“Okay, I was thinking of playing a new song”
Right after he returned from seeing one of the most special Madonna concerts ever- a two-and-a-half hour gig at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, MadonnaTribe Community member Dye Another Day explains why he had the most incredible fun time.
Amy [Schumer] came on right about 8:20-ish and is getting more composed every night. Her set was basically the same.
I was on the heart and Kelly Ripa, Anderson [Cooper], and Debi Mazar were right at the tip, maybe six rows behind me. I was sitting behind the super-sexy fashion photographer Sante D’Orazio.
She came on right on the dot at 9:30. Her wonderful video fills the room — I was really enjoying it from further back. (I don’t know if there’s a perfect seat for this show. She’s going to be on the other side of the room half the time, wherever you are. The stage was amazing from the 7th row, the production is amazing from the heart. ) Madonna enters Barclays in her cage — I just LOVE her hair for this tour. “There’s another part of you no one sees.” She is the most remarkable artist, the way she weaves her state of mind into EVERYTHING she does. After Bitch I’m Madonna, she gets the house moving with Burning Up — those nuns come out, and Madonna does the unthinkable to roars from the crowd to Holy Water. Devil Pray is amazing — she still has so much to say.
After the Messiah interlude, Madonna returns with a new hairdo tonight. Her teased 60s bouffant is gone, and she kind of keeps the long straight look, only parted to the side now. Body Shop is really growing on me — and she again has surrounded herself with best dancers in the business. She grabs her ukulele and says a few words.
I want to dedicate this song to my friend Debi Mazar, who is here tonight. She is from Brooklyn and she’s my oldest friend. She is in the video and this is for her.
Madonna then breaks out True Blue, which the house sings along to.
For the first time in really a long while, Madonna needs to reprimand some audience members who are sitting down up front! I don’t think I’ve seen her actually do this since Reinvention, but I really don’t know how a section up front can actually sit down during her show. In any event, the entire production delivers a joyful Deeper and Deeper. If you care about sound, sit further back. It really sounds a LOT better from the rear. As much as I LOVED the opening night (please) I would say it sounded a little off — but it was beautiful tonight.
She now FINALLY joins us at the heart. The staircase comes out, and Madonna sings a beautiful Heartbreak City. I don’t know where she finds it within herself, but she belts out in INCREDIBLE Love Don’t Live Here Anymore her 1984 number — which is actually a cover of the 1978 post-disco Rolls Royce song. (But you knew that, right?) — she performs it like she recorded it yesterday. It is FANTASTIC. And it’s really 1985 night, I’ll tell you!!! She rips off her jacket, and performs Like a Virgin — I think it’s her best version ever. Really, I think it’s better than Confessions. She’s alone, she’s dancing, she’s soaking with sweat. She looks gorgeous and everything is flawless tonight.
She disappears and her dancers have S.E.X.
At the center stage, Madonna rises in a hot pink cape that seems about 30 feet long. She returns to the main stage, it is pulled off, and Madonna performs a mix of Living for Love that the crowd eats up. This leads to La Isla” and the entire company moving the show down the runway. Madonna has so many hits! I love it when she breaks out an audience favorite — and I love it when it works! I thought the “hits” were stale on MDNA, but they are alive now!
She disappears again, and for some reason, DURING the Latin segment, changes into this ungodly outfit — I’m telling you, it will not last past Atlantic City. They then do Dress You Up, Into the Groove, Lucky Star, back to Dress You Up. Not the highlight, but hey, we all love her. I’m really surprised she doesn’t do Everybody — it would work better. It’s kind of a mess, but whatever.
From there, it just went off into insane drama.
She takes a seat, and has a totally different rap tonight. She skipped the part about “this song is a question,” and delivered a brutally honest look at herself. I’m going to search for it on YouTube, but she talked about having performed for 30 years and this is what she DOES — “I’m a survivor.”
Who’s That Girl is… just spectacular. Her voice is ON, she means it, the crowd loves it — really it is fantastic.
She then says, “Okay, I was thinking of playing a new song.” The crowd goes WILD. I mean, literally, the people around me were absolutely screaming. She is really present, WITH US right then and there, and she sings Ghosttown. It is so remarkable, I just am a loss for words. She wraps it up and says, “When it all comes down, that really IS all we have. Each other.” She is DROWNED in applause. Literally no one stops screaming or clapping. I looked over at Debi Mazar and she is literally bawling. Tears are running mascara down her face, and Madonna just stands there for like five minutes. Tears have flooded her eyes and everyone is just screaming and crying and LITERALLY STOPPING THE SHOW RIGHT IN ITS TRACKS. I was sitting next to this guy, my age, who seemed to know the choreographers or something, and he was just frozen — he said he’d never seen her like that. After composing herself, she sang Rebel Heart, and the whole arena was under a magic spell by that time.
The Illuminati interlude delights the audience, and Madonna reappears for a really danceable mix of Music and Candy Shop in a very 20s flapper-style giant production. I think this is the first time I’ve seen Madonna picture perfect until the last moment. I think she’s just getting patted dry and makeup touch-ups every five minutes, because she once again looks fresh as a daisy.
She settles down with her ukulele and starts talking a little about Sean [Penn] — her rap has been different here every night. She said that he came to her show the other night and he came to her show 30 years ago. She said he sent her a note after and said it has taken him 30 years to finally appreciate her art. She made the most hilarious face.
See? That’s what you get when you get married.
La Vie en Rose is really lovely — forget the masses. Her fans love it. I also am finally won over by Unapologetic Bitch. It really is great. Anderson Cooper is her bitch tonight — this bit really only works if you’re a bottom, so Anderson was blushing a bit, but he WAS her bitch tonight. As we all know, Madonna is a top.
She returns for Holiday, a party that took over Barclays — and she flew away said goodnight. When she disappeared from view, I felt like I had witnessed something unforgettable. And it was midnight — 150 minutes later.
The mood continued, amazingly into the subway — I actually can’t believe I’m about to get into bed alone. Where did everyone go?
