10/24/2005
Madonna at the Roxy
It was a cold, wet night Saturday night but that didn't stop thousands of people from lining up in the rain outside the Roxy nightclub in Manhattan to witness Madonna's return to the club that nurtured her first single "Everybody" back in the early 80's in advance of her 13th studio album Confessions on a Dancefloor.
Her documentary, I'm Going to Tell You a Secret had premiered on MTV the night before. In the doc, she looks out the window of her limo on the way to the opening night of her Re-Invention Tour at a giant nylon figure waving in a car repair shop parking lot and says, "That's what my fans will be doing in their seats." She couldn't be closer to the truth — at least judging by what happened at the Roxy.
The most interesting part of I'm Going to Tell You a Secret was seeing the relationship she has with her kids and her husband Guy Ritchie, whose disinterest in her concerts and music is obviously what drives her attraction to him. Although after watching the burly director take part in Ju-Jitsu, it's impossible not to see his sex appeal. I thought the documentary was okay but not as good as Truth or Dare certainly. The concert footage was pretty spectacular but the last 1/4 of the film devolved into far too preachy a sermon on religion.
Saturday night I was already inside the Roxy at the High Line benefit in celebration of meatpacking district bistro Florent's 20th anniversary (more on that later). Those who attended that benefit were herded into the front hallway like so much cattle (top pic, above) and yelled at by a security guard for 45 minutes between the benefit and the opening of the club proper. The halls were decorated with pink lights and the "O" in Roxy at the front entrance had been replaced by the disco ball icon from the front of the Confessions album.
The nightclub slowly filled up and was as packed as I've ever seen it. After being teased for a few hours with samples of Madonna's voice intoning phrases like "Confessions" and "Disco Balls", at about 2am the lights over the stage began to flash and Madonna appeared with no introduction. Immediately the crowd, already electric with excitement, screamed with delight and raised hundreds of cell phones, snapping photos and taking movies. The cell phone is the new butane lighter.
Madonna told the crowd, "You know I have a long history with the Roxy so I only thought it appropriate that I come here to share my new album with you and dance. It all started here with 12 inches. Some girls have all the luck."
The crowd went wild of course, and Madonna said, "Are you fucking ready? Ok, let's go." So many cell phones they're almost impossible to count. Talk about hung up!
A remix of her new single Hung up began to play and Madonna began dancing and pulling people up on stage. She looked like she was having a great time. The crowd was eating it up. After Hung Up DJ Peter Rauhofer played a mix of another track on the album, I Love New York. After about 15-20 minutes of dancing with fans and singing along to the music, Madonna left as quickly as she came, disappearing through a back door in the club.
Unfortunately, I wasn't that close to the stage and these were the best photos I could get. There are some more close up ones here. But you get the idea.
It capped off a massive, weeklong, publicity blitz by the singer, whose presence in the city where she got her start could not be ignored. Above, some walls I shot in New York's meatpacking district. I had seen her earlier in the week at TRL after I was kindly invited along for the ride by my friend Trent over at Pink is the New Blog. Thanks, Trent! Trent even got a photo with her Madge-sty. Over the weekend, Trent posted some photos from her appearance at MisShapes, where she showed up before heading over to the Roxy.
That would be me in the photo above in the split second I appeared on Access Hollywood. I don't think I made it into any of the TRL footage. Madonna seemed much more relaxed at the Roxy than she did at TRL. I'm sure it was more reassuring for her to see fans at a nightclub reacting so positively to her music than it was to hear the applause prompted and manufactured by the TRL producers. Any beginning of the week jitters were definitely gone. The queen of PR strikes again.
Posted 9:05 AM EST by Andy in Music, New York | Permalink
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Wow. The power of (queer) information is amazing.
Posted by: Mike T | Oct 24, 2005 9:54:58 AM
1-888-2CONFESS???? Um wow what a rip of from Kylie back in 95 of her 1-555-CONFIDE...atleast Kylie can finally say she went retro first
Posted by: Mac Adkins | Oct 24, 2005 11:17:56 AM
I was at MisShapes - I'm not a huge Madonna fan but even I was amazed. She and Stuart played the album and an exteded version of Hung Up (and not a Hello Moto in site!). Album's going to be hot.
Posted by: ARispoli | Oct 24, 2005 12:25:14 PM
First, let me say I am a huge Madonna fan. However, I completely agree with your thoughts on the documentary. It certainly wouldn't have done well in the theatres. It was definitely too preachy. There were quite a few "holes", especially regarding her relationship with her kids and Guy. Also, it would have been cool if she had focused more on the creative side of putting the tour together. I think it's pretty presumptuous for her to think that her fans are interested in Kabbalah.
Unfortunately most of her fans can't see any fault in what she puts out there.
G
Posted by: Gehrett | Oct 24, 2005 12:40:05 PM
"It capped off a massive, weeklong, publicity blitz by the singer, whose presence in the city where she got her start could not be ignored." Oh, come on, Andy, SURE it could--and was--by millions. You're too smart to keep extrapolating your own hypnotic state to the rest of the world.
Posted by: Tagg | Oct 24, 2005 1:14:24 PM
I LOVE her....this appearance at the clubs reminds me of Britney when she did it with her last album...do you remember that?
Posted by: Roy | Oct 24, 2005 2:09:35 PM
Puh-leeze! I may ping Andy for a little disproportionate adulation of Lady Madonna, but mentioning her in the same breath with a skank meat puppett talentless plastic poser like Britney is insane. Snap out of it!
Posted by: Tagg | Oct 24, 2005 2:48:16 PM
:::yawn:::
Posted by: CriticalRN | Oct 24, 2005 3:32:23 PM
I disagree that most of her fans can't find fault with her work. She has serveral intelligent and critical fans. I think I began finding fault somewhere around the Erotica period. Being all of 16, closeted, and confused about so many things, I couldn't see any clear message or point to any of that, it seemed she really had gone too far, and quite frankly I was embarrassed and afraid of it. But I came around during the Ray of Light period, and was even one of the few who really appreciated the Bedtime Stories album. I was highly critical of the American Life project, even though I listened to it non stop for several months. And of course without a doubt, I've never thought much of her film career. I think the reason Madonna continues to excite me has more to do with the sheer volume of an ever-evolving body of work; this coupled with an equally unique and fearless tenacity. She's been around for practically as long as I have, or as long as I've been old enough to pay attention to anything. She's so dedicated to what she does and she works hard. She has a vision and she brings it to life. She doesn't stop until the project is completed. She's frank about the fact that she doesn't know who she was 20 years ago, and now free enough to admit that there was no real or productive reason for the Erotica period. I think it's possible to admire all of these qualities in a superstar, be a rabid fan, and still be critical of their work.
Posted by: Rob | Oct 24, 2005 4:39:59 PM
I've never been a huge fan of Madonna and don't really understand why people go so crazy for her. I think there are a few other female pop/rock stars out there who are more talented singers and songwriters—and have been around longer—who deserve more credit than she does. That said, I appreciate her openness and honesty these days, as well as her constant desire to change and grow. I've heard her new album and it's really good. Some people have said that she's reinvented disco. I wouldn't go that far (and who would ever want to reinvent disco anyway?). I'm not sure how receptive radio is going to be to these songs, many of which aren't radio-friendly in the "traditional" sense--although all of them are quite catchy and exquisitely produced....Nonetheless, her ardent fans will be extremely pleased.....
Posted by: David | Oct 24, 2005 4:54:58 PM
i don't know. being packed into a hot over-crowded club just to watch a forty year old woman dance on a stage? also, weren't they charging like, $40 bux entrance? i'm a madonna fan, i admit. i have 4 of her albums, but the new single is yawnsville and it reeks of Gwen Stefani's "Whatcha Waiting For?" song. supposedly, the rest of the album is much better but not radio friendly. i hope so after American Life. i will say one thing, it's really a testament to this woman's extraordinary publicity and business skills that she can put out this so-so song after 2 underperformed albums and still cause such a commotion. more power to her.
Posted by: Derrick | Oct 24, 2005 7:50:52 PM
hey Derrick - what's the problem with being over 40? but the Roxy - now there's a pit. Gotta say I love the joke about 12" inches being a girl's best friend - gives a whole new meaning to "hung up" for me
Posted by: reurrect | Oct 24, 2005 9:35:46 PM
Yeah yeah... Anybody know where I can find pics.. er.. INFO (yeah, that's it: INFO!) on Guy Ritchie? I'm doing a visual collage... for... school... yeah... that's it...
Posted by: Matthew | Oct 24, 2005 10:32:26 PM
haha no, nothing wrong with being over 40. just saying that so many gay boys i know around here had their diesel jeans in a knot just to see her dance to her own song for a little while. please, isn't Andersen Cooper over 40? god knows i love his hot self.
Posted by: Derrick | Oct 25, 2005 11:38:56 PM
so derrick, you say the rest of the album is NOT radio friendly and that's a bad thing? well I say.... YAY!!!! THANK YOU JESUS! FUCK RADIO!
Posted by: guy | Oct 28, 2005 6:33:46 PM
i made a similar comment on queerclick but it's appropriate on this most excellent site ... the letter 'f' on the confessions cover is a tampon string .. it symbolizes the end of menstruting madonna not too mention some serious blood on the dancefloor .. p.s. i loved American Life
Posted by: Damein | Nov 5, 2005 7:36:16 PM