Madonna performs acoustic New York gig to support Hillary Clinton

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From Billboard.com:

Madonna Gives Surprise Performance in New York’s Washington Square Park in Support of Hillary Clinton

Madonna gave New Yorkers the surprise of a lifetime when she serenaded the crowd at Washington Square Park on Monday night (Nov. 7) with a special acoustic performance in support of Hillary Clinton.

She stood in the center of Washington Square Fountain surrounded by a group comprised mostly of NYU students who cheered as she performed covers of John Lennon’s “Imagine” and Peter, Paul and Mary’s “If I Had A Hammer,” as well as her own songs “Rebel Heart” and “Like A Prayer.”

She amped up the crowd and encouraged everyone to get to the polls Tuesday (Nov. 8) to vote, saying, “Vote with your heart, vote with your mind, vote with your spirit, vote with your soul. Save this country, please.”

Madge has been supporting Clinton throughout the campaign, from talking about the election while opening for Amy Schumer to stripping down with Katy Perry for the cause.

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From RollingStone.com:

See Madonna Perform Acoustic New York Gig to Support Clinton

Madonna staged an intimate, acoustic Election Day eve concert at New York’s Washington Square Park in support of Hillary Clinton. During the five-song performance, the singer delivered an emotional take on John Lennon’s “Imagine.”

“This is a concert about unifying us, and it’s about keeping America great, not making America great,” Madonna told the Washington Square Park crowd. “This is a concert about peace, and we are trying to elect – we are going to elect – a president that is going to keep America the great country that it is and has the potential to be.”

Madonna’s set list also included acoustic renditions of her own “Like a Prayer,” “Don’t Tell Me,” “Express Yourself” and “Rebel Heart.”

In recent months, Madonna has ramped up her support for Clinton on social media. “Living For Hillary. Yes I vote for intelligence. I vote for equal rights for women and all minorities,” Madonna wrote on Instagram. “Women run the world now they have to get out and start supporting one another. No more misogynist feminists! No more misogyny. Get out and Vote.”

Madonna is one of many artists providing last-minute concerts on behalf of Clinton: On Monday, Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi will perform in Philadelphia to help swing the stage to the Democratic nominee, while Lady Gaga and Bon Jovi will attend a late-night Clinton rally in Raleigh, North Carolina.

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From USA Today:

Surprise! Madonna throws acoustic concert for Hillary Clinton in New York

On the eve of Election Day, Madonna turned up in Washington Square Park with a guitar, a handful of songs, and a heartfelt message about why she’s advocating for Hillary Clinton.

“This is a concert about unifying us, and it’s about keeping America great, not making America great,” Madonna told hundreds of fans who swarmed as word spread of her surprise appearance. “This is a concert about peace, OK? And we are trying to elect — we are going to elect — a president that is going to keep America the great country that it is and has the potential to be.”

The pop star performed a 30-minute set of five acoustic songs, including John Lennon’s Imagine, upon which the crowd joined her for the chorus.

Madonna performed in New York as the Democratic presidential nominee took the stage at a massive rally in Pennsylvania, where Jon Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen performed and Clinton was introduced by President Obama.

Madonna also performed acoustic versions of Like A Prayer, Don’t Tell Me, Express Yourself and Rebel Heart.

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From The Guardian:

Madonna performs at surprise New York rally: ‘Save this country, vote for Hillary Clinton’

As the crowd gathered in New York’s Washington Square Park on Monday night, confused journalists and Hillary supporters asked each other for information.

“Do you know what we’re waiting for?” asked a man. “Is it going to be some faceless college professor telling us how to vote?”

The small stage being constructed in the centre of the park’s fountain, and the security detail standing by, hinted at more – and at 7.30pm, just as the rumours began to start, we got our answer. The queen of pop had come to lend her support to the Clinton campaign.

“This concert is about unifying us,” said Madonna as she took to the stage, clutching a red guitar and flanked by a musician and her son David. “How are we going to keep America great?

“We are going to elect a president who does not discriminate against women, who does not discriminate against the LGBT community, who does not discriminate against people of color, that does not want to build a wall around our country and separate us from the rest of the world. This is a concert about peace.”

Apologising for her guitar skills, she began an acoustic set, stopping between each song to give missives against the Republican candidate. “No way, motherfucker,” she declared, as she launched into Express Yourself.

For the astonished audience, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to sing along with Madonna to some of her biggest hits, including Don’t Tell Me and Like a Prayer – but her cover of John Lennon’s Imagine was the crowning moment: a cathartic sense of unity ahead of the next day’s uncertainty.

Introducing the song, she called Lennon one of the “angels who have been sent to this universe to bring peace on Earth”.

“What about us?” called a man.

“What about us?” she answered. “We’re here to keep the fire going.”

Earnest speeches about love were peppered with a caustic sense of humour. When asked to turn to her right during a song, Madonna quipped: “I’m a top and a bottom, but I don’t do sides.” Later she said: “Let’s hope I get invited to the White House.”

The concert was performed in the round, and those who surrounded her with Hillary signs, who had come for a pre-election day boost, were not disappointed. “Tomorrow’s the big day,” Madonna told us, expertly pausing for cheers and responses. “Do we want to become the laughing stock of the planet?”

Finally, after a medley that merged Pete Seeger’s If I Had a Hammer into Madonna’s Rebel Heart, she called, “Save this country, vote for Hillary Clinton.”

Then she was gone, and the crowd turned to find themselves in the middle of the Pantsuit Power dance flashmob, performing the Clinton-themed dance first encountered in a viral video by film-makers Celia Rowlson-Hall and Mia Lidofsky.

Next to the space where Madonna had been, a man dressed as Abraham Lincoln posed for selfies with passersby, and the stencil artist behind the I Feel Like Hillz street art campaign created fresh artworks for people to take home, as originators of various pro-Hillary groups and online movements introduced themselves to each other.

It was the pop-up rally that no one expected, setting a cautious mood of optimism among New Yorkers hoping to see the first female president elected on Tuesday. And it was a final reminder of Clinton’s top-tier pop endorsements, which includes a holy trinity of divas: Madonna, Beyoncé and Adele.

If they can’t save us, well, then maybe we can’t be saved.

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