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Ottawa - Scotiabank Place Sep 10


graffitiheart

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the audience sucked (no surprise here). I had GT tickets and even there the ambience wasnt that great...people in the front row just staring and taking pics :megamanson: sigh..but it doesnt matter, i enjoyed the show to the fullest because it was my very LAST!!! Madonna complained several times about the lame audience.."Come on Ottawa, i'm working my ass off here"

Rocco wasn't there anymore, as he's at school...one of the dancers danced in OYH instead of him but he didnt have a clue and Madonna yelled at him "you are fired!"

No holiday or MG for us :(

in her tongue in cheek madonna jokingly sort of way, surely? im curious who the dancer is.

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Madonna

Scotiabank Place

Reviewed Monday, Sept. 10

OTTAWA — In a past era, Madonna might have been a minor star in the dying days of Vaudeville with occasional supporting roles in some elaborate Busby Berkeley movie.

The Madonna of the modern era is a similar construct: A cleverly considered, well-crafted celebrity image that almost disguises the fact that she’s a fading pop singer with an ordinary singing voice she uses to pump out mediocre pop songs.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

In the 30 years Madonna has been plying her trade, dozens of pop singers have ridden up and down the charts before being cast onto the scrap heap of has-beens. It’s a heartless business. But Madonna knows all about that. When she was in Scotiabank Place in her sweats for a sound check at 6 p.m. Monday afternoon, the doors were locked tight, even for ushers.

The celebrity entity known as Madonna has been too smart to fade away – and perhaps a little lucky and as the many fun loving Madonna lookalikes at Monday’s show would attest, not without influence.

Madonna’s live performance is a Broadway show on wheels, except that Broadway shows start at a reasonable hour. The start time on the ticket was 8 p.m. after all. When her show finally did start at about 10:20 p.m., it was fabulous, ushered in as it was by crimson robed monks to the cheering of the sell out crowd of about 15,000.

This cavalier attitude towards people who have decked themselves out and might have employed babysitters or have to get up for work in the morning – and who’ve paid through the nose to help keep Madonna in the style she has become accustomed – is weird and almost a throwback to the ’60s when drunken rock bands routinely staggered on stage with regard for neither clock nor customers. Not that Madonna is in that wastrel category. Her onstage gyrations among a posse of superb dancers, and her well-sculpted physique, point to a 53-year old woman who is supremely fit.

She has stamina to keep up and change costumes at a rapid rate.

The name Madonna sells the tickets but at its core, this travelling road show is a sum of its slickly skilled parts – a show with a singer who might have the biggest role but who needs the others as much as they need her.

Stick her alone in front of a microphone with a guitar and she’d more likely be playing bars than arenas. In this company she shines like a star.

It seems like an odd comparison but the blood and shock for which Madonna has received flak is classic vamp Alice Cooper, a theatrical construct of Detroit’s Vincent Furnier who cakes makeup and fake blood on his body by night and plays golf every morning as a regular millionaire rock star named Vincent.

Madonna’s violent imagery around the likes of Revolver and Gang Bang are not thoughtless nor necessarily gratuitous but they are certainly made to shock. Alice wrote the book on rock shock though not with the same technological pizzazz.

Musicians usually tour when they have something to sell other than tickets. Madonna has MDNA, her latest waxing from which she draws much of the material for her show.

The big opener that leads into Girl Gone Wild was a statement of what the next two hours had in store for the patient thousands, that by all accounts have been reasonably tolerant and forgiving of Madonna’s tardiness everywhere she has been.

And other earlier songs, notably Express Yourself and Give Me All Your Luvin’ were soothers for any irritation smouldering in the hall.

In a sense it doesn’t really matter what songs Madonna chooses to sing because the spectacle, with all its bells and whistles, is all. But many reviewers, during the European leg of the tour, have justifiably lauded her marching band visualization of Express Yourself.

Most people will grumble to themselves or each other, pack up their costumes and if there’s another tour may think twice before spending their cash on Madonna tickets.

Forgiven, almost certainly, but — in more ways than one — not forgotten.

ccobb@ottawacitizen.com

twitter.com/chrisicobb

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From Madonnalicious

HungUp4Madge

I just got back to my hotel from the Ottawa show. I'm really tired so I'm not sure how much I'll remember but I'll type what comes into my head and then I guess I'll add more later...

She was not in a good mood tonight. She was not happy that the crowd was not singing along to the songs with her. The crowd was otherwise responsive -- yelling loudly, etc. -- but people weren't singing and she got upset.

Rocco was not there and the dancer that was supposed to sub for him -- Vibes, I think she said his name was -- I guess forgot he was supposed to do it. During the part of Open Your Heart when Rocco comes out to dance Vibes didn't do anything and Madonna started yelling "DANCE!" at him over and over again and then she said "Rocco's not here" and he finally danced a little but it was too late and she said "you're fired" as she walked to the other side of the stage. None of this was in good humor, though; she seemed really irritated.

After Open Your Heart she looked into the Golden Triangle and pointed at someone and said "What does our t-shirt say?" and the person moved forward so she could read it and she said "I don't have a song called..." whatever the shirt said (I couldn't hear the rest of the sentence) and she said "I'm ignoring those people" and walked to the other side of the stage. A bit later she turned back to the same person and said "don't ever wear that shirt again".

She asked how many people were from Ottawa and when most of the audience raised their hands she said "well you had the least amount of distance to travel so you should have the most energy". She said that the singing along to OYH was "better, but not good" in comparison to the singing along to Turn Up the Radio.

Her back said "no fear" tonight and when she showed the audience her ass she said "it must get cold baring your ass up here in the winter but it's not winter yet". The audience responded really well to Like A Virgin and this seemed to soften her up a little bit and she got really playful. She climbed on top of the piano and laid on it on her stomach and she had her leg up in the air with her foot directly on top of Kevin's head like she was going to rest her foot on his hat but she never did... and this made Kevin laugh. At the end of the song when she's holding the strings to her corset she went and stood behind him and wrapped the strings around Kevin's neck and strangled him and he stopped playing the piano and pretended to pass out while the piano was lowered into the stage.

It seemed to me that she was possibly either not feeling well or perhaps she was injured somehow (maybe she sprained her ankle or something?). During Girl Gone Wild and Revolver I noticed that she seemed really unsure of her footing and she kept looking down at her feet while she was dancing. When she came out for Express Yourself, when she usually yells "come one girls, do you believe in love..." she didn't yell it she just said it in a low voice like she was tired or bored. While she was singing I'm Addicted the look on her face gave me the impression that she was in pain for some reason. During Like A Prayer when she goes out onto the tip of the catwalk and spins around several times with her hands out before she sinks to her knees she did the spin really slow and appeared to stumble a little bit and then she slowly kind-of danced her way down to her knees.

Anyway, that's all I can remember.

Despite all this the show was fantastic just like it always is; I just felt bad for her because she really seemed unhappy and I was actually worried that something might be wrong. She seemed really peeved about the crowd not singing along but the crowd was otherwise really responsive -- yelling and screaming really loudly and everyone stood for the entire show, even the interludes -- and she seemed out of sorts with her footing pretty much from the moment she took her veil off at the beginning of GGW and that's why I was thinking her mood was the result of something else. Other than the instances I mentioned her energy seemed fine elsewhere, although after Express Yourself when she salutes the audience and usually winks and smiles, tonight she just had a look of utter exhaustion on her face.

I had a really amazing seat directly in the middle of the floor just 5 rows back from the tip of the catwalk stage; the people in the rows ahead of me were shorter than me so I was in M's eye line and since I was dancing and jumping and singing like a mad man she kept making eye contact with me while she was on the catwalk stage.

The venue was PACKED and people seemed to have a really great time. I talked to two separate women that had each gone by themselves and both had VIP seats and they said it was the first time they had ever seen her and that she was worth every penny... one of them had traveled all the way from Newfoundland as a birthday present to herself and she said she had never before traveled to another province for someone's concert.

Paul Oakenfold was the opening act; he went on at 9:38pm and he played for just under an hour. He had a great set and a lot of people were up and dancing by the time it was over. The curtain in front of the stage was taken down at 10:16pm but the show didn't start until 10:24pm. The show ended at 12:18am.

Okay... sorry if that's long-winded or hard to follow but I am really tired. I wanted to type up what I remembered, though, before I forgot it all.

Tomorrow, I'm off to Toronto. I really hope everything is okay with M and that's she's in better spirits for the Toronto shows.

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It seems the North American press got the "Express yourself/born this way/she's not me" thing better then the European press!

reading some of the reviews in europe its as if they had something up their ass. the cynicism, bitterness and pretentious knowitall attitude was overbearing at times. this time its most of the US reviews that seem to be more open to her sense of humor. not generalising of course, notice the "some" in my post ;)

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I also want to know what the problematic t-shirt said :popcorn2:

But boo if she's feeling off. Hopefully she'll bounce back for Toronto. I saw her there for one of my S&S stops and the crowd was pretty fun.

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Guest pedrohdi

reading some of the reviews in europe its as if they had something up their ass. the cynicism, bitterness and pretentious knowitall attitude was overbearing at times. this time its most of the US reviews that seem to be more open to her sense of humor. not generalising of course, notice the "some" in my post ;)

You're absolutely right!

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From Madonnalicious

HungUp4Madge

I just got back to my hotel from the Ottawa show. I'm really tired so I'm not sure how much I'll remember but I'll type what comes into my head and then I guess I'll add more later...

She was not in a good mood tonight. She was not happy that the crowd was not singing along to the songs with her. The crowd was otherwise responsive -- yelling loudly, etc. -- but people weren't singing and she got upset.

Rocco was not there and the dancer that was supposed to sub for him -- Vibes, I think she said his name was -- I guess forgot he was supposed to do it. During the part of Open Your Heart when Rocco comes out to dance Vibes didn't do anything and Madonna started yelling "DANCE!" at him over and over again and then she said "Rocco's not here" and he finally danced a little but it was too late and she said "you're fired" as she walked to the other side of the stage. None of this was in good humor, though; she seemed really irritated.

After Open Your Heart she looked into the Golden Triangle and pointed at someone and said "What does our t-shirt say?" and the person moved forward so she could read it and she said "I don't have a song called..." whatever the shirt said (I couldn't hear the rest of the sentence) and she said "I'm ignoring those people" and walked to the other side of the stage. A bit later she turned back to the same person and said "don't ever wear that shirt again".

She asked how many people were from Ottawa and when most of the audience raised their hands she said "well you had the least amount of distance to travel so you should have the most energy". She said that the singing along to OYH was "better, but not good" in comparison to the singing along to Turn Up the Radio.

Her back said "no fear" tonight and when she showed the audience her ass she said "it must get cold baring your ass up here in the winter but it's not winter yet". The audience responded really well to Like A Virgin and this seemed to soften her up a little bit and she got really playful. She climbed on top of the piano and laid on it on her stomach and she had her leg up in the air with her foot directly on top of Kevin's head like she was going to rest her foot on his hat but she never did... and this made Kevin laugh. At the end of the song when she's holding the strings to her corset she went and stood behind him and wrapped the strings around Kevin's neck and strangled him and he stopped playing the piano and pretended to pass out while the piano was lowered into the stage.

It seemed to me that she was possibly either not feeling well or perhaps she was injured somehow (maybe she sprained her ankle or something?). During Girl Gone Wild and Revolver I noticed that she seemed really unsure of her footing and she kept looking down at her feet while she was dancing. When she came out for Express Yourself, when she usually yells "come one girls, do you believe in love..." she didn't yell it she just said it in a low voice like she was tired or bored. While she was singing I'm Addicted the look on her face gave me the impression that she was in pain for some reason. During Like A Prayer when she goes out onto the tip of the catwalk and spins around several times with her hands out before she sinks to her knees she did the spin really slow and appeared to stumble a little bit and then she slowly kind-of danced her way down to her knees.

Anyway, that's all I can remember.

Despite all this the show was fantastic just like it always is; I just felt bad for her because she really seemed unhappy and I was actually worried that something might be wrong. She seemed really peeved about the crowd not singing along but the crowd was otherwise really responsive -- yelling and screaming really loudly and everyone stood for the entire show, even the interludes -- and she seemed out of sorts with her footing pretty much from the moment she took her veil off at the beginning of GGW and that's why I was thinking her mood was the result of something else. Other than the instances I mentioned her energy seemed fine elsewhere, although after Express Yourself when she salutes the audience and usually winks and smiles, tonight she just had a look of utter exhaustion on her face.

I had a really amazing seat directly in the middle of the floor just 5 rows back from the tip of the catwalk stage; the people in the rows ahead of me were shorter than me so I was in M's eye line and since I was dancing and jumping and singing like a mad man she kept making eye contact with me while she was on the catwalk stage.

The venue was PACKED and people seemed to have a really great time. I talked to two separate women that had each gone by themselves and both had VIP seats and they said it was the first time they had ever seen her and that she was worth every penny... one of them had traveled all the way from Newfoundland as a birthday present to herself and she said she had never before traveled to another province for someone's concert.

Paul Oakenfold was the opening act; he went on at 9:38pm and he played for just under an hour. He had a great set and a lot of people were up and dancing by the time it was over. The curtain in front of the stage was taken down at 10:16pm but the show didn't start until 10:24pm. The show ended at 12:18am.

Okay... sorry if that's long-winded or hard to follow but I am really tired. I wanted to type up what I remembered, though, before I forgot it all.

Tomorrow, I'm off to Toronto. I really hope everything is okay with M and that's she's in better spirits for the Toronto shows.

I didnt notice all these little details, i guess i was too excited jumping all over the place

When she pointed out the tshirt, i could swear it was the one above (2 guys and 1 girl were wearing it), because she was pointing to where they were...but i couldnt really understand what she said

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i am so disappointed in this canadian date, i hope she never plays there again! the true fans can travel to other cities, lol

these bad reviews r so transparent and pretentious, like why cant u just enjoy urself, instead of holding some odd grudge towards the woman

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^ My thoughs as well..people aren't still over the fact that she was "2 hours later" and keep saying something like "this completely disrespectful, we didnt pay so much money for this" :laugh:

I'm not surprised at all by the audience....this is not just Madonna. Everybody knows Canada loves hockey...well , I've been to many of "Senators" games and you will be shocked how freaking boring the Senators fans are. Sadly, some of the die hard fans on front row, or some with full Madonna customs seemed bored as well...

I was prepared for this, so I still enjoyed the show very much! Still in awe after looking at that epic entrance

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OMG what did theMadonnalicious reviewer see ? She was actually in a great mood, being all playful and cute... such drama over nothing

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Rave review :dramatic:

Madonna wows crowd at Scotiabank Place

5.5 stars out of 6

The fans who shelled out upwards of $300 for the hottest ticket in town know that Madonna puts on less of a concert than an all-out event.

None went home disappointed from the sold-out Scotiabank Place show that stretched well into the midnight hour.

Of course, with all the international headlines left in the wake of her MDNA tour — with the swastikas superimposed over political faces, the flaming crucifixes, the boob flashes, feigned violence and calls for revolution — it seemed like everyone was waiting to see which pot Madonna would stir next.

Truly, it just doesn’t qualify as a cause celebre anymore until Madonna’s scrawled in lipstick across her backside.

But other than a “No Fear” tattoo on her exposed back, there was little in the way of political furor, and except for a few cheeky exchanges with fans, Madonna mostly let her music do the talking.

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

Not that a Madonna concert is ever just about the music.

The accompanying imagery, dripping with metaphor, was just as much a part of the spectacle as the music, and, as expected from someone with Madonna’s knack for provocation, the images pulled no punches.

The show’s overture began with a dozen cloaked figures swinging a giant smoking urn over the crowd as Madonna descended from the rafters in a gilded confessional, launching her MDNA tour as she does the album with Girl Gone Wild.

Images of Renaissance-styled angels descended into a hellfire backdrop as the beat slipped into Revolver, but the opening credits to The Exorcist soon dissolved into something more closely resembling a Tarantino film.

Under the throbbing beat of Gang Bang, Madge and her femmes fatale wielded pistols and assault rifles and randomly picked off imaginary assailants in the crowd as all sorts of blood spatter and viscera splashed across the screen.

Numerous video interludes showcased her entourage of toned dancers, and allowed for the customary costume changes as the set unfolded in five distinct acts: Transgression, Prophecy, Turning Up the Hits, Masculine/Feminine and Celebration.

After such a foreboding opening, resonating with Gothic subtext, Madonna emerged from the first costume change as a caricature of her old, bubbly bleached blonde persona, dressed as a marching bandleader complete with twirling baton for Express Yourself.

And if there’s anything to the rumours of a feud between Madonna and her prime progeny Lady Gaga, the Queen still wears the crown, as she interpolated the carbon copy Born This Way, singing (somewhat cattily) “She’s not me” before busting back into Express Yourself.

And the fans — the show was, as expected, a complete sellout with more than 15,000 packing Scotiabank Place, many likely rueing Tuesday morning as the show didn’t get underway until almost 10:30 — gleefully played the part, with many dressed up and putting on their favourite era Material Girl face.

All of those faces were present on stage, too.

Madonna emerged in tight black leather slinging a matching six string for Turn Up the Radio, she was her bad Catholic girl prototype on all fours in Papa Don’t Preach, Masterpiece ushered in a cadre of Golden Age Hollywood romantics in flickering monochrome, the sex-charged groove of Human Nature featured her Erotica imagery, and she was barely recognizable as a grown-up crooning the once-bubbly Like a Virgin.

Yet, for all of her longevity, the 54-year-old Queen of Reinvention rarely showed her age, her trademark lithe moves front and centre on every song.

The only time she even hinted at her years was when she informed the audience her son, who usually dances in the show, had to miss Monday’s gig “because he had to go to school.”

Only fitting, because “back to school” is exactly where Madonna sent a new generation of impersonators.

aedan.helmer@sunmedia.ca

Twitter: @OttSunHelmer

MADONNA SETLIST:

Girl Gone Wild

Revolver

Gang Bang

Papa Don’t Preach

Hung Up

I Don’t Give A

Express Yourself (with Born This Way)

Give Me All Your Luvin’

Turn Up the Radio

Open Your Heart

Masterpiece

Vogue

Candy Shop

Human Nature

Like A Virgin

Nobody Knows Me

I’m Addicted

I’m A Sinner

Like a Prayer

Celebration

http://www.ottawasun.com/2012/09/11/madonna-wows-crowd-at-scotiabank-place

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