I went to Madonna this week after being offered a free ticket three times.
For some reason, I had no urge to go. But, on the third offer, I went.
And, it was incredible! But, to best sum up my experience, I turn to my friend Nick who already has:
The video installation stuff that played during "The Beast Within" was truly haunting and moving. "Vogue" was an astonishing opening number, followed by "Nobody Knows Me." Then came "Frozen" which was one of the most intense numbers of the night. Christian and I just kept looking at each other, mouths wide open, both thinking, "I didn't know she was such a good singer!" Her voice was just -- uncharacteristically powerful. "Giiiiiiiiive yourself to meeeee."
Then came the military-themed anti-Bush portion of the program, highlighted by "American Life" and "Express Yourself." She stalked around a descended catwalk for these songs and, as Christian pointed out, used her fingers to gesture a "W" to the audience, which she then dropped for a single middle finger for our good old Prez. Go you, bitch! They played additional footage from the withdrawn "American Life" video in the background -- a running Iraqi woman on fire, models beating one another on the catwalk, and a final shot of Bush and Saddam lookalikes cuddling up to one another as blood drips down and covers the screen. She closed that heavy set with "Burning Up" and "Material Girl" which lightened the mood.
As she changed outfits, her dancers (including a skateboarder and some amazing man that did some amazing things with his body - that's the only way I can describe it) wowed the audience while a remix of "Hollywood" played. Then Madonna and her female dancers returned for a snarky version of "Hanky Panky" followed by a subdued, ballad version of "Deeper and Deeper." Then they were doing the tango to "Die Another Day" (with some really intense video images), followed by "The Lament" (from Evita) as she was strapped into an electric chair. This was another vocal highlight for the evening. She just sounded amazing. As she descended into the floor for her execution, a remarkable new video for "Bedtime Story" played on the screen as her dancers, suspended in the air and dangling on large swings, entertained us.
Then, Madonna was back - this time strumming an acoustic guitar for "Nothing Fails." It was a truly gorgeous rendition, followed by line-dancing for "Don't Tell Me." Then she ordered everybody to get off their asses (I can't imagine anybody was sitting down, we really never even had a chance to, neither did anybody around us) for a show-stopping rendition of "Like a Prayer." That performance, by itself, was a bit of a religious experience. Then she segued into a really gorgeous version of "Mother & Father" (minus the treated vocals) with a snippet of "Intervention" thrown in for good measure, before closing the set with her much-criticized cover of Lennon's "Imagine." I'd agree that this was probably the low-point of the evening in a few ways. Number one, nobody but John Lennon sounds any good singing this song. It belongs to him, period. That having been said, her covering the song seemed genuinely sincere and heartfelt, and the video screens showed the consequences of our policies and our wars on children: from starving and malnourished African infants to young, Middle-Eastern boys toting machine guns.
The final portion of the show began with two bagpipe players and a makeshift marching band getting the audience riled up before an amazing rendition of "Into the Groove." Missy Elliott popped up on a video screen and Madonna and her six dancers wore kilts. At the song's conclusion, they bent over, lifted their kilts, and "mooned" the audience to spell the word FREEDOM with the letters on their underpants. It was adorable. Next came a powerful rendition of "Papa Don't Preach" and then a soulful "Crazy for You" which she dedicated to "all my fans who have been with me through thick and fucking thin for the last twenty years." The show closed with reinvented, remixed versions of "Music" and "Holiday." Confetti cannons showered the audience and made the mark that all good things must come to an end. But in my mind, folks, that was one night that will keep going and going and going...
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