As I was about halfway down I looked at the golden triangle up ahead and realized that not a single person was inside yet! I could hear a couple of the employees telling me to slow down, but I could also hear people running behind me so I kept running, but just then I realized that my legs were shaking so much that I had to hold on to the railing as I ran. I flashed my wristband at every attendant I passed, and finally I reached the Golden Triangle entrance, showed my wristband to one last person, made a mad dive for the front center area of the stage and gripped it with my hands. A few seconds later, people rushed to my left and right, and eventually, the entire front row was filled. Luckily, my boyfriend was able to squeeze in next to me. We had secured our spots. Front row center! I couldn't believe it!
View inside the triangle, facing the seats.
Now came the hard part: The Wait. I was surprised at how slowly the Golden Triangle filled out. Although all the spaces at the front and most of the sides were filled, the middle was pretty empty for a long while. After an hour and a half, DJ Martin Solveig came out to warm up the crowd. He kept asking us "are you ready for MDNA?" We were! Finally, after an hour long set, he left the stage. The show started sometime after 10:15, it might have been 10:30. When the lights went down, the roar of the audience ensued, and soon after we started hearing the bells and seeing the dancers in cloaks.
The first thing I have to point out about the show is that the intro is much more effective in person than it is in youtube clips. It is absolutely amazing. And when Madonna's silhouette is shown behind the curtain, and the glass breaks, and there she is in her black veil and sparkly gold crown...it's an amazing moment. Madonna takes off her veil and the music starts pumping. Everyone around me is going crazy! "Girl Gone Wild" was a great opening number. It completely set the mood for the first act. Madonna's dancing was on point. When the song ended, a woman behind me exclaimed "That was amazing!"
The main thing that struck me about "Gang Bang" was how cool the set looked. Visually, the performance is really great. The choreography was cool as well. Madonna shows a lot of agility on this tour. AND, when she took a swig out of her bottle and spit it on the floor, it totally bounced down the stage and some of it landed smack on my left hand! If I were one of those crazy, super-obsessed fans I would never wash my hand again! At this point, I was trying to get some good shots in with my iPhone. Trying to enjoy a show and get some good pictures is a very difficult task! I didn't want to miss too much of the show by distracting myself with my phone. I wanted to savor every moment!
I loved hearing "Papa Don't Preach", although it is performed at the front of the V-catwalk so I couldn't really see much. That's probably the only downside to being front of the stage. (Same for "Like A Virgin", etc.) I still do wish "Papa Don't Preach" had been extended a little bit. Still seems too short.
I remember reading about how "Hung Up" was probably one of the less exciting performances, but I really enjoyed it. Not too crazy about the remix they used, but overall, it was pretty cool to witness the choreography up close.
A short clip I shot of 'I Don't Give A'
The only real critique I have of the show was the sound. I'm not sure if it's because I was so close to the speakers, but to me, the sound sometimes came off as a bit too distorted, especially during the more "rock" songs like "I Don't Give A". She began this song at the front of the V shape catwalk, but she came back to the front of the main stage to finish the song off, and the look she gave during the "there's only one queen" line was great! also, the final shot of her going up above the cross was epic!
Almost didn't get this shot as I was fumbling with my camera at the time!
The entire first act worked really well, much better than I thought it would. By the time Madonna left the stage after "I Don't Give A", my boyfriend turned to me and said "Madonna is hot!" And it's true, Madonna looked amazing. I've seen Madonna from the front row 4 times in my life, and every time I see her so close-up in concert I am struck by how beautiful she is. Her skin is pale and luminescent. Her eyes sparkle like jewels, and her smile is absolutely infectious. She kept looking and smiling at us in the front. It was amazing. We all reached out to her several times, but she never touched anyone's hand, and least not from what I saw.
Video I shot of 'Express Yourself'
After the "Best Friend" interlude (which was actually pretty cool), "Express Yourself" cuts through the dark mood of the show like a knife. For me, this was my favorite performance of the night. There was a lot of great energy here and Madonna really seemed to be enjoying herself during it. "Give Me All Your Luvin' " was a perfect carry-over segue as well. I think a lot of people really enjoyed this segment. It was just so much fun!
My video of Madonna performing 'Turn Up The Radio'
After "Turn Up The Radio" (which Madonna sang right in front of us!), she did "Open Your Heart", which was great. Lots of dancing. I'm really glad she pulled this song out of the closet for this tour. It had been a long time coming!
Madonna then did her speech. She talked about some of the injustices she's seen on her tour in other countries, and how grateful we should be for our freedom. She also said that someone in the audience was smoking the "devil weed" and she was unhappy about that! After that, she asked if she had brought us down with her speech, and then went into "Holiday" to cheer us up! I was excited that Madonna performed "Holiday" because I really thought she might skip it. Earlier she had ordered us to "wake the fuck up", so I thought she might punish us by not performing it. "Masterpiece" was next and it was really lovely. This was another one that I enjoyed more than I thought I would.
"Justify My Love" is just a great interlude. Perfect intro to "Vogue", which is another one of my favorite moments. Everything from the costumes to the background visuals is perfect! When I first heard that "Candy Shop" was part of the setlist back in May, I was disappointed. But through numerous viewings on youtube, and finally seeing it live last night, I've really come to enjoy it. She really gave the song the makeover it needed to be performed again.
A clip I shot of 'I'm Addicted'
I really enjoyed the performance of "I'm Addicted". The bass line and all the visuals really set a great vibe. Overall, this entire section was pretty cool, especially "I'm A Sinner", which I thought was a really fun performance as well, and I love that she includes bits of "Cyberraga" here. I wondered how many other people besides me knew the words to it as I was singing along!
One of the highlights of the evening (maybe even THE highlight) was definitely "Like A Prayer". By this point, the entire arena was up, dancing and had their hands in the air. It really was an amazing scene to see an arena full of people dancing and singing along to this classic song. I think everyone really enjoyed that one. I also have to say that this version is MILES better than the Sticky & Sweet version, which I never really cared for. Back to basics, choir and all!
By the time "Celebration" started, I was dreading the inevitable...the END! When Madonna came out for this performance, I swear she looked half her age. I can't get over how great this woman looks. As "Celebration" came to an abrupt end and she said "good night", thunderous applause roared, and the lights soon came on. The time had come to go home!
Overall, I really enjoyed this show more than Sticky & Sweet. I've said this before, but everything looks and sounds so much better in person than it does on the youtube clips. There's just no comparison. I will be seeing the second show tonight from the floor section. I'm really looking forward to it because I will get to see more of the overall stage and effect of all the visuals. Anyway, thanks for reading this. Thank you Icon for the Golden Triangle tickets, and thank you Madonna for a GREAT show! I'll see you again tonight :)
UPDATE: Show #2 (10/11/12):
The first thing I have to say is that I very much enjoyed the songs that she performs at the front of the V catwalk a lot more after having viewed them from the front at the second show, especially "I Don't Give A", "Like A Virgin", and "Love Spent"! My view for these performances was pretty limited on the first night, so I'm really glad I had the opportunity to view them in their full glory at Thursday's show.
It was another great performance from Madonna on night #2. Again, "Like A Prayer" seemed to be the main highlight. I was wondering if maybe there would be a special guest since Martin Solveig announced at the beginning that he had a "feeling" that it would be an even more special night than the night before, but nope, no special guests. It didn't matter though, it was all about Madonna! Madonna cut her speech shorter on this night than the previous night, and she also wondered aloud whether she should perform "Holiday" or not, even asking her dancers at one point "Do they deserve it?". Apparently, we did, as she went on to sing it :) Also, the sound seemed a lot better on this night than the night before. I think the issue on night #1 was that I was too close to the speakers.
Overall, I spent 2 great nights with Madonna. There were my ninth and tenth Madonna concerts respectively, and I could not be more satisfied. Can't wait for the DVD!
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