliest hits.

"We're going to take a trip down memory lane",she said in one of the few asides to the audience.And we did."Papa Don't Preach","Like A Prayer" and "Into The Groove" were revived,and Madonna treated those tunes like former friends with whom she wanted to party again.As surprising,Madonna managed to sell a few songs from her latest album "American Life",an absolute stinker that vanished shortly after it's release last year.For the title track,she ran down a lengthy V-shaped catwalk that descended from the ceiling and allowed her to dance about 20 feet over the heads of fans near the middle of MCI.She ended that number by flipping the crowd the British equivalent of the bird (it's the peace sign,only with the back of the hand to the recipient,if you're interested).Either nobody realized it,or nobody minded.

Nobody seemed bothered by the antiwar,anti-Bush politics of the show,either.Every few songs,including a wistful take on John Lennon's "Imagine",there were photo montages of war-ravaged children,bombed-out villages and heavy artillery.At one point,a video showed a Dubya look-alike lovingly resting his head on the shoulder of a Saddam Hussein look-alike,as though the pair were waiting for a marriage license.

Gutsy? Not at this point,now that it's safe to stand against the administration and safe to rant about Iraq.Madonna would have earned points for courage if,last year,at the time of the U.S. invasion,she hadn't yanked the video for "American Life",which ridiculed Bush as a warmongering nincompoop.

No doubt Madonna was worried she'd get Dixie Chicked---that country thressome paid dearly for criticizing the president during a show last year---and maybe that fear was legitimate.But her finger-wagging Sunday night felt like catch-up,and it was turned into a "Miss Saigon"-styled dance number that trivialized its own point of view.With the sound of a chopper thump-thumping in the background,her backup dancers,dressed as solidiers,crawled on their bellies as though in the middle of battle,then hugged each other as if saying good-bye.The the fellas danced around Madonna,now in her Patty Hearst get-up---camouflage pants,an olive army jacket,black beret.

"Stop all wars",Madonna commanded,before she and the Madonnistas left the stage for a costume change.

Will do,babe.Now play some of your hits okay? Sillier still,Madonna kept pushing Kabala,a Jewish form of mysticism that's become the rage with celebrities in search of spiritual feeding.Hebrew letters,without translation,flashed time and time again,and Madonna sang the last several numbers,including "Crazy for You",wearing a T-shirt that read "Kabbalsists do it better".

A veteran button-pusher,Madonna has apparently given up on the one button she pushed better than any other: sex.It makes sense that a mom of 45 would give up her bullet bra and skip the bedroom bump and grind that was a staple of her early arena shows.But "Reinvention" is filled with creepy screen images of naked bodies,all of them quivering and distressed through an editing technique that will be familiar to anyone who's seen a Marilyn Manson video.It's supposed to be arty,and at moments it is.It's also grim,especially if you're expecting a glimpse of the Madonna who made that porno book long ago.

She's gone,and in her place is P.T. Barnum with a microphone and a glittering,age-appropriate corset.For a few tunes,Madonna even played guitar in front of her otherwise low-profile band,looking alot like Sheryl Crow and strumming the bejesus out of the instrument.

Thanks to such interludes,the occasional darkness of "Reinvention" is overwhelmed by the dazzle of it's expertly synchronized parts,not to mention Madonna's willingness to at leat pretend to enjoy her audience again.She didn't come back for an encore,but she closed with "Holiday",amid cannon shots of confetti and a building filled with fans screaming so loud they seemed to forget the price of the tickets.

And the best seats,for the record,sold for $303.

Atomheartretta said:

This is such a stupid argument!

For god's sake! Of course it's different. I'm not going to get into a debate on this in this forum though.


And how the bugger can you be in hiding on a WORLD TOUR? Jesus. Some

And before you reply - check my avatar.

Well im going to the madison square garden concert next Monday
hope its better than im expecting

its dumb to compare P to Madonna...
even I know that

Luv4oneanotha said:

exactly.prince do concerts, madonna do shows.

"Madonna said snotty comments about Lauryn Hill"


Bullshit.Madonna said no such thing.In fact,she's a huge fan of Lauryn,and I have a picture of them together backstage at the 1999 Grammys.

DavidEye said:

There he is….There he is…. The #1 ass.. oh I’m sorry… fan, the defender of Madonna on Prince.org…DavidEye.

You say I am a joke, annoying yet amusing, well let me retort……

You say “she is not Eric Clapton on guitar”, well that is helluva understatement anymore
original observations or statements like that my man….

Highest grossing concert or selling out stadiums, that’s not the issue hell I don’t care for
George Strait, but he can fill football stadiums, 60,000+ – it’s all relative.

What amuses me when someone say Madonna sucks as a musician (which she does) like in that previous review of her concert, here comes the Madonna brigade “Oh Madonna this” “Oh Madonna that” I am not really knocking her, it’s just the truth man. You guys make more out of her ability than it really is.

Yes, I watched that Drowned World Tour because I wanted to check out her ability as a live performer and the conclusion is this or analysis as you would say of Madonna. She is one-dimensional – take away the over the top productions, the crew of dancers, the over-staged and over-rehearsed choreography she is not that good live- Madonna built her fame from videos period. Again it’s all relative. I am not into big spectacle type concerts if I want that I will take my niece to see Barnum & Ringly Circus. I would rather see a person just sit on a stool and groove with pure musical ability. Not just Prince, but someone like B.B. King for example.

Funny thing is I have seen many post where you have put down other artists but when anyone talk about your beloved Madonna - Oh boy!!!!

i think we need to take madonna for what she is. an entertainer. she is not prince/beatles/hendrix etc. i am the first person to call madonna out on her pretenses but, let's face it, when it comes to entertainers...madonna is without a peer. even people who don't like her still pay attention.

gman1966 said:

That's a bit unfair. DavidEye always backs up his arguments with sound knowledge of Madonna. It's not like he's shamelessly ranting. He knows his stuff and backs up his defence of her with good examples.

gman1966 said:

I agree with some of your points.but why do you go to a concert if all you gonna watch is the artist playing guitar infront of you. I better listen to my CDs.

If I am paying for a concert I wanna see a show. I want to be entertained. I want the artist to excite me. Wheter it is with a laser show, or dance or whatever. you know what i mean

gman1966 said:

That's the point I've been trying to make, but I get called a Madonna hater. Plain and simple, without the theatrics, the publicity stunts, and the well-done music videos, Madonna wouldn't be any bigger than Paula Abdul and that's the truth. Her shows are always going to be big spectacles, because that's the only way she can sell herself. But, artists like B.B. King, Prince, and Patti LaBelle could sell their shows either as a spectacle, or as a simple production. It actually takes a lot more skill to go against the grain and not do what is popular or expected. We all knew that Madonna's show was going to have a lot of theatrics the moment she mentioned she was going on tour. It's a typical Madonna show, that just happens to have $300 tickets.

LightOfArt said:

Bloody hell, LightOfArt - I think we agree on something!

I love watching Prince concerts but there's something far more exciting about the sort of show that Madonna puts on.

gman1966 said:

Well so have any artist the emerged from the Mtv era.
And yes...Madonna was around BEFORE eMpTyV.

Prince, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Eric Clapton, Tina Turner, even the Beatles, have done music videos. Madonna just does them better! So I find it a bit hypocritical when people or other so called artists slag her off as purely a video artist; then turn around and watch a music video or make one of their own. "It's only about the music..." Fine..then stay the f*ck off t.v., don't do magazine covers, talk shows, photo shoots, etc. Let the music speak for itself.


Reminds me of an Mtv press conference where John Oats said something to the effect of 'I didn't get in the music business to become an actor...' and Madonna turn to him and said, 'But you are acting when you make a music video, because you're really not playing the guitar'.

What's that? No come back John?