I can't believe this was held in a Church.
Posted on 05/22/2006 6:13:07 AM PDT by Aquinasfan
LOS ANGELES - Madonna launched her first world tour in two years on Sunday, delighting an enthusiastic Los Angeles crowd by hanging herself from a cross, insulting President George W. Bush, and dusting off some of the sexy moves that have sustained her career for more than 20 years.
The "Confessions" tour will keep her on the road for two months in North America, and then resume on July 30 in Wales for a five-week stadium swing through eight European cities. Shows in Japan are also on tap for mid-September.
The 47-year-old dance diva spent two hours churning out most of the tunes from her new album, "Confessions on a Dancefloor," as well as a few old hits such as "Like a Virgin," "Ray of Light" and "Lucky Star."
The audience at the Los Angeles Forum included Madonna's Kabbalah guru Rabbi Yehuda Berg, socialite Nicole Richie, and gay icon Rosie O'Donnell, who upgraded herself to a premium seat on the floor and left her spouse alone in the stands.
The meticulously choreographed Vegas-style routine began 50 minutes late when a giant mirror ball was lowered from the ceiling to the end of a catwalk stretching deep into the floor. Out popped Madonna, in S&M-styled riding gear and whip, singing the new tune "Future Lovers" as four bare-breasted male dancers writhed around with ball gags in their mouths.
MADONNA, HITLER & BUSH
Later on, she donned a crown of thorns and suspended herself from a giant mirrored cross to deliver the ballad "Live to Tell." Video screens showed images of third-world poverty and reeled off grim statistics.
During one of her half-dozen costume changes, another video montage juxtaposed images of Bush, members of his administration and British Prime Minister Tony Blair with footage of Adolf Hitler, Osama bin Laden, and Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe. Midway through the new song "I Love New York," she deviated from the script and made a crude reference to Bush and oral sex.
Beyond that, she barely spoke to the audience, largely focusing on keeping control of a busy nightclub-style stage that boasted 15 dancers, four musicians and three backing vocalists. For the most part, she joined in the tricky choreography, her voice evidently not affected by the aerobic workout. She did pause for a few songs during which she appeared to play a shiny Gibson Les Paul guitar.
A disco segment near the end, where she dressed in a "Saturday Night Fever"-style white suit to perform "Music" thrilled the crowd, as did the "Like a Virgin" routine, when she climbed aboard a carousel-style black leather saddle.
There was no encore, and the lights came up as soon as she had completed a medley of "Lucky Star" and latest hit single "Hung Up" while sporting an illuminated white cape with "Dancing Queen" embroidered on the back.
Billboard magazine has forecast ticket sales could reach the $200 million range, making it the most successful tour by a female artist. Cher holds the record with $192.5 million from 273 shows on a "farewell" world tour that began in June 2002 and lasted almost three years, according to Billboard.
Madonna, on the other hand, is scheduled to play fewer than 60 dates on this tour. Similarly, her $125 million-grossing Re-Invention tour in 2004 and the $75 million Drowned trek in 2001 were also relatively brief.
What catapults her to the top of the leagues is her ticket price, topping out at $380 (including Ticketmaster fees) in most U.S. venues. However, it did not stop her from adding dates to accommodate demand.
Okay, now--even I admit The Specials are in a different league than say The Mighty Mighty Bosstones...
A useless old whore, trying to capture her past glory. I haven't heard a Madonna song in years.
Oh forget it... They actually trademarked his name "Prince" if you can believe it which is why he changed it to the symbol. I`ll never understand why anyone would sign a record deal, especially today. Record companies today are nothing more than loan companies...They lend these artists/bands money to make an album, make a video, go on tour, and they put stuff in the contract that the artists sees no profit until all that money is paid back.
So if they sell no albums guess what happens? Bankruptcy. Alot of these naive musicians never cover their arses with tough lawyers (which cost money) so these record companies put stuff in the contract that they own everything the artist writes, that the artist has to pay the lawyers, the promo people, this is paid and that is paid etc etc it`s insane. Unless these musicians have a lawyer or a manager who is an absolute animal in negotiating, these record companies will not hesitate for a second to drain every last cent from a musician.
I really don`t see the point of having a record deal anyway, you can pretty much do everything yourself nowdays through the internet. You can even hire your own publicist for $1000 bucks. Of course you have to produce something good or it won`t sell (even if you are Prince), it won`t create a word of mouth situation (which really sells albums), but at least you won`t lose your ass in the process. Of course you won`t get a video on MTV (Empty-V) but since when did MTV have anything to do with music in the first place? Blind people sure don`t need it.
I GOOGLED it like I do most everything else.
Boring dunce.
I can't believe this was held in a Church.
She sucks period, anyone that pays money to see her is drunk or stoned.
She sucks period, anyone that pays money to see her is drunk or stoned.Or from CA.
I can`t believe people paid money to see this. It`s like a lame Broadway musical. You can literally go out in the streets here in New York city and see better acts.
Madonna reminds me a little of Elton John: both were unquestionably talented and exciting at the beginning of their careers, then they degenerated into theatrical self-parody.
EJ's early songs were memorably good. Then they just became junk. Madonna's work I'm not so familiar with, but I did initially have respect for her. Now, reading about these silly antics, I feel pity & contempt over her desperate need for attention.
Amen to that.
Candle in the Wind is the single greatest ode to medocrity I have every heard.
You are sooo brave Madonna. Picking on a religion that actually is "peaceful".
Why doncha show us how tough you really are and impale yourself on a Koran???
Gutless witch.
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I'm guessing the tuna smells better. |
The LA Forum is owned by a Church....
sheesh
LOL! I was *just* recalling that memorable line: "THE SOW IS MINE!!"
We have some anti christian type folks on FR. I ran into some recently. It is shocking.
wow, was that what I thought it was ?
There was an ultra-hip, clove-cigarette-smoking Japanese student on our floor freshman year, back in 1980. We were all listening to "The Wall." He was into ska.
At a party at a football frat early in the year, he voiced the immortal line, "How about some ska?" We got him out before he could be beaten to a bloody pulp.
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