[Nothing left for me to do but DANCE]

Did you miss me?
Friday, September 24, 2004

Ok, there's a lot to update so I'm gonna tell you all these things in the next chapters:

1) My Portuguese Re-Invention

2) School oh school

3) I've received an e-m@il!

4) My current music

5) Signature

1) This is a review of my experience see the Queen of Pop's latest tour in Lisbon. I had a great time, and I partially enjoyed the show so much cause I knew very few things about it [just four or five songs from the setlist and a couple of her outfits]

01. The Beast Within [video intro] - What a weird way to start a show! The Beast Within was a b-side of 1990's controversial hit Justify My Love. It features Madonna reading verses from the Bible over some club beats on the background. The huge screens showed some moving images from Madonna and Steven Klein's creepy exhibition X-STaTIC Pro=CeSS. Some of these images were featured on a 44-page portofolio in the April issue of W magazine last year, and are among Madonna's most classical portraits. After that the lights go out and we hear Madonna saying "Behold, I am coming soon", and then...

02. Vogue - ...she rises from underneath the stage wearing the sexy-famous-cool jewelled corset by Christian Lacroix, inspired by Dangerous Liasons. Her voice was fantastic even though it was the last gig of a 4-month tour and she was doing a heavy choreography. A great opener.

03. Nobody Knows Me - I really liked this performance even though I wasn't expecting much from it cause it's my least favorite song from American Life. It simply features Madonna dancing alone around the stage and playing a lot with the audience while the screens show the words she's singing.

04. Frozen - Very simple but touching performance. She sings in the centre of the stage in front of a mic while we see images from the short-movie Flex, by Chris Cunningham [who also directed the Frozen video in 1998] Her voice was really amazing.

05. American Life - We hear a lot of noises like helicopters and explossions while a lot of dancers in military costumes pop-up from below the stage. We also see a punk, a rabbi, a nun... Then Mrs. Ritchie, who's wearing a military outfit too, starts to sing the album version of the song and suddenly it changes to the rock version featured on the Remixed & Revisited EP [released in late 2003] while she's running over a catwalk that has been lowered, giving a much better view to those who were in the more distant rows.

06. Express Yourself - One of M's biggest classics, and one of the funniest performances of the night. Madonna and her dancers do a cool military-ish choreography with the audience loving every minute of it. My favorite part of the performance is when Madonna is perched upon a rifle by two dancers. lol

07. Burning Up - OMFG!!!!!! One of the highlights of the show. Burning Up was included on the first, self-titled album of the Queen of Pop 21 years ago. She hasn't performed this song since The Virgin Tour [1985] It's always been one of my favorite Madonna songs and I always had the dream of seeing her performing a hard-rock version of it. I thought this would never happen [they say she hates this song] So you can imagine my excitement when I heard this song beginning... and Madonna playing the electric guitar!!! Her guitar-playing has improved A LOT in the last few years, and she seemed really comfortable playing this song.

08. Material Girl - Another big surprise. Two years ago she said she didn't like this song and would never perform it again. I'm so glad she changed her mind. She asks the audience to sing with her cause she always forgets the lyrics. lol. This time she gives a much rockier sound to this song [she also plays the electric guitar in this one]

09. Hollywood [Interlude] - A highly entertaining interlude, using the Thin White Duke remix of the song [the one which was also used on the MTV Video Music Awards last year] featuring a skateboarder and a magician. I felt disappointed though. This song is one of the best pop tracks she's ever made and would make a great performance. Anyway, let's wait for the next tour.

10. Hanky Panky - Madonna and her back-up singers dressed in cabaret-ish outfits singing this forgotten gem that was inspired by the Dick Tracy movie, where M played the sexy Breathless Mahoney. It was a shock too hear the "new" Madonna singing things like "tie my hands behind my back and oooh I'm in ectasy". lol

11. Deeper & Deeper - It was a surprise to hear one of her best dance tracks [and one of my favorite songs] turning into a ballad. She sang in a sexy, smooth voice that gave a whole new meaning to the song.

12. Die Another Day - One of the Lady's most recent hits, performed in a slighty different version. She dances a tango with one of her dancers [she looked like she loved doing it] while another two couples do the same. Then they take her and...

13. Lament - ...strap her to an electric chair. Then she sings this song, originally performed in her death scene in Evita. Her voice sounded truly amazing, really high, and it's one of the most touching moments of the concert. It finished with the chair [and Madonna] being lowered beneath the stage.

14. Bedtime Story [video interlude] - The screens show a brand-new video for this Bedtime Stories song [a fan favorite], where Madonna looks stunning with straight blond hair and wearing a white outfit. They used a remix, it was really good though. Meanwhile, three female dancers perform acrobatics on stage.

15. Nothing Fails - She takes an acoustic guitar to perform this song, one of my all-time favorites, while the screens show a video where we see different couples [mostly black and African-American], that it's kind of reminiscent of Secret. It sounded really beautiful and it was great to hear this masterpiece live.

16. Don't Tell Me - It used the same choreography that was featured on the Drowned World Tour, but I can forgive her cause it was a really funny performance and the song is one of Madonna's essential tracks. It also uses a sample from The Verve's classic Bittersweet Simphony that fit really well into the song.

17. Like A Prayer - Definitely one of the biggest classics of pop music. The crowd went nuts and Madonna simply had a great time singing this song again.

18. Mother & Father + Intervention - She starts playing an acoustic version of Mother & Father [she's playing the acoustic guitar again], slower than the electro-pop album version and then includes a verse from Intervention, while the screens feature some "catholic" images. At the end of the song she hits really high notes. She almost sounded like Céline or Whitney. lol

19. Imagine - I had mixed feelings when I heard she was covering this all-time, pro-peace classic. She's done great jobs remaking classics like American Pie or Don't Cry For Me Argentina but she also did a dull Fever cover. So, I was really surprised when I heard her rendition of this John Lennon song, cause she gives it a new, personal sound, replacing the piano background of the original for some subtle electronic sounds. The screens feature a video with images of kids and war. At one point of this vid we see John Lennon, and the crowd simply exploded in cheers. The video ends with two kids [one Israeli and one Palestinian] walking together with an arm over each other's shoulders. That's when I started to cry. lol It's a shame that right after we see a Spirituality For Kids banner with the "Make things happen" slogan. It kind of turns this excellent performance into a Kaballah infomercial.

20. Into The Groove - A bagpiper and a group of drummers wearing long kilts appear on stage and the crowd joins them clapping the beat they were playing. Then the image of Missy Elliot appears on the huge screens, also wearing a plaid outfit, as she raps an intro to the song. Madonna appears wearing the same long kilt and doing a complicated choreography with long sticks as she sings this classic tune.

21. Papa Don't Preach - I didn't expect her to do this song. It was a simple performance, yet very funny. She was just performing on a platform wearing a "Kabbalists Do It Better" t-shirt [a tongue-in-cheek reference to the "Italians Do It Better" tee she wore on the original video] with two female dancers besides her.

22. Crazy For You - She gave a speech before this one, thanking us for being such a great crowd. She also said she was very sad the tour was over, but that Lisbon was a great place to finish this exhausting journey. She even cried when she thanked her crew and the fans who have been supporting her for over two decades. She had to stop for like ten seconds, and the crowd erupted into cheers and "Madonna! Madonna! Madonna!" chants. She then wiped her tears with the kilt [lol] and started to sing the song sounding as lovesick as in 1985.

23. Music - Stuart Price [the gorgeous and talented guy who's been the musical director and guitarist/keyboardist of Madonna's latest two world tours] DJs on a booth surrounded by luminated stairs, and Madonna starts to sing this huge dance anthem while the audience goes crazy. They used the same, great remix of the Drowned World Tour, and the choreography was similar, but it was a really enjoyable performance.

24. Holiday - What's the best way to finish such a show? Madonna's first mainstream hit and her anthem, the only song she's performed on every tour. The crowd went crazy and millions of red and white confetti poured on the pleasing audience while the catwalk was lowered again, which make people go even crazier. It was nearly impossible to hear M screaming the words "Thank you, good night!". lol Then the huge screens show the words "Re-Invent Yourself" while the crowd is still cheering and confetti is stil pouring.

A great, great show, an unforgettable night. It was really worth to pay the 61 € and the trip to Lisbon to see her. I felt so happy. The night had a sad part though. I met two really, really great girls from Albacete [in the South-East of Spain] waiting for the concert to begin, and I was having a really good time with them cause it was cool to meet someone there cause I went alone. Everything was fine until Papa Don't Preach. Then one of the girls had an asthma attack and both went to a less crowded place. We arranged to meet after the concert but couldn't find them. I was truly stupid cause I didn't ask them for their number or e-m@il addy, and I wish I could find them. Very few times I had that kind of instant connection with someone I just met, and I feel retarded. I really wonder what happened. =(

2) School has started and I wanna die. My teachers are awful, most of them seem rude and arrogant. My classmates are ok [they could be much worse] I'm friends with some girls who are also new at the school, but I don't feel we'll get much closer. Don't get me wrong, I laugh a lot when I'm with them and stuff, but I haven't felt that "beep" you feel when you meet someone who's gonna be your friend. It's hard to explain but I hope you get what I'm trying to say. I kind of miss my old school. Many of my teachers were stupid, but I had some great friends there. Not to mention the complete lack of hot guys! lol

3) I've received an e-m@il from my long-time online friend Jordan. He's a 23 year-old guy I met three years ago, and we've been friends since then. I used to like him, but I never told him; then he was after me, but I wasn't interested; after that I had a huge crush on him, but he got engaged to a Canadian man who was like 12 years older. I felt awful. I never was very confidant about that relationship. Now I know I wasn't wrong at all. That Canadian asshole left him one month ago, using the stupid "my feelings have changed" excuse. What a jerk. He doesn't know what he's missing. I don't know if I still like him, but any guy can consider him really lucky to have him. My favorite line from his e-m@il is the one that says "why aren't you here with me now???". I love when men need me. lol. Seriously, I wish he was closer. We would be so happy together [I know that sounds corny, but I don't care]

4) This is the music I've been listening over and over:

Albums:

Sheryl Crow - Sheryl Crow / C'mon, C'mon

Lisa Marie Presley - To Whom It May Concern

Songs:

Vanessa Carlton - White Houses

Meredith Brooks - Shine

Lisa Marie Presley - S. O. B / Nobody Noticed It

Madonna - Burning Up [live @ RIT] / Imagine [live @ RIT]

Emma Bunton - I'll Be There

Sheryl Crow - Diamond Road / It's Only Love / Hard To Make A Stand

Sarah McLachlan - World On Fire

Girls rock! =)

5) This is all folks. Re-invent yourselves and don't forget to share your light with someone. See you on the next update.

Santi

[Darkdancer] danced away @
00:53

1 comments

-----------------

Author

Links

Recent

Archives

Credits

Did you miss me?
Friday, September 24, 2004

Author

Links

Recent

Archives

Credits

Did you miss me? Friday, September 24, 2004

Did you miss me?
Friday, September 24, 2004