funkydita

I was there too. It was an incredible night, the sense of expectation was thick in the air, Madonna (QOP) was back on stage after a seven year hiatus. Tickets were coveted and impossible to get your hands on, it wasn’t even worth trying. I was working for a big UK TV show at the time but none of my most connected connections could get a ticket. The night before the concert, almost midnight, I was getting ready for bed and the phone rang. A colleague, and fellow Madonna fan, had somehow found my home telephone number, she was working the late shift and had just received a fax. Yes, a fax. The fax was a press release - the first 100 or so people at HMV the following morning would get tickets to see Madonna at Brixton. As the release was embargoed until 6am we could safely go to bed and set off to HMV early. We arrived at the store just after 5:30am and still weren't the first in the queue. We were soon surrounded by hardcore, crazy-eyed, Madonna fans. The rabid kind that aggressively bark Madonna songs when queuing in the middle of Oxford Street on a freezing winter weekday morning. Then the local news cameras turned up. My friend and I turned our backs, mortified. Eventually the store opened, we got our tickets and made arrangements to meet at Brixton Academy later that evening. I lived in Brixton then and the buzz was insane, no one could quite believe that Madonna would be performing in such a small venue. And in Brixton?! On my smug mince down Brixton Hill, I called a friend to gloat: “You’ll never guess where I’m on my way to” “You’re going to see Madonna at Brixton” “Oh. How did you guess?” “I saw you in the queue at HMV on the news earlier” “Oh” Outside the venue, touts and fans were offering hundreds of pounds for tickets. The audience, packed with celebrities, was ravenous for Madonna’s return to the stage. She didn’t disappoint and the night was a triumph. Her relationship with the UK has always been complicated but during that period there was a palpable sense of warmth and affection for her. The undisputed QOP, living in London, mother to a British son and about to marry Guy Ritchie, she was effortlessly cool, grounded, and could do no wrong. That night felt like the homecoming of a legend. Fast forward 15 years and I found myself working on a show at Brixton Academy. I wandered the piss-stinking back areas and found, abandoned in a stairwell...THIS. I wanted it so badly.

My office is literally next to the building, I can't see us returning any time soon. It's so awful to think that some of those people we'd see every day are no longer with us. It's truly heartbreaking, I can't watch or read anything about it without shedding a tear.

I NEED to see this show again, three times wasn't enough. I'm building an altar from my limited edition albums and Hard Candy sweets and praying to the lil' baby Jesus that it's true. If that doesn't work, I'm going to chant "Hydrangea" to invoke the spirit of Demonna. If anyone's looking for me, I'll be the one speaking in tongues "...juxtapose, ironic, paradox, illusion...".

Oops. Didn't quite mean to cause the brouhaha. Anyhoo, the show was amazing as ever, her hair was layed to perfection and I was sat next to a lovely pregnant lady who's due to drop in two weeks, I was half expecting wet feet by True Blue. Tonight I shall mourn the end of my European mini tour by flicking through Encyclopaedia Madonnica by candlelight.

I swear I saw Michelle Budd *scurred*.

Barely babe, I'm turning 40 in April, this is the last hurrah.

Jeez, I've not posted in YEARS but tonight warrants it, with it being the fiinal stop of my three show tour and all (including Acko's and Funkydita's European Vacation AKA One Night In Paris). It's my 12th show since Girlie Show opening night and this tour is in the heady upper echelons of my personal tour rankette. Thanks to Acko for my front (well, second really but who's counting?) row experience, best view ever. Currently on a train from London and not particularly looking forward to the 6:30am train back to London for work tomorrow. But HEY, she's on early, yeah?

Jeez, I've not posted in YEARS but tonight warrants it, with it being the fiinal stop of my three show tour and all (including Acko's and Funkydita's European Vacation AKA One Night In Paris). It's my 12th show since Girlie Show opening night and this tour is in the heady upper echelons of my personal tour rankette. Thanks to Acko for my front (well, second really but who's counting?) row experience, best view ever. Currently on a train from London and not particularly looking forward to the 6:30am train back to London for work tomorrow. But HEY, she's on early, yeah?