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Post by BurlyBeaR on Feb 6, 2020 15:54:58 GMT
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Post by danb on Feb 6, 2020 16:35:17 GMT
I remember spending the best part of a Sunday morning in a call box at the end of our street trying go book tickets for the WTG tour with my dads Barclaycard! I was gobsmacked when I got through and got the tickets! I think I must have booked an organised coach trip to Blond Ambition as I don’t remember a similar phone scramble for that.
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Post by floorshow on Feb 6, 2020 17:45:18 GMT
*I scared the cr*p out of the 30-somethings next to me, telling them we had to get in line at Wembley Stadium at 3.30am to buy tickets for "Who's That Girl" in 1987. No web or easy phone booking back then, LOL. I think those 3 years saw the arrival of little pop up ticketmasters in travel agents and department stores - no more mornings on the phone or sending cheques or postal orders for tickets
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Post by TallPaul on Feb 6, 2020 17:54:29 GMT
There's that scene in Blinded by the Light where the protagonist has to excuse himself on the morning of his sister's wedding, so he can rush to Our Price to buy a ticket for his first Bruce Springsteen gig.
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Post by danb on Feb 6, 2020 18:11:49 GMT
Think it was a Barry Cooper coach from Warrington that I got...if they weren’t busy ferrying us to swimming lessons it was Alton Towers or the Challenge Cup final! Used to love a coach trip 😬
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2020 20:48:26 GMT
Ah you’re all so lucky to have seen her earlier tours. Sadly I wasn’t born.
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Post by learfan on Feb 7, 2020 17:31:19 GMT
Was at the same show last night. Madonna, A cappella with "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" to Andrew Lloyd Webber in his own theatre... c'mon, I'd have pretty much paid what I paid for that ticket and said "take more if you need it."
Anyway, for me the show was utterly, utterly stunning and brilliant in every single respect. Madge looked 20 years younger than she is, those knee supports vanished half way through the show and by my watch she was on at 9.05, off 11.15, pretty much non-stop. AND she did a bit of "La Isla Bonita" my favourite.
Amazing too, what a no-phone thing does for the atmosphere. The bars before the show were noisy as people actually talked to each other. Once inside, my corner of the stalls (row O - perfect view) became "party central" as everyone was chatting to one another, swapping concert memories* and then dancing with each other as the show went on.
Delighted it was the full show. One of the party crowd had seen it on Sunday (cut show) and admitted the full one was way better - there is quite a bit you would miss and I don't think the show would have had the same meaning if the opening sequence wasn't there, nor a great bit with a piano.
*I scared the cr*p out of the 30-somethings next to me, telling them we had to get in line at Wembley Stadium at 3.30am to buy tickets for "Who's That Girl" in 1987. No web or easy phone booking back then, LOL.
Haha, i was at Wembley in the 87 too. I remember her having a sweary fit as some lager "glasses" were lobbed onto the stage.
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Post by ptwest on Feb 7, 2020 21:19:47 GMT
I remember the 8 hour stakeout for The Girlie Show at Wembley then the extra 4 hours before she came on stage. Worth every minute to get down to the front. But there is no way I would have the stamina now!!
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Post by intoanewlife on Feb 7, 2020 22:14:47 GMT
I saw the Girlie Show in Oz, was in the nosebleeds as it was in a stadium but I still think it's her best show.
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Post by theatreian on Feb 7, 2020 22:42:35 GMT
It seems the 2nd show in a back to back show is following the same pattern with the reduced setlist, although she seems to have added The Sound of silence in yesterdays show which had 16 songs not the 15. Seems an odd addition .
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Post by danb on Feb 8, 2020 7:09:38 GMT
It would be ‘Blonde Ambition’ for me. The only person who had done that level of theatricality & ‘journey’ in a pop show (on that scale) before was Kate Bush. The huge clanking industrial set, the ‘Cherish’ Mermen holding up the stage, swathes of people filling the stage moving from one set up to another. I guess she’s felt like she has to beat this every time.
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Post by intoanewlife on Feb 8, 2020 13:33:08 GMT
It would be ‘Blonde Ambition’ for me. The only person who had done that level of theatricality & ‘journey’ in a pop show (on that scale) before was Kate Bush. The huge clanking industrial set, the ‘Cherish’ Mermen holding up the stage, swathes of people filling the stage moving from one set up to another. I guess she’s felt like she has to beat this every time. Actually it was Bowie's Glass Spider Tour that started that not Blonde Ambition. Alice Cooper also did huge theatrical shows as well.
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Post by ptwest on Feb 9, 2020 11:27:54 GMT
Proving she can do it when required, last nights show started at 8:50 and finished at 11:05ish. Loved it - I’ve been struggling with Madam X a bit but last night really brought it to life. Such a beautiful show, and Madonna sounded better than I have ever heard her.
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Post by horton on Feb 9, 2020 15:24:40 GMT
Due to the impossible weather I'll be missing the show tonight
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Post by danb on Feb 9, 2020 16:54:53 GMT
It would be ‘Blonde Ambition’ for me. The only person who had done that level of theatricality & ‘journey’ in a pop show (on that scale) before was Kate Bush. The huge clanking industrial set, the ‘Cherish’ Mermen holding up the stage, swathes of people filling the stage moving from one set up to another. I guess she’s felt like she has to beat this every time. Actually it was Bowie's Glass Spider Tour that started that not Blonde Ambition. Alice Cooper also did huge theatrical shows as well. Only kind of the case. The ‘Who’s That Girl’ tour did sow the seeds for what ‘Blond Ambition’ would bring to fruition and that was happening In ‘87 too (the same as Glass Spider). Bowie had done the performance arty stuff before and is oft quoted by Madonna as a huge influence; but this was the first time he’d taken it to stadiums. But deffo Alice Cooper in his shows.
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Post by intoanewlife on Feb 9, 2020 17:10:39 GMT
Actually it was Bowie's Glass Spider Tour that started that not Blonde Ambition. Alice Cooper also did huge theatrical shows as well. Only kind of the case. The ‘Who’s That Girl’ tour did sow the seeds for what ‘Blond Ambition’ would bring to fruition and that was happening In ‘87 too (the same as Glass Spider). Bowie had done the performance arty stuff before and is oft quoted by Madonna as a huge influence; but this was the first time he’d taken it to stadiums. But deffo Alice Cooper in his shows. Who's That Girl was pretty dire tho lol Everyone holds Blonde Ambition up as some kind of masterpiece, but in retrospect half of it is actually pretty bland and some of it even embarrassing. It has some amazing moments, but for the most part it is actually pretty ordinary. I think the Girlie Show is a much better show as a whole, even if the song selection isn't as strong. I think as a cohesive 'piece' it holds together much better than B.A does. I still think it's funny that she ditched her brother and he became the devil, but I don't think any of the tours after she 'disposed' of him were anywhere near as creative as the stuff she did with him. Once Jamie King (*shudders) came on board, her shows became generic carbon copy spectacles the same as every other big act at the time that he worked with. Despite her assertions that what she was doing was 'art', they always came across as obnoxious, pretentious and not as fun as her earlier tours.
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Post by danb on Feb 9, 2020 17:29:29 GMT
Only kind of the case. The ‘Who’s That Girl’ tour did sow the seeds for what ‘Blond Ambition’ would bring to fruition and that was happening In ‘87 too (the same as Glass Spider). Bowie had done the performance arty stuff before and is oft quoted by Madonna as a huge influence; but this was the first time he’d taken it to stadiums. But deffo Alice Cooper in his shows. Who's That Girl was pretty dire tho lol Everyone holds Blonde Ambition up as some kind of masterpiece, but in retrospect half of it is actually pretty bland and some of it even embarrassing. It has some amazing moments, but for the most part it is actually pretty ordinary. I think the Girlie Show is a much better show as a whole, even if the song selection isn't as strong. I think as a cohesive 'piece' it holds together much better than B.A does. I still think it's funny that she ditched her brother and he became the devil, but I don't think any of the tours after she 'disposed' of him were anywhere near as creative as the stuff she did with him. Once Jamie King (*shudders) came on board, her shows became generic carbon copy spectacles the same as every other big act at the time that he worked with. Despite her assertions that what she was doing was 'art', they always came across as obnoxious, pretentious and not as fun as her earlier tours. Couldn’t agree more if we’re talking about the Dick Tracy bits...awful!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2020 22:28:55 GMT
Only kind of the case. The ‘Who’s That Girl’ tour did sow the seeds for what ‘Blond Ambition’ would bring to fruition and that was happening In ‘87 too (the same as Glass Spider). Bowie had done the performance arty stuff before and is oft quoted by Madonna as a huge influence; but this was the first time he’d taken it to stadiums. But deffo Alice Cooper in his shows. Who's That Girl was pretty dire tho lol Everyone holds Blonde Ambition up as some kind of masterpiece, but in retrospect half of it is actually pretty bland and some of it even embarrassing. It has some amazing moments, but for the most part it is actually pretty ordinary. I think the Girlie Show is a much better show as a whole, even if the song selection isn't as strong. I think as a cohesive 'piece' it holds together much better than B.A does. I still think it's funny that she ditched her brother and he became the devil, but I don't think any of the tours after she 'disposed' of him were anywhere near as creative as the stuff she did with him. Once Jamie King (*shudders) came on board, her shows became generic carbon copy spectacles the same as every other big act at the time that he worked with. Despite her assertions that what she was doing was 'art', they always came across as obnoxious, pretentious and not as fun as her earlier tours. Well her brother was the devil, he wrote an exposé. Which in fairness was fairly boring in the end. Ultimately you don’t slag off the person you’re sibling is in love with, marrying and have kids with. It doesn’t go down well in any family. Blond Ambition (there was no ‘e’, a deliberate attempt at the masculine version of the word) was basically the greatest hits tour that ended that part of Madonna’s career. Everything building up to that tour and The Immaculate Collection was about making her the biggest female act. Everything that came after it was in a total differently lane and a real attempt to change from a popstar into an artist. In many ways she managed to avoid the same trap Michael Jackson fell into - trying to better the success he has already had. From what I’ve read it wasn’t enough for him that Bad and Dangerous were better albums, it was all about the fact he couldn’t understand why they couldn’t match Thriller’s sales. The Virgin Tour, Who’s That Girl Tour and Blond Ambition showcase growth as a performer and a popstar learning her craft. She really hit her stride and tour formula with The Girlie Show and what she did there remains the basic blueprint for each tour she’s ever done since. It was the first show she ever did that really focused on the album rather than performing her hits and that’s exactly what she’s doing now on her Madame X Tour. You might dislike Jamie King (he’s only an exec producer on Madame X Tour, Madonna’s the director now) but Drowned World Tour and Confessions Tour are right up there alongside TGS as true works of art imo. It takes an incredibly bold woman to not tour in 8 years then to ignore everything she had done in her 20 year career over her last two albums (with only 4 songs pre 1998). Confessions Tour was a lot of fun though, living up to her usual narrative of starting in a dark place and moving towards the light. I mean she mixed disco with horses and threw in a dollop of Donna Summer - and that’s just the first song! She did 10 out of 12 songs from her latest album on that tour, and shows she didn’t need Holiday, Like a Prayer or Vogue to please a crowd. Then that last half hour is probably the best half hour she’s ever done in any show: Music, Erotica, La Isla Bonita, Lucky Star and Hung Up. It’s been a few days since I saw Madame X Tour and I’m still processing it. It was a great show and whilst I don’t think it was her best, it has some great moment - quite a few songs are staged and performed in a way that makes them just look like you’re watching an art installation. A lot of reviews and fans are saying she’s doing an arena show in a theatre but it’s more than that. For certain songs, yes, absolutely. But where the show really shines in its moments that hark right back to What she did on The Girlie Show: putting the emphasis on the current album over the hits. It’s a very smart move because the temptation would be to just play the hits. Diana, Cher, Elton, Paul etc were all doing that once they reached 60. Yet Madonna is still performing 11 out of 15 songs from her latest record at 61. In fact she only sings 1 song from the 80s in full. I do miss the days when you were at least guaranteed Holiday!
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Post by Stephen on Feb 10, 2020 0:31:04 GMT
I was there on Saturday night. Nice to be in a theatre with no phones at all!
It was really interesting for me as someone who has never been to a pop concert. It was certainly an entertaining show and seeing how moved some fans were just to be in that room was touching. Nice surprise when she spotted and spoke to Graham Norton in the front stalls!
What I don't understand (be it a genre or stylistic choice or a necessary one) is the need for the crazy autotune and pre-recorded vocals at points in the show. When she sang the short song with the male guitarist it seemed to be live and her voice was strong.
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Post by intoanewlife on Feb 11, 2020 15:12:08 GMT
I was there on Saturday night. Nice to be in a theatre with no phones at all! It was really interesting for me as someone who has never been to a pop concert. It was certainly an entertaining show and seeing how moved some fans were just to be in that room was touching. Nice surprise when she spotted and spoke to Graham Norton in the front stalls! What I don't understand (be it a genre or stylistic choice or a necessary one) is the need for the crazy autotune and pre-recorded vocals at points in the show. When she sang the short song with the male guitarist it seemed to be live and her voice was strong. It's a common misconception but you can't actually autotune live vocals. They can use reverb or vocal effects, but you can't 'tune' something as it is being sung as it is being sung. She uses a vocoder at points as that is what is used on the original album versions. They usually use backing tapes of the performers actual voice a lot for background vocals if that is how the recording was especially if there was some computer wizardry going on on the original . If the recording had backing singers they use backing singers. It's so it retains the vocal sound of the albums live and pretty much everyone does it. Funnily enough I was sat next to Graham Norton on the Rebel Heart tour and there was a bit of a drama with him getting up onto the stage as the 'special guest' because they had arrived late and people from rows behind had moved into their empty seats. So security arrived to take him to the stage and of course he was in the wrong seats and they couldn't find him lol
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Post by theatreian on Feb 11, 2020 16:14:38 GMT
I was there on Sunday night and have to say I was disappointed.I don't think she was physically up to doing the show as she seemed to move awkwardly at times and obviously the choreography was nowhere near previous tours. We got the reduced setlist and the 'chat' was with Alan Cumming, this did not flow very well. The part with the polaroid photo was a bit weird too being sold to a child for £1000. I was not convinced all the vocals were live either as they seemed too consistent, even when she was being carried around by dancers they did not waver. They sounded too close to the album tracks. My partner who has attended all her previous tours said this was his least favourite. The comment she made about cutting the songs from the show was supposedly so she could finish on time. Who did she think she was kidding? She cut them due to being unable to perform them. Oh well at least we did not splash out £500. I would have been very disappointed then. She got about 5 lots of slow handclaps before she appeared about 9.10. The show finished at 11.00.
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Post by vdcni on Feb 14, 2020 8:09:40 GMT
I also went on the Sunday and though somewhat more positive your thoughts chime with my own. Vogue at the beginning looked like the whole thing was going to be a disaster as she hobbled around the stage though it did pick up from then.
The Madame X worked better than I expected given I'm not overly familiar with the songs but the highlights were Frozen and Like A Prayer and the energy level from the audience picked up a lot during them.
The constant barbs at Westminster Council were tiring, particularly when she blamed them for not being able to do the whole show and yes she never sounds particularly natural or relaxed when speaking in public so her chat with the kid and Alan Cumming was painful at times.
I sill enjoyed it and my husband, who's never seen her before, loved it but yeah I wouldn't rush to the next one and it wasn't a patch on Drowned World - though I am slightly biased there as I accidentally ended up with front row tickets for that one!
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Post by dontdreamit on Feb 14, 2020 9:17:43 GMT
It wasn't a patch on Drowned World - though I am slightly biased there as I accidentally ended up with front row tickets for that one! How did you accidentally end up with front row? I am curious!
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Post by vdcni on Feb 14, 2020 10:16:28 GMT
It wasn't a patch on Drowned World - though I am slightly biased there as I accidentally ended up with front row tickets for that one! How did you accidentally end up with front row? I am curious! I didn't have tickets and then the day after the first show a girl in the office was saying that she'd heard there were returns for the next night so she called the box office and they told her they had restricted view tickets for £25. She then decided she didn't want them so I took the phone off her and took two tickets. My mate and I went the next night and we were miles up in the gods but could mostly see fine, there was a slight obstruction but nothing major. Now we had sat down quite early which was odd as we hadn't even stopped to get drinks which I would normally always do. We were sitting there chatting and I noticed a woman with ID going round chatting to people in the audience. She came over to us and she asked, are you big fans, are you really excited about the concert, ready to make lots of noise etc etc which of course we were both saying yes definitely to. At that point she said she worked for the promoters and that Madonna likes having big fans in the front rows as she feeds off their energy and finds sometimes she gets music industry people in who aren't enjoying themselves enough (weirdly my mate worked in the music industry and later he could be like that at gigs as he saw so many!) so what she has been asked to do was find big fans and give them front row tickets and would we like to go and sit in the front row! Now my mate was French and didn't follow the conversation that well and said after I just saw you got more and more excited so it had to be a good thing. So we of course said yes we would want front row tickets and she took us downstairs handed us off to some other people who took us to the front row seats, we got the last two which were right in the middle. I remember saying to my friend we really should have got a drink if we're going to be right here but once it started it was so intense particularly as she was often looking directly at us we didn't need it, we went crazy particularly once she played Beautiful Stranger and Ray Of Light back to back.
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Post by horton on Feb 18, 2020 17:57:44 GMT
So final thoughts: do we think the Madonna Palladium residency was a success?
Will she return?
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Post by intoanewlife on Feb 18, 2020 20:47:38 GMT
There was aparently a plan to do the small theatre tour for the album and then a stadium greatest hits tour once that was over with.
Don't know how that go now with her 'injury'...
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2020 22:16:55 GMT
There was aparently a plan to do the small theatre tour for the album and then a stadium greatest hits tour once that was over with. Don't know how that go now with her 'injury'... That was only ever wishful thinking on the fans part. There’s nothing booked in for a larger show. In fairness Live Nation weren’t even expecting to have to arrange MXT - she literally went to them last minute and asked them to put it together (probably to avoid leaks). I think now she’ll sort her knee out, get the new ass fixed and then go into pre-production for the biop of Michaela DePrince MGM hired her to direct.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2020 22:39:31 GMT
So final thoughts: do we think the Madonna Palladium residency was a success? Will she return? Short answer is yes. The most critically acclaimed show of her career and fantastic fan feedback. Honestly, even the Daily Mail gave it the thumbs up and let me tell you - the woman doesn’t give free tickets to the press. Almost every review has said how the price tag high but worth it and that’s at home and abroad. The performance I saw, yes, unqualified success. Return in this format? Hope so for intimacy, but not at those prices. If she lowers her prices a bit I really see no reason why she couldn’t do 12 weeks on broadway and then 12 weeks in London. I loved the show but where it really shone was during the moment she allowed ‘Madonna: The Artist’ to take centre stage over ‘Madonna: Popstar’, and would love to see her build on that. I’m guessing she had to juggle the two because it’s still very much a concert and not a theatre show, but at times it was like watching an art installation and something she could never do in a stadium. Interestingly she self directed this tour, so I can really see her wanting to take on the challenge of working out how it could have been better and applying that to a new show (assuming she hasn’t hated the experience). I quite like the idea of her doing album tours in theatres and perhaps arenas and stadiums for bigger greatest hits tours.
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Post by ptwest on Feb 19, 2020 10:50:38 GMT
A qualified yes from me. When the show worked (which it certainly did the night I saw it), it was a triumph, and really used the space well. I was very impressed that it was clearly a show designed for the theatre rather than simply a concert in a theatre, and it really brought the album to life. The move into smaller venues worked beautifully. As a long term fan who doesn't need to hear the greatest hits every time it was something very special.
However, it is hard to ignore the negativity around the cancellations, the cut shows, the general petulance that she showed on a number of occasions. She really does need to work on her PR! At least for the Paris and London legs she has (so far) avoided the last minute cancellations that happened in Lisbon, but all that complaining about the curfew - just start 5 minutes earlier, its not hard.
So I would hope she will return in the future, my experience would mean I would be very likely to book again, although I am sure there are many who would feel differently.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2020 14:09:13 GMT
Madge has probably toured more in the last 20 years than she did in her peak years. Film work and having her children probably stopped her touring as much as she might have done in the 1990's.
Having checked back on her tour info, nearly every show she has played as a major artist she has sold out so is still a huge live draw despite playing a fair number of concerts in more recent years.
These shows are clearly something she wanted to do.
I think she needs to get this tour finished and get her injury sorted and then she can consider when and if she wants to play live in the future again.
Madonna doesn't need to tour and if she couldn't give the sort of show she wants to then she probably wouldn't. But she must also know that at 61 she cannot do the sort of shows she was doing 20 let alone well over 30 years ago as regards all the more faster dance routines or certainly do them less.
She can concentrate on her vocals more, still have the great visuals and have dancers working abound her but not do so much dancing herself or just spread the shows out more. If she needs 2 days off after a show then do that.
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