05/27/2004
Madonna's Re-Invention Tour
Prior to last night, Madonna's Drowned World Tour was the only Madonna concert I had ever seen, and I have to say three years ago I was sorely disappointed. I thought the DWT was self-indulgent, cold, and inaccessible. It felt as though Madonna wanted to ignore the fact that there was an audience.
Last night's show at the Great Western Forum was an entirely different story. My hair was on end. Anybody who tells you the show is too political or too religious was at the concert for entirely the wrong reasons, and probably has something against Madonna in the first place. The show is full of military and religious symbols and messages, but her music has always been about that. So why the uproar? Because critics need something bad to say, and there's hardly a bad word to be said about this show except that there's not enough of it.
For the first time, Madonna is an incredible singer. Gone is the thinness that characterized her vocals in previous concerts. Gone are the off-key moments. It feels as if she's really transformed vocally. The video imagery is stunning and as much a part of the show as what's going on onstage.
I didn't bring my camera because I thought they would check me for it. They didn't. Grrrrr.
Now for the play by play — unless you want some details, read no further.
The show begins with five enormous video screens flashing images of a veiled Madonna with wolves as she reads the religious text from The Beast Within. The screens slowly crack open to a stage shrouded in an apron of fog.
The audience, naturally, is going absolutely nuts.
Madonna rises in shadow on a platform from beneath the stage as the synths from Vogue start up beneath the music. The spot comes on her right as she says "Strike a Pose". The Forum goes wild. Eight or nine of her dancers come out and join her. The first set is comprised of Vogue, Nobody Knows Me, and Frozen. Nobody Knows Me sounds better than it ever has, as does Madonna's voice, and the massive video screens call out the words as she sings them. Frozen is stark and minimal, with abstract lightning forms on the video screens and Madonna alone on stage. Look closely on the video screens near the end, and you'll see images of two naked men embracing.
American Life, Express Yourself, Burning Up, and Material Girl make up the next set. American Life takes off from her video for that song, with a V-shaped metal runway and a fashion show with models dressed in various religious garb. Her male dancers (which, as expected, are HOT, muscled boys) are acting out a training camp, combat, love affair dance on stage. This segues into Express Yourself, which has Madonna and her dancers spinning rifle in a color guard. The video screens for these two numbers are showing scenes of war and strife, but they're in no way as alarming as some would have you believe. In Burning Up, Madonna stands center stage with her guitar and does a hard rock version of the song. Her guitar playing has improved dramatically. It's excellent.
Hollywood is a transitional song that Madonna doesn't even perform. It's entirely instrumental with a male dancer, an acrobat, and a shirtless skate punk who rides a skate ramp on stage.
For the next set Madonna appears as a kind of neo-kewpie doll for a rendition of Hanky Panky with her female dancers. Nobody seems quite sure why she chose this song from her entire collection. Deeper and Deeper comes next and has been transformed into a slow, dreamy ballad, which kind of works and kind of doesn't. At this point the audience has achieved a sort of fatigue and settles down a bit, to be awakened quickly with Die Another Day, which ends with Madonna in the rumored electric chair (which isn't at all shocking or scary). The chair begins to rise into the ceiling as she sings The Lament from Evita, which sounds brand new and gorgeous and absolutely perfect for this moment.
Bedtime Stories comes in here as another transitional song. Madonna sings it from the video screens as three dancers swing back and forth on long white swings.
She then pops up stage left with her guitar singing Nothing Fails. At this point, three quarters through the concert, 95% of the audience is still on their feet. After the song she apologizes to the audience for being sick the day before and thanks us all for coming back the next night. "Yesterday wasn't a pretty picture," she says. She launches into Don't Tell Me and Like a Prayer which starts a segment heavy in religious iconography. The backdrops to Prayer are designs of mystical jewish symbols and hebrew letters. Then a giant picture of Jesus crucified appears and she sits down to sing Mother & Father. After the song she stands up and says she's going to sing a song that she wishes she had written. "The lyrics are very timely," she says, and an electronic version of John Lennon's Imagine begins with images of starving and war-torn children in the background. It's an odd choice at this point in the concert and Madonna's rendition is sweet. The audience screams as an image of John Lennon comes on in the background and Madonna nods in acknowledgement. All well-intended (God knows we need anti-war messages) but in this context it doesn't avoid feeling a bit cliche.
Then comes perhaps my favorite moment in the show. A Scottish bagpiper rises out of the stage and is joined by Madonna's male dancers in kilts with Scottish drums. For five minutes they do an incredible set of Scottish music and then a heavy beat kicks in, Madonna comes on stage for a bagpipe version of Into the Groove. It's incredible fun. This segues into Papa Don't Preach where Madonna twirls around in circles with her female dancers in a kind of feminine love fest. She gets so dizzy she can't sing the transition to the next song, which is some lines from American Life and she starts laughing. Then she walks stage left and rises on a platform. "The next song is dedicated to all of you who have stuck with me for the last 20 years." This seriously gives you chills. Then she begins singing Crazy for You so beautifully you are right back in the 80's.
The last two songs in the show are Music and Holiday. Music is performed atop a colorful pyramid that lights up Saturday Night Fever style with colored blocks of light. There's a DJ spinning inside it. Holiday closes the show with Madonna and her dancers on the massive metal catwalk as cannons shoot clouds of confetti into the air.
Sphere: Related ContentPosted 1:54 PM EST by Andy Towle in Music | Permalink
Like it?
Subscribe to FREE Towleroad daily headlines with our RSS feed!
RECENT STORIES:
Comments
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
I checked your site 1000x this morning, because I knew this was coming. G-R-E-A-T report! Did you bring a notepad to record so much detail? Thanks for sharing, Andy.
Posted by: arjanwrites.com | May 27, 2004 3:57:38 PM
Just as I expected, a wonderful review. I feel like I was there!
Thanks.
Posted by: benjamin | May 27, 2004 8:36:27 PM
you looked so good there ANDY..even with your Gel
Posted by: corey | May 27, 2004 11:10:22 PM
As you know, I'm not an M devotee but what strikes me again and again is that the girl works her ass off and she's always pushing outside her comfort zone.
A few years ago she did an acoustic guitar thing live on Letterman and was brilliant. Letterman, who had not had her on since she chomped on a cigar and nearly had herself tossed off his show a year or two earlier, was reduced to shaking his head and murmuring "THAT was lovely."
Posted by: alan | May 27, 2004 11:33:39 PM
As you know, I'm not an M devotee but what strikes me again and again is that the girl works her ass off and she's always pushing outside her comfort zone.
A few years ago she did an acoustic guitar thing live on Letterman and was brilliant. Letterman, who had not had her on since she chomped on a cigar and nearly had herself tossed off his show a year or two earlier, was reduced to shaking his head and murmuring "THAT was lovely."
Posted by: alan | May 27, 2004 11:33:55 PM
oh my god i am SO excited to see her in July in Toronto... i simply can't wait!!!! glad to hear her show was fabulous.
Posted by: spinster | May 28, 2004 12:57:13 AM
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I will (probably) never see Madonna, but I feel as though I have.
Posted by: daniel | May 28, 2004 1:51:31 AM
Andy, you really did a good job! Its not easy to remember all these details...
I just feel bad about the cameras. We should have brought one! But thats ok, maybe next Tour. lol.
Posted by: Gle | May 28, 2004 2:16:26 AM
Andy-
I've lurked about your site for a while, and have never felt the need to add my two cents until tonight. What an unbelievable show. Even after the two hour drive from the Forum back to San Diego, the adrenaline is still flowing, and I feel the need to share the experience. And to tell you that your review was spot on. I can't really add any details, but, just a few thoughts. Drowned World Tour was also the only other Madonna concert I'd seen, and I would agree that it was rather cold and impersonal. So, to see her perform tonight with such joy and exuberance, was probably the best part, for me. And to see her embrace her old songs, when she would never do that previously, was great. Why should she be ashamed? Her career has been filled with damn good pop songs. And finally, she DID sound phenomenal. I hope the rumors about a live album are true.
Anyway, thanks for letting me share. Now, I really regret not getting tickets for Anaheim, too. I think I'll be checking Ticketmaster periodically over the weekend.
Your site's great, by the way.
Posted by: Greg | May 28, 2004 4:32:16 AM
Thank you Thank you. You've made me sooo excited now! I'll be seeing her in June at Madison Square Garden and your review gave me the thrill of things to come. I'll try and sneak in my camera...in your honor.
Posted by: Pablo | May 28, 2004 9:08:46 AM
Awesome review. Can't wait 'til she comes to D.C.!
Posted by: Jeff | May 28, 2004 4:30:15 PM
Hey! Thanks for trhe scoop. I go see the tour ONE WEEK FROM TODAY!!! I'm so excited. Like a Virgin came out the year before I was born and people don't understand why I love her so much... She is an International Pop Icon and for her to be making great music for so long is just incredable! I will be 19 next month and I will always be a hard core Madonna Fan!!!
Posted by: Shauna Moore | Jun 7, 2004 2:57:58 PM
Hey! Thanks for trhe scoop. I go see the tour ONE WEEK FROM TODAY!!! I'm so excited. Like a Virgin came out the year before I was born and people don't understand why I love her so much... She is an International Pop Icon and for her to be making great music for so long is just incredable! I will be 19 next month and I will always be a hard core Madonna Fan!!!
Posted by: Shauna Moore | Jun 7, 2004 2:58:36 PM
Hey! Thanks for trhe scoop. I go see the tour ONE WEEK FROM TODAY!!! I'm so excited. Like a Virgin came out the year before I was born and people don't understand why I love her so much... She is an International Pop Icon and for her to be making great music for so long is just incredable! I will be 19 next month and I will always be a hard core Madonna Fan!!!
Posted by: Shauna Moore | Jun 7, 2004 2:58:45 PM
Hey! Thanks for trhe scoop. I go see the tour ONE WEEK FROM TODAY!!! I'm so excited. Like a Virgin came out the year before I was born and people don't understand why I love her so much... She is an International Pop Icon and for her to be making great music for so long is just incredable! I will be 19 next month and I will always be a hard core Madonna Fan!!!
Posted by: Shauna Moore | Jun 7, 2004 2:59:32 PM
Your review was 100% accurate! Went last night and you described it perfectly! Been a die-hard Madonna fan since her first hit, (yes, I'm 39!) and still haven't found anyone who enjoys her talents more than I.
Posted by: soreil | Jun 7, 2004 6:33:50 PM
I am anxiously awaiting this show in South Florida...the countdown has begun...July 28th will ROCK!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: TJGypsy | Jun 8, 2004 12:10:07 PM
I did not read your whole review b/c I am seeing the show in Toronto next month. I read a setlist on another website & after reading your review (the first few paragraphs) it sounds like Madonna is using the same setlist for all the concerts!! Is this possible? Won't she get tired of performing those same songs night after night? There are SO many songs I would like her to do-Hollywood, Cherish, Secret, Human Nature, White Heat, Dress You Up, Into the Groove, there are more, but that's all I can think of now. Just let me know if you know if the setlist stays the same throughout the whole tour.
Posted by: Michele | Jun 8, 2004 2:16:12 PM
I think Madonna is so incredible!! I saw her re-invention show in Las Vegas and I had the time of my life!! I will never forget it. She rocked my world, and she did an absolutly fanstatic performance like I new she would! I will go anywhere and pay anything to see her again!!
Posted by: Chiarina Gleed | Jun 11, 2004 3:35:17 PM
My first couple cassette tapes were the self-titled Madonna and Like a Virgin (yes, does anyone remember cassette tapes?) which were given to me when I was about 7 years old. (I don't even think I new what a virgin was at the time, but I sang every word of it as if I wrote the tune myself). I've been an admirer of Madonna since. I will finally have the chance to see her in concert for the first time on June 28th in Wooster, MA. I've been excited since I got the tickets, but this review has really gotten me pumped!! Thanks for the putting it out there.
Danni
Posted by: Danni | Jun 13, 2004 8:22:40 PM
I googled to see the set would be etc. as I'm seeing "girlfriend" tonight in DC. Excellent review. Thanks.
Posted by: Khris | Jun 14, 2004 2:09:32 PM
I googled to see the set would be etc. as I'm seeing "girlfriend" tonight in DC. Excellent review. Thanks.
Posted by: digitaldancer | Jun 14, 2004 2:09:59 PM
DOES SHE COME OUT ON A CATWALK INTO THE CROUD?
Posted by: JASON | Jun 14, 2004 11:44:58 PM
Super review! I saw her in DC, Sunday night (6/13/04). She still is the bomb! I also loved the Scottish bagpiper segment. I agree with your statement that, "she begins singing Crazy for You so beautifully you are right back in the 80's."
Posted by: Jesse | Jun 16, 2004 3:04:25 AM
Super review! I saw her in DC, Sunday night (6/13/04). She still is the bomb! I also loved the Scottish bagpiper segment. I agree with your statement that, "she begins singing Crazy for You so beautifully you are right back in the 80's."
Posted by: Jesse | Jun 16, 2004 3:04:42 AM