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Camacho

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    New York City press reports/reviews (continued)

    in ARCHIVE - Madonna

    Posted

    New York Sun

    Over the 'Borderline'

    By PIA CATTON - Staff Reporter of the Sun

    July 17, 2006

    Geopolitics being what they are today, Madonna might want to reconsider one element of her "Confessions Tour," which returns to Madison Square Garden tomorrow for two nights. Midway through the show - which is otherwise excellent, even inspiring - a montage of images of world leaders is displayed above the stage. There's President Bush, President Ahmadinejad, Secretary of State Rice, Kim Jong Il, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, Fidel Castro, and everyone's favorite punching bag, Vice President Cheney.

    The montage makes Madonna's worldview quite clear: The only difference between a Republican and a dictator is a mustache. Right, they're all the same. This jolting moment of moral equivalency is topped only by Madonna giving the president of the United States the middle finger. It's all a big dollop of juvenile thinking in the middle of a highly sophisticated show.

    Of course, it's understood that politics and pop stars don't mix. But it's especially frustrating when you consider how broad and diverse Madonna's audience is. Walk past the Garden when her show lets out, and you'll be hard-pressed to guess who was onstage. The crowd looks like any random sidewalk scene in Manhattan. The Material Girl's appeal cuts across all demographics: age, race, sex, sexuality, economic status - and fashion sense, too. Why then does she assume that 15,000 diverse individuals all think in lockstep with her politics?

    Well, she's Madonna. She truly - literally- can do whatever she wants. Unlike, say, the Dixie Chicks, this is an artist who doesn't have to worry about alienating fans; this tour has been selling out around the world. But if you happen to be a fan who disagrees with her, you can only sigh and watch the show. Pop stars will always get the last word. They're the ones with the microphones, after all. They live to thumb their noses at authority and enjoy a state of perpetual adolescence, even if their fans are of every age.

    This was certainly the case on the night I saw the show earlier this month. To my right was a woman in her late 60s, and to my left was a 16-year-old girl whose mother was seated next to her. I'm not sure we all enjoyed the show equally. The grand dame complained about the loudness, and the teenager was taking cell-phone photos (and sending them) the whole time. But Madonna's magnetism drew us all there equally. Whether it's her music, her enviably fit body, or her decades-long triumph of the will, she pulls you in. And once you're there, you take what she gives you, both insipid politics and a dazzling, exhilarating show.

    Much has been written about two of this show's dramatic entrances. To open, Madonna arrives via a disco ball that descends from the Garden's ceiling. Later, she ascends, Christ-like, on a mirrored cross (while singing). Both were fun to watch, but the best element of the show was neither controversial nor effects-driven. It was pure dance - and sheer joy to watch.

    To the strains of a mash-up called "Music Inferno," Madonna - sporting a white three-piece suit - strutted across a multicolored dance floor. Once there, she drove the crowd wild with an homage to "Saturday Night Fever." She did all the dance moves - the famous ones, the corny ones, and the ones you completely forgot about. She looked like she was having so much fun that later I bought a copy of "Saturday Night Fever," watched all the dance scenes, and, yes, tried to do the moves myself. (Watch out, world.)

    After the disco portion, she stripped down to a pair of white leggings and a purple and white-striped, off the shoulder shirt that was pitch perfect '80s. To hits including "Erotica" and "Lucky Star," she continued to sing and dance in a way that captured her true showmanship. Madonna is a performer who knows her strengths and weaknesses. At 47, she has the endurance of a professional athlete and the flexibility of a yogi, but by the end of this high-energy show, a modest level of fatigue was setting in. To accommodate this - and to keep the crowd's energy going - she went back to the vault again. This time, she pulled up the pyramid dance formation that was especially popular in '80s videos. (Think "Thriller" with Michael Jackson at the center and all his ghouls in a triangle behind him.)

    Madonna gave this classic setup a disco flair, and it was a deft production move. In a pyramid formation, the dancers are packed tightly together, so the moves can't be big or flashy; the steps are based on weight shifts, low kicks, sexy poses, and little gestures or arm movements. What makes it a hit is that the dancers are moving in unison - led by the star - and traveling forward.

    By this point in the show, Madonna and her backup dancers had been sweating it out onstage for nearly three hours. This choreography allowed them to deliver a huge impact with minimal (relative to the rest of the show) effort. It's so simple, it's practically vaudeville: How 'bout a little song and dance?

    Not so for the rest of the show, which was much more complex. Video played a major role: One film showed a series of riders falling off horses (as Madonna did a while ago); another showed several stallions cavorting in giant holes on the beach; yet another told stories of three children in crisis, set to the song "Live To Tell." Equestrian garb, which includes handy, multi-use items like bits, reins, and crops, held sway over the opening of the show. The costuming and choreography created the feeling that the dancers are all both master and beast; Madonna sat on a saddle affixed to a man's back, but then they all pranced offstage together in a herd. All alone later, she sang "Like a Virgin" while riding a black, carousel-type horse (with a convenient pole) that went around in a circle.

    The balance of new and old songs was equitable. "La Isla Bonita" was played in a way that made me wonder why I've skipped it all these years. "Hung Up" closed the show on a peppy note. For "I Love New York," Madonna played the guitar, which has earned her a fair amount of criticism.

    Guitar may not be her strong suit, but the fact that she added a new instrument to her repertoire is illustrative of who she is: an artist who has continued to evolve. Love her guitar licks or hate them, at least she's making music - not talking politics.

    July 18 and 19 (Madison Square Garden, 212-307-7171).

    Madonna MSG June 29th!

    in ARCHIVE - Madonna

    Posted

    June 29, not July 2!

    Lenny Kravitz gets Madonna's full attention!

    Posted: 13 July 2006

    Here's a great shot by madonnalicious visitor Regis of Lenny Kravitz looking enthralled by Madonna's performance of Hung Up at the Madison Square Garden, New York City show on Sunday 02 July Thursday 29 June.

    newyorkcity_020706_regis1news.jpg

    MSG July 3!

    in ARCHIVE - Madonna

    Posted

    You are my hero!

    Thank you so much!!! I know it was 2 seconds they rushed me because I had Lodge seat for that night (2nd). Are you going to see her in Japan?

    I wish, but the northeast here will have to do for me this time. Are you going to Japan? If you are, have a great time in Japan! I want to hear about it afterwards!

    MSG July 3!

    in ARCHIVE - Madonna

    Posted

    Hey Hector!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm in this picture that you took...can you spot me?

    Do you have more pictures of this angle?

    It was nice seeing you ...

    Good seeing you too man! Next time you're coming to a NY show let me know you're coming so I can say 'hi' for longer than 2 seconds! I'll look through my files now and see if I can spot you in any others.

    NYC Madison Square Garden - July 2nd fan stuff

    in ARCHIVE - Madonna

    Posted

    do you have any more pictures of July 2. Am looking for one with me on it. I was at the right corner of the catwalk stage. If you have more, please share. thanks.

    Here's a bunch more, but Madonna is just a dot or blurry or turned around, or you probably can't see yourself in the blurry crowd, or Madonna's eyes are closed/cross-eyed, or there's something else distracting in the pic (like Lenny's afro or David Blaine's & the security guard's big head poking in :hurt:)

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    New York City press reports/reviews (continued)

    in ARCHIVE - Madonna

    Posted

    http://www.fcnp.com/618/benton.htm

    Falls Church News Press, VA

    Nicholas F. Benton

    Threat of a Smart, Political Woman

    Madonna is amazing, but you can’t really appreciate that without being an eyewitness to her current tour.

    I was drawn to one of her numerous sold out performances at Madison Square Garden in New York last weekend not because I am a fan of her music, although I am not ashamed to count myself among the apparent few who really liked her performance in the film version of “Evita.”

    I went because she’s a major cultural force, and worth experiencing, in my view, for that reason alone. Her current tour has sparked controversy and denunciations from the religious right, and everyone I know who’s seen a show, from the Madonna aficionados to more purist critics, has raved about it.

    But it was far more than I expected, speaking from my perspective as a politically-minded person. Sure, it outdid itself for pyrotechnics and razza-ma-taz, one hell of a saturating, multi-sensual light, sound and vibration show. Madonna, at age 47, is veritably pulsating with energy and sex appeal as she chases and is chased by a troupe of amazingly athletic, agile and well-built dancers around a stage that extends far out to both the left and the right over the audience, and down the center to the mid-court line. All the time, of course, Madonna is pounding out the lyrics to one or another of her club-beat songs.

    No one sat in that arena for the entire two hour show. Nor did they merely stand. They rocked, the whole time. My knees could barely take it.

    Arriving early at the concert, my companion and I saw the thousands of young Madonna faithful pouring in, and my friend commented with disappointment about how apolitical today’s “club kid” generation is. I said it was not that different during even the highest points of anti-war ferment in the Vietnam era, when young people would party at rock concerts all night and then show up at anti-war rallies, as if as a continuation of the party, the next day. Few people are, I pointed out, 100% or even a fraction of that, political. Not now, not then. The political organizing principle is to get everybody at least aware enough to vote the right way or protest the right things.

    But then as if to illustrate everything I’d just said, Madonna came on stage to lead the most explicit political demonstration in the form of a musical concert I’ve ever seen.

    Making the best use of her dancers to play out her lyrics, she sang songs decrying child abuse, spousal abuse, gay oppression and war. Distorted images of George Bush and other historic political criminals flashed on screens above the stage.

    Then, in a tour de force, a curtain opened showing Madonna lying flat on a giant lit metal cross. As she began singing, the cross rose up and displayed her on it as a big crucifix, complete with crown of thorns. Needless to say, this is what has drawn the vile of the religious right.

    But what no one I have read has talked about what was her point. Reports made it seem sacrilegious for its own sake, just a slap in the face at the religious right. But it was about much more. As she sang from the cross, above her on a screen, numbers scrolled rapidly, from 100,000 to 1 million up to 12 million before stopping, drawing everyone to wonder what they meant. Then it revealed the point: 12 million is the number of orphans created by the AIDS epidemic in Africa.

    Other statistics about the ravages of the AIDS epidemic in Africa followed. Then came the clincher: the screen revealed in stages the Biblical scripture from Matthew 25: “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me…As you did it to the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.”

    It was this Biblical verse that Madonna used to indict the hypocrisy of the religious right, and her own choreography and lyrics only underscored it.

    The segment ended with the appearance on screens of web site addresses of two African AIDS relief organizations.

    This smart and breathtaking political and religious message packaged, as it was, for that evening’s 22,000 “club kids” brought my appreciation of Madonna to a whole new level.

    She’s what the Western world’s white male establishment fears the most: an intelligent, political woman that stands up to its crap and has a way to get her message across.

    It makes you believe that even without the lights, sounds and choreography, a Hillary could do as well.

    NYC Madison Square Garden - July 2nd fan stuff

    in ARCHIVE - Madonna

    Posted

    Yeah those pics are mine. The first one is her cropped from a big pic of the crowd around there. I spotted her and was trying to get her in the pic. The 2nd one I was trying to get a pic of David Blaine when he was exiting when the show ended, but I was a few seconds too late and ended up getting a pic of her walking around instead. I think she was trying to talk to Guy Oseary there.

    For anybody wondering who she is, that's the girl who was photographed doing hardcore yoga scoprion poses for Madonna (which made her laugh) on the pavement of a Manhattan street last year :lol:

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