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Anatomy of a Madonna tour


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Anatomy of a Madonna tour

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It will take three Boeing 747s to bring all Madonna's equipment to Australia for her Rebel Heart tour. Photo: Getty Images

Backstage in the bowels of Antwerp's Sportspaleis, Jason Danter cheerfully apologises in advance for all the swearing. He's Rebel Heart's production manager, which, he says, basically translates as, "How the f--- do we get this into this?"

And that takes some doing. So far, Madonna's 81-date Rebel Heart tour has rumbled 27 semitrailers of equipment and 185 staff across North America and Europe; but that's a lot easier than coming to Australia and New Zealand in March, for which three Boeing 747s are needed.

Madonna hasn't visited our shores since 1993's Girlie Show tour, so unsurprisingly the $1999.90 front-row seats in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane were exhausted during presales.

Danter served in the Royal Navy, which comes in handy now. "The military teaches you discipline," he says in his Brummie accent. "You need to make decisions, have plans, work whatever hours are needed to get the job done." He and his crew have been on site in Antwerp since 7am, joined at around 10am by tour director Tres Thomas.

At university, Thomas was more interested in selling tickets for student shows than singing and dancing in them. His qualifications in accounting and law perfectly suit him for the business of touring, which he's done for 35 years. He works for Live Nation, which in 2007 signed Madonna to a 10-year global partnership, the first of its kind.

In a deal rumoured to be worth $120 million, Madonna became a shareholder and funnelled the execution of all her forthcoming merchandise, touring and releases, as well as TV and film projects, rights and sponsorship deals into the new Artist Nation division.

According to both Danter and Thomas her trusted tour lieutenants a show day runs with sparkling efficiency. Madonna or 'M', as Danter calls her flies into a city by private charter jet and will settle in her hotel. She turns up to the venue mid-afternoon with her two assistants and a member of her Maverick Management team in tow.

The four-piece band and backing singers soundcheck first, then Madonna runs through parts of the set for 90 minutes, testing the audio at different spots on the stage. "She's always perfecting her performance," Thomas says.

Madonna likes to plan well in advance of her tours. "Her rehearsal time is long. It's the better part of 16, 17 weeks. We sit down, design the show: we have been working on Rebel Heart since November 2014," Thomas says. But on tour, there are almost always tweaks to be made to the 23-song set.

Choreographer Valeree Young also runs a safety check on the sway poles, the aerial harness and the inflatable bag that one dancer gets shoved onto from a giant spiral staircase.

Backstage, dancers can take advantage of physiotherapists, or they might join in with whoever's throwing a footy around. Previous tours have had a mini-golf set-up; this time around the entertainment is rotated to keep people amused. The hospitality and catering areas will be running at full throttle.

Madonna's dressing-room compound comprises a few rooms where she can work out, relax and have her hair and make-up attended to. It's all decked out by a dedicated "ambience department", which unloads a semitrailer-and-a-half of furniture, pictures and gym gear at each venue.

The only things locally sourced are the ample flowers. "All of the trays, sofa, pictures, everything is picked out by Madonna, trying to replicate a comfortable living room. She likes a homey atmosphere," Thomas says.

Before each show, Madonna holds a huddled prayer service, asking for guidance. The performers then get into position as Danter waits at the back of the stage for Madonna to enter. She's handed over to the stage manager, who sets her up for her opening aerial scene in a steel cage.

"If it works correctly, it isn't manic. There are stage managers, ambience co-ordinators, wardrobe co-ordinators, 12 people that assist during the show with changing all the costumes beneath the stage.

We've had our moments when something is out of whack and has held up Madonna's arrival, but it's a very structured, professional environment, with people who have worked together a long time," Thomas says.

As each of the four acts pan out, performers disappear from view through lifts in the stage. Running beneath the length of the runway is the "coal train", which transports performers and props in a cart on a purpose-built track, so that they can pop up without the audience seeing their journey.

Madonna has an inner-ear and intercom system, so if something's not right in a segment, she'll make a verbal note that will get printed out and delivered to the relevant people for the next soundcheck. After the last encore, she leaves directly from the stage, whisked off by car to her hotel.

"The performers are on a high after a show in front of 15,000 people, so if they're in a city for a few days they might visit clubs or pubs," says Thomas. There are some rules or let's go with his "guidelines" description to help all staff maintain decorum in public.

"If it's a school night, we'll try and hold it down a little bit," says Thomas. "But everyone's human."

http://m.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/anatomy-of-a-madonna-tour-20151217-glmv9b.html

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Anatomy of a Madonna tour

He works for Live Nation, which in 2007 signed Madonna to a 10-year global partnership, the first of its kind.

In a deal rumoured to be worth $120 million, Madonna became a shareholder and funnelled the execution of all her forthcoming merchandise, touring and releases, as well as TV and film projects, rights and sponsorship deals into the new Artist Nation division.

I had no idea she is a shareholder as well. Will she resign with them? 10 years is a looong time. We'll see. :)

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It's got to be exhausting and worrisome hauling everything....not only from country to country, but continent to continent!! Thank God this woman is smart and in control of EVERYTHING that goes on around her (of course with the help of a reliable crew)!!! I could not imagine/handle the stress.....especially in these crazy times!!! God bless you, Madonna!!!

Edited by todsmod
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