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Sticky & Sweet O2 July 4th & 5th


acko

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Yeah i got the clipper, was running FINE and DANDY

A lot of those comments are the usual losers who just post a load of old shit....

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Madonna pays tribute to Michael Jackson with spectacular performance

By André Paine, Evening Standard 06.07.09 More reviews by André Paine

Even for an artist famed for reinvention, it must have been a dizzying 10 months for Madonna since her last appearance in London at Wembley Stadium: the divorce, a new daughter, four-year-old Mercy from Malawi, and the death of Michael Jackson, originally scheduled to play the O2 three days after Madonna.

Her tribute last night made this spectacular performance — the launch of phase two of the 50-year-old’s European Sticky & Sweet tour — even more memorable.

Some fans who were also at Saturday’s 17,700-capacity show knew what was coming, but that didn’t reduce the impact when dancer Kento Mori, dressed like Jackson, moonwalked to Billie Jean and Wanna Be Startin’ Something.

“Let’s give it up to one of the greatest artists the world has ever known — Michael Jackson,” said Madonna, while a boyish Jackson appeared on the big screen. “Long live the king!”

Madonna couldn’t claim to possess the virtuosity of Jackson at his peak. But whatever her vocal limitations, this was a triumph of eye-popping production, exhausting choreography and her indomitable personality, as well as those fantastic songs.

The appearance of Kanye West and Britney Spears on video as well as a vintage Rolls-Royce on the ego ramp initially suggested a show big on gimmickry. Yet, while it was rehearsed with military precision, Madonna gave much more than you expect from a global superstar, even when tickets cost up to £175.

Nevertheless, the pounding musical interludes during the costume changes were actually better than plenty of concerts. So when Madonna rose from below the stage in a mini-skirt, skipping and then pole-dancing on a moving DJ booth during Into the Groove, the reaction was approaching hysteria. “Who says the English are reserved?” she bawled.

Despite her own raunchy history, Madonna’s rock-hard body was not too exposed, although she did manage to snog a look-alike of her Eighties self and a dancing monk grabbed her backside for a stipulated two seconds.

It was her fearsome pop power and the fantastic dancing that kept you transfixed though, whether on joyous renditions of Like a Prayer and La Isla Bonita, or the fantastic clubby finale of Give it 2 Me, during which Madonna and her dancers each wore one white glove in honour of Jackson.

“No one’s going to stop me — ever,” Madonna pointed out after a breathless two hours. Based on this performance, who can doubt her?

Reader reviews (3)

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Here's a sample of the latest reviews published.

Fabulous concert. I've seen Madonna 5 times over the years since Blond Ambition and this show was the best - she was far more playful with the audience and less focused on stage theatrics of previous shows. The 'rave' section with Like a Prayer and Frozen were genius and the finale really was show-stopping. The crowd had a great time. Shame the news reports seem to be blaming her for TFL's shambles of a service.

- Daniel, East London, East London

A premier show from a premier superstar. She was quite simply, amazing.

She dances, sings (yes really sings!!!) and wows for a straight 2 hours. She is the ultimate performer. The show was an assault on the senses; always something going on, it was hard to know where to look.

It was a fusion of concert, Cirque-De-Soleil and a moving art-piece.

Stunning!

- Simon, London

Amazing review, and SO true! Shes so incredible.

- C, Kent

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/music/gig-23...viewId=23715889

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MadonnaO2 Arena, London

3/5

Alex Macpherson guardian.co.uk, Sunday 5 July 2009 22.25 BST

Midway through her set, Madonna inserts a mini-tribute to Michael Jackson into her rendition of Holiday. It's appropriate, but not just because of Jackson's recent demise. Born just 13 days apart, the careers of pop's two biggest megastars have always seemed to exist in parallel to each other. But while the last 15 years of Jackson's life saw him slowly waste away, Madonna has spent the same period intent on solidifying her own immortality. This scrappy hunger has been the one constant in a career marked by endless reinvention, a quality which has always been beneficial to her, but having reaffirmed her place at the head of the table several times over, a sense of purposelessness is beginning to creep into it.

Tonight's show finds her emphasising her strength and power above all else. Madonna comes across not so much as the Queen of Pop, but its Iron Lady, intent on bending it to her will. She summons up specially recorded video images of younger superstars – Kanye West, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake – with a snap of her fingers. The choreography is designed to display how limber she is. It is undoubtedly impressive on occasion: during the show's centrepiece, She's Not Me, Madonna abuses four immobile dancer mannequins – ripping wedding veils from their heads, French kissing them, finally strangling one – in a compelling display of alpha female superiority.

But this also has an increasing tendency to manifest itself in tiresome ways. There's no reason why a 50-year-old shouldn't flaunt her gym-sculpted body or express her sexuality; what disappoints is the mundanity of how she does it. Cutesy cheerleader skirts, vague S&M signifiers and choreographed pole-dancing are far from transgressive, especially from a woman who has been genuinely bold in pushing sexual boundaries. Elsewhere, a montage of senselessly arranged "humanitarian" images, from Iranian rebels to Mother Teresa, elicits groans from the audience.

Trying to prove her youthfulness, trendiness and good heart are goals which should be beneath Madonna. She has a back catalogue like no other, and it serves her well enough to redeem tonight's show. A rave version of Like a Prayer, mixed into Felix's Don't You Want Me, is electrifying, the kind of thrilling live moment that few others could match; there's a brilliant perversity in reimagining the bubblegum Dress You Up as a metal guitar-fest.

These are reminders that Madonna is not a woman to be written off, but they also highlight the paucity of interesting ideas elsewhere. Madonna's undisguised questing for immortality comes off as an empty pursuit because she has already achieved it – a fact that her own Jackson tribute should have made clear to her.

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^ Though that's one of his more informed reviews, Alex Macpherson has always been a WHINEY CUNT.

See he has REMOVED his FUG face from his profile page at The Guardian's website too. One of the few columnists to do so. Says a lot.

Even Badisha has her mug shot on PROUD DISPLAY and she is no oil painting.

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She was on stage at 8:40 PM last night, which is perfectly reasonable (in fact quite early by her standards). I got the clipper, then the DLR then the tube back and was in bed before midnight so all these people ranting are either lying or have never been to a live show (let alone a Madonna one) to begin with.

These reviews are such bullshit. The show last night was classic Madonna.

What I also enjoyed was that the audience was quite mixed; the most diverse I've seen for a Madonna show yet. And the area where we were everyone was dancing and jumping and having a great time. So I had a fantastic time and I won't let the press or some whiny fans who should take up their complaints with Transport for London ruin it for me.

THANK YOU FOR A GREAT SHOW MADONNA :clap:

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Posted by steveduffy30 on Icon

I've just got back from the opening night at the o2. All I can say is... WOW! Without any shadow of a doubt, it was the best gig I have ever been to. In my opinion, this is the best thing she's done. Even though the majority of the show is the same as the first leg, it has a whole different atmosphere to it. Whether that's because I saw it in an Arena this time as opposed to a Stadium, I'm not sure. but it seemed to have a much more light hearted and fun atmosphere than before. Visually it is stunning.

I was in block A1, right by the catwalk. The crowd were really great, even though the o2 security staff were awful. They kept shouting at people to sit in their seats before the show started and not to crowd the barrier (even though those in A3 were doing it no problem!) Of course, once the gig started, we rushed the barrier and I got a front row space!

I won't do a song-by-song break down, but here are my highlights:

Holiday/Everybody/Michael Jackson Tribute - This is AWESOME beyond all words. The crowd went wild for it. It's basically an updated version of the original album version of the track, but it sounds incredibly fresh. Slightly more electro and synthy, but really dancy. I hope there is a studio version of this on the upcoming Greatest Hits. It's quite vocodery too. Loved it.

Dress You Up. I've wanted to hear this live for years, and it didn't dissapoint.

Frozen. The Calvin Harris mash up works brilliantly. Got one of the best crowd responses of the night.

Like A Prayer - so much better than I had ever remembered (and it was my favourite performance from leg one).

La Isla Bonita - Such a huge crowd reaction.

Ray Of Light - Much better in it's new place in the setlist.

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Were there lots of empty seats at the 02?

Are you in a K hole Craigle? I swear I'm drinking coffee, reading the threads and every fucking thing you've posted today is just a catty remark.

It was sold out. Look at the pictures. There's about 4 of you Brits on here that literally paint the forum negative.

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Guest jamesshot

Comments posted on an article are always suspect.

I remember when Madonna came to Houston in 08, once the Chronicle posted its review of the concert there was a storm of negative comments. Very vile stuff. My friends called up to ask if it was true the concert was so awful because they read the Chronicle story the night of the concert and saw all the negative comments. You could tell most of the people posting did not attend and were just Madonna haters.

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I just got back to Calgary from flying in from London this evening, I saw both shows and they were beyond AMAZING!!! The first two shows are the first time I have seen Madonna live after watching her old tours countless times on DVD, it was out of this world to be able to see her live! On the first night, I had seats at the back of the floor in block C, so I had an excellent overview of the stage and everything that was happening during the show. The new additions ended up really finishing off the show nicely and Dress You Up and Frozen ended up being my favorite songs of the night :thumbsup: The second night I got a single ticket for block A1 and as luck would have it a seat away from the catwalk. As soon as the lights went black everyone rushed out of their seats and ran for the catwalk, before I knew it I was front row at the show! My legs started to shake from excitement and the thought of seeing her so up close! The whole night was pure fun and the new additions to the show flowed in perfectly, hands down the best night of my life! It was also really funny when she thought it was July 4th and then figured out she was a day behind but she proudly exclaimed I DONT GIVE A FUCK! And when she got people to take their shirts off and shake that fat around! 10/10!!! :thumbsup:

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I just got back to Calgary from flying in from London this evening, I saw both shows and they were beyond AMAZING!!! The first two shows are the first time I have seen Madonna live after watching her old tours countless times on DVD, it was out of this world to be able to see her live! On the first night, I had seats at the back of the floor in block C, so I had an excellent overview of the stage and everything that was happening during the show. The new additions ended up really finishing off the show nicely and Dress You Up and Frozen ended up being my favorite songs of the night :thumbsup: The second night I got a single ticket for block A1 and as luck would have it a seat away from the catwalk. As soon as the lights went black everyone rushed out of their seats and ran for the catwalk, before I knew it I was front row at the show! My legs started to shake from excitement and the thought of seeing her so up close! The whole night was pure fun and the new additions to the show flowed in perfectly, hands down the best night of my life! It was also really funny when she thought it was July 4th and then figured out she was a day behind but she proudly exclaimed I DONT GIVE A FUCK! And when she got people to take their shirts off and shake that fat around! 10/10!!! :thumbsup:

Sounds Excellent! :thumbsup:

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She was on stage at 8:40 PM last night, which is perfectly reasonable (in fact quite early by her standards). I got the clipper, then the DLR then the tube back and was in bed before midnight so all these people ranting are either lying or have never been to a live show (let alone a Madonna one) to begin with.

These reviews are such bullshit. The show last night was classic Madonna.

What I also enjoyed was that the audience was quite mixed; the most diverse I've seen for a Madonna show yet. And the area where we were everyone was dancing and jumping and having a great time. So I had a fantastic time and I won't let the press or some whiny fans who should take up their complaints with Transport for London ruin it for me.

THANK YOU FOR A GREAT SHOW MADONNA :clap:

So between "Borderline" and "Dress You Up", which one did you prefer?

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Guest jamesshot
I just got back to Calgary from flying in from London this evening, I saw both shows and they were beyond AMAZING!!! The first two shows are the first time I have seen Madonna live after watching her old tours countless times on DVD, it was out of this world to be able to see her live! On the first night, I had seats at the back of the floor in block C, so I had an excellent overview of the stage and everything that was happening during the show. The new additions ended up really finishing off the show nicely and Dress You Up and Frozen ended up being my favorite songs of the night :thumbsup: The second night I got a single ticket for block A1 and as luck would have it a seat away from the catwalk. As soon as the lights went black everyone rushed out of their seats and ran for the catwalk, before I knew it I was front row at the show! My legs started to shake from excitement and the thought of seeing her so up close! The whole night was pure fun and the new additions to the show flowed in perfectly, hands down the best night of my life! It was also really funny when she thought it was July 4th and then figured out she was a day behind but she proudly exclaimed I DONT GIVE A FUCK! And when she got people to take their shirts off and shake that fat around! 10/10!!! :thumbsup:

Awesome. I had Section C in Houston. Great seats. So how did she look up close?

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I traveled to London this week to see Madonna

i went to the 5th date , block A3 , and i was on the fence right next to the cat walk

i was there early and was wondering when will the show start ? when will I see the queen in fucking person? when will i see the reason i traveled to London all the way from KSA

and then at 8:45 PM , the wait was over

the lights went out and everyone screamed and and we were right BESIDE the stage , my heart was pounding like crazy , and during the candy intro i was like , WHEN?

and then she appeared

at first my mind wasn't absorbing the idea that this was Madonna IN PERSON , I screamed like a maniac

and when she was near us in the cat walk , that was fucking UNREAL!!

the whole thing was like a dream to me that ended too fast , that was the fastest 2 hours in my life , and i still can't believe that I saw her live , it just refuses to settle in!!

THANK YOU MADONNA for the most incredible experience in my life !

and thank you London for such amazing time!

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