Madonna bans cell phones from her Madame X Tour

She can do as she wishes. She is no different than 85% of all Americans.

Ooooh this was yet another thread just to bash her yettttt again.

Who?

I thought she was long dead.

She doesn't want any images out there that aren't photoshopped to death and back.

The lights in those theatre venues are unforgiving and will reveal all Madame X's flaws.

This woman banning cell phones is not dissimilar to Garbo banning an audience from the first 12 front rows of her proposed performance on stage in New York in 1954.

For someone who can’t even sell out 2,000 seat theaters, she really isn’t in a position to be making demands. I guess she’s deliberately trying to alienate the few fans she has left.

She’s delusional.

Jesus Christ it's standard practice at almost all theater events. And as the dates for theses concerts get closer she'll sell out; just wait and see.

so will cameras be banned too?

It costs too much in labor and time to pay ushers to smear Vaseline on all the lenses.

I'm with R5

Tour started tonight. 10 bucks says Holiday is in the setlist.

I have tickets to see her in November and think this is great. I want to see the stage, not four hundred phone screens. Now if only they could do something about drugged out middle aged gay men singing along, that would be even better. I'm not going so I can hear them.

She could less controversially just have attendants stationed at the doors to smear the camera lenses with Vaseline.

[quote] Now if only they could do something about drugged out middle aged gay men singing along, that would be even better. I'm not going so I can hear them.

You're going so you can hear the gorgeous sounds that issue naturally from her golden throat, i take it!

I going to hear the backing track she's moving her lips to. They usually tweak her vocals enough that they're still better than Ronnie, Obese Queen, shouting the lyrics to *La Isla Bonita". (You know it's going to be in the set list.)

Sad...almost like watching a train wreck. The poor thing should have given up decades ago.

I hate her and yet.... cannot stop talking about her.

LIVE vocals!!!!!

MADAME X is incredible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can't wait for the gushing reviews!

I hope some eldergays report back tonight about this amazing experience!!!

Excitement about the first show of the tour has jump-started sales. The album and “Medellin” are both back in the Top 20 on iTunes.

Just kidding! The album and all singles are still nowhere to be found on any charts.

As expected, a horrific setlist according to one fan who went:

God Control Dark Ballet Human Nature (For the millionth time) Express Yourself (Terrible Acapella Version) Papa Don’t Preach American Life Batuka Killers Who Are Partying Crazy Sodade Medellin Extreme Occident Rescue Me Frozen Come Alive Future Crave Like a Prayer (For the millionth time) I Rise

Now that the terrible setlist has been revealed, they’ll have to give away any unsold tickets. Nobody will pay to hear that shit.

And the bitch was TWO HOURS LATE. Started show at 11 p.m.

Good way to garner buzz for all those unsold tickets.

R23 And 2 hours late on a Tuesday night when most people have to go to work the next day. It’s almost like she’s deliberately trying to lose the few fans she has left.

What do her musicians and dancers think of this?? I know they're getting paid but I hear Madonna is pretty cheap. What do they do for these two hours? They must be pissed.

And WTF is she doing? Lathering herself with her MDNA skin shit?

I'm glad she banned cell phones.

Good on her. All cellphones should be put in a basket and you go home with the person who picks yours up. Or something scuzzy like that.

The show was a disaster. The set was nothing but moving stairs and projected images on screen. She was two hours late. The setlist is horrendous and her 3 costumes looked like something a homeless person would wear. Half the audience left before the show was even over. The show is still 90% not sold out.

Oh, and she tried her hand at standup comedy. She banned phones for a reason - to save herself public embarrassment.

God Control

Dark Ballet

Human Nature

Express Yourself

Papa Don't Preach

Vogue

I Don't Search, I Find

American Life

Batuka

Killers Who Are Partying

Crazy

La Isla Bonita

Sodade (Cesaria Evora cover)

Medellin

Extreme Occident

Frozen

Come Alive

Future

Crave

Like A Prayer

I Rise

Phones aren’t banned exactly. They give you a pouch and it locks. You keep it with you but can’t access your phone. Then on the way out they have tons of staff unlocking (it takes one second so there’s usually no holdup). Plenty of comedians do this now. Although it would suck to be without your phone for two hours while you wait for her to go on stage

I was reading reviews on twitter and a handful of devoted gays were raving. I haven't even listened to the current album because the one song she did with Maluma was plenty.

Over 10 years ago, I cried to get front row tickets (it worked) to her concert, but I'm so not going to this one. I saw her when she was still at the top of her game and don't need to see the train wreck live, in person...

It's weird how fickle the public is, myself included.

Bwahahahaha! My friend was taunting me for not buying tickets to this show. I told him the setlist was going to suck and boy does it! I kicked up my heels and watched Blonde Ambition clips instead.

The numbers and "facts," being posted on this thread are fascinating. Just fascinating.

Meanwhile..

But the 61 year old pop icon didn’t show any signs of weariness last night as she launched this ambitious, complex production. The good news about Madonna’s Madame X show is that there is no bad news. Not really. So everyone can relax. There’s no incentive to throw tomatoes.

Quite the opposite: I was impressed, and I think anyone who stops into the Gilman will be surprised to find Madonna, in a stripped down setting, is actually real and just a celebrity hologram. She’s very endearing in an intimate venue. Also considering that this performance of “Madame X” was the very first, you have to give her credit. She’s producing a Broadway show in progress.

Indeed, if we come back to “Madame X” in a month, it’s going to be even more together, which isn’t to say it’s not a compelling two hour and fifteen minute entertainment now. But right now “Madame X” is like several Broadway shows happening at once. Most of it works, some of it doesn’t. It needs time to gel. The pieces are good, but they don’t all fit together yet. (The sets are Broadway-level, even better, with terrific lighting. The staging runs from elaborately ornamental to elegantly minimalist. There are excellent video projections, too.)

What we get theme wise are more than a few things: Madonna’s lifelong grappling with Catholicism; her adventures in Lisbon as a “soccer mom,” as she says; her discovery in Portugal of that country’s music and that of Cape Verde, off the coast of Africa; political Madonna, who is advocating for LGBTQ, women’s rights, abortion rights, and gun control. Plus modern dance, jazz and ballet, and even a dance video from Madonna’s daughter, Lourdes. That’s a lot of themes.

Last night’s show started an hour late, at 10:30pm, but Madonna did apologize and explain that later. There are other details that I’ll explore later this week in a real review. Last night, Rosie O’Donnell and Debi Mazar, her good friends, showed up to give support, and Rosie–who received cheers from the audience– got be part of a little “business.” The audience loved it.

And that audience– a group of people from Asia had flown here, and used Madonna’s lateness for a nap. The woman behind me came from Paris. There was a crowd from Brazil.

(Also be warned: your phone is locked into an airtight container upon arrival. It must be unlocked at the end of the show. No photos, no videos, no social media. Hence, no photo to go with this story.)

By the time you get to the last number, it’s well worth it. “Like a Prayer” finishes the show proper and leaves everyone on a high. But again, I think Madonna is doing some interesting work here. She’s trying pull off something much tougher than her arena or stadium shows, and you can already see the payoffs. She’s making a connection with the audience while ideas are settling in. The fans will love to watch it, and out of this will evolve a butterfly. I’d be first in line to return.

More details on Friday.

R12 where's that $10?

Is #madamextour the official twitter page for fan reviews?

Those reviews are obviously all by paid schills!!!

The negative reviews are already coming (actual reviews, not Twitter comments by the typical delusional queens who defend everything she does).

Told ya!

From what I got , this will only please her hardcore fans (who will praise her regardless) . that she’s too old now to dance (always a must see in her previous concerts) and she’s too tired (and bored?) to tour but she has a contract to fulfill. And she’s late as usual.

I have seen all the Madonna tours—Virgin Tour was Madonna at her happiest & least pretentious but was a very short show-under 70 minutes. What I can never understand about Madonna is that she has one of the greatest catalogues of pop music and since Drowned World (outside of REINVENTION), she either ignores the hits or performs them in awful arrangements....the MDNA-Like A Virgin number was fucking torture!!! I will go to one of the Madame X shows, but after seeing the setlist, I am dreading seeing Human Nature and La Isla Bonita restaged in another alternate version. I have listened to the Madame X CD and all the songs seem to have so much auto-tune/vocoder effects that her “live” versions will mostly likely be supplemented with pre-recorded vocals. I guess this tour is Madonna in performance artist mode but can still hope to see a Madonna Las Vegas HITS residency come to fruition before all of us old fans kick the bucket.

Leaked audio of the tour sounds pretty good. Would love to see this.

[quote]Leaked audio of the tour sounds pretty good. Would love to see this.

There’s PLENTY of tickets available!😂

She'll probably pull that stunt where they just don't report ticket sales so no one has to know what a flop the shows are and mentally disturbed fans can say the shows were completely sold out!!!

So where are these so called "bad reviews"? thanks.

There aren't any. I was there and it was a really, really good show. Incredibly intricate and really well thought out. It will only get better as time goes on.

Poor thing can’t even fill high school gymnasiums. Back to selling face cream.

[quote]The show was a disaster. The set was nothing but moving stairs and projected images on screen.

Janet's set is nothing but some chicken wire and crepe paper, with a half-eaten corny dog on the ground.

Why is she always so late?

She’s a great performer so I doubt there will be bad reviews.

The problem is that her ticket prices just arent justified except greed

Why does her show start at 9:30, instead of 7:30 or 8???

I saw Hamilton several years ago and my ticket was about $850.00. My parents took me for my birthday. I paid $700.00 for the Madonna show and it found it every bit as enjoyable as Hamilton, so even though "worth" is a very subjective thing I certainly felt as though I got my money's worth, R53.

700 bucks!? Sheesh!

I though se was so youth focused and wants the cool kids to lover her super cool young material!!! 1400 for a date would be the expendable income of a few months for some young couple or 2 friends.

"I guess this tour is Madonna in performance artist mode but can still hope to see a Madonna Las Vegas HITS residency come to fruition before all of us old fans kick the bucket."

Sorry to break it to you but this "Only the Hits as we know and love them" show will never, ever happen. She refuses to acknowledge that the 80s happened since it reminds her and her audience that she is -- gasp! -- not 21 years old.

I suggest that you get a copy of the greatest hits and play it along with some ambient crowd sounds. Close your eyes and pretend that your in the front row at the Madonna Greatest Hits concert of your dreams. Because that's the only venue where that show will happen--in your dreams.

Review from a fan:

...as the most diehard of diehard Madonna fans, this audio is making me want to sell my ticket. I love the woman so much, but holy h*ll, who thought it was a good idea to let her talk in between each song like that? And she sounds *horrible* with all of the autotune. Ridiculous, actually. And the musical arrangements sound so cheap -- It's obvious that a minority of instruments are live, given that a majority of the sounds are straight up samples / stems.

I hate to say it, but by the audio, this show seems...tacky. Like a Vegas Cher show. Sorry...this is *not* the Madonna I fell in love with.

I'm starting to get the impression that she's losing it a little bit

Whatever, R59. Believe what you want and propagate whatever negativity floats your boat but I was there and the sound was top notch. It was much better than the sound at a stadium concert, that's for sure. I'm sure Madonna's vocals were enhanced in some manner but every song sounded "live" to me and there were no clunky notes.

New York Times just gave it a GLOWING review.

I love the desperate little monkey that keeps trying to say shit like Madonna won't acknowledge the 80s and yet every single one of her tour has included several of her songs in the 80's. is she going to do a tour of just songs from the 80s no of course not because logic tells you that her career has standed several decades and she has songs and hits from several decades that of course she's going to include.

No one wants to hear her 80s shit. They want her 90s shit.

"spanned

One of the best things about the Virgin Tour is that it was all about the music. Two dancers, simple choreography, simple stage setup, and the main focus was the music. All the theatrics and performance art shit she does now is just so over the top and ridiculous.

The Virgin Tour was also in 1983 where you know, every other tour out there was the same and no one was doing theatrics.

The, "I'm a huge Madonna fan but...." posters are as believable as the, "I'm not a Madonna fan but..." posters.

OMG, $700?? Is this the Madame $$$$ tour?

NOPE.

You pressed hunties are too stupid to realize that fan reviews and twitter posts are fucking WORTHLESS...

Unless they are about Queen Janet and if they are means they are the Gospel and will be used to prove how she slays everyone1

Stay Pressed!

i wonder will there then be a official dvd of the concert/tour later? or is a dvd of such "passe"?

R70 Does anyone buy DVDs anymore? Perhaps she'll sell the streaming rights to Netflix/Apple TV/Amazon, after which it'll be available to i̶l̶l̶e̶g̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ download anywhere.

[quote] And the bitch was TWO HOURS LATE. Started show at 11 p.m.

I'm not excusing her behavior, but you do say this as if you were expecting otherwise. I have never heard of her in her entire career starting a live show even close to on time, and I don't see why she would start now. This is why I would never go to one of her shows (even back when her music was good).

Yes, the show was late starting. I was there. But Madonna was very apologetic and someone was constantly updating the audience. It wasn't Madonna's fault; it was technical stuff. I think once those issues get ironed out the show will start more promptly.

R71,,, yes, i still buy dvds and when i can blue ray dvds if their available on whatever i want to watch...i want to see a dvd, have it in a case, have it on a shelf and watch whatever is on it, on my big screen tv.. i don't want to download it, i don't want to watch it on my 15 inch laptop or a 5 inch phone.. guess i'm old old school...

i mean i guess if it does appear on netflix one can download it and save it to watch on your tv anytime then yes? for free?...

No concert ever starts at the time stated on the ticket. Typically they use an opener to fill in for the time they are actually going on. However, several I went to this summer did not have an opener and the ticket stated 7:00 p.m. The band did not come on until 8:15 p.m.

This seems to be the standard.

One has to wonder why Madonna doesn't just put the start time earlier, going on earlier, while knowing she is still going to be late. This would at least make it so that fans aren't still at the venue after midnight. Then again, Madonna doesn't seem to care.

I do wonder though, most acts try to get out of the venue before 1130 p.m. to avoid paying hefty fines for going past curfew. Does she just consistently pay these?

Either way, any one going to a Madonna concert these days is most likely already aware that she's going to be 2 hours, most of them must not care.

She always dubs her tours with new vocals and smears the camera lens with Vaseline. She’s a mess.

R71 You can download Netflix to watch on Netflix on the go (ie, when you have no data or Wi-Fi service), but you don't technically own it unless you've downloaded the actual MP4 file. Usually not legally.

You can download on torrent sites and play it wherever you want, even your big-time screen TV, as long as the file is stored on a memory stick or USB drive and your TV has the input for it.

Casting from a laptop is another option, but I don't like it because if both my laptop and TV have to be on, what's the point? So USB and memory stick are my go to methods.

The above response was for r74.

I'm tired....

R77, thank you for the information.. however, all i know is it sounds way way too complicated and tiring to do all of this downloading/streaming/various devices, whatever,!

wasn't "old school" (if it's not broken, don't fix it!) just simpler to make dvds, people buy them, they OWN them, they have them forever, they pay for them once, they keep forever, no problems watching them on their tv,etc?..

Leave her alone.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: she needs to FIRE Guy Oseary. He doesn't care about her, and he sure as hell doesn't care about her legacy. I'm shocked that she's allowed him to be her manager for this long. He's a terrible manager. She keeps indulging him.

Madonna keeping Guy as manager and showing up two hours late for her opening night just demonstrates that she is no longer the shrewd business woman we thought she was. The Madonna of 1990 would never let this shit happen.

she got rid of freddie demann years ago, so what gives with guy oseary? does she still have liz rosenberg? whatever happened to alex what's his name the director of "truth or dare"?...

It wasn't TWO hours it was ONE!

Her old manager, Caresse Henry, committed suicide.

Reviews are glowing. Even Roger fucking Freidman who hates her gave her a glowing, raving review.

The haters are so pressed they are busy making thread after thread where they can bash her.

Well I'm seeing the bitch in Philly so we'll see how it really is!

This is bullshit. I am abandoning this thread like some pop stars abandon their babies on their sister's doorstep until I scrape up some negative reviews from sites no one has heard of. I'll also make some more memes first!

R85 you say that as though it isn't just one unhinged psycho...

by Roger Friedman - September 18, 2019 2:45 am It turns out Madonna — the queen of re-invention — is human. She admitted last night during the first performance of her Madame X show at Brooklyn’s Howard Gilman Opera house: “The one thing I need is sleep. I’m tired.” She added that she could use a nap.

But the 61 year old pop icon didn’t show any signs of weariness last night as she launched this ambitious, complex production. The good news about Madonna’s Madame X show is that there is no bad news. Not really. So everyone can relax. There’s no incentive to throw tomatoes.

Quite the opposite: I was impressed, and I think anyone who stops into the Gilman will be surprised to find Madonna, in a stripped down setting, is actually real and just a celebrity hologram. She’s very endearing in an intimate venue. Also considering that this performance of “Madame X” was the very first, you have to give her credit. She’s producing a Broadway show in progress.

Indeed, if we come back to “Madame X” in a month, it’s going to be even more together, which isn’t to say it’s not a compelling two hour and fifteen minute entertainment now. But right now “Madame X” is like several Broadway shows happening at once. Most of it works, some of it doesn’t. It needs time to gel. The pieces are good, but they don’t all fit together yet. (The sets are Broadway-level, even better, with terrific lighting. The staging runs from elaborately ornamental to elegantly minimalist. There are excellent video projections, too.)

What we get theme wise are more than a few things: Madonna’s lifelong grappling with Catholicism; her adventures in Lisbon as a “soccer mom,” as she says; her discovery in Portugal of that country’s music and that of Cape Verde, off the coast of Africa; political Madonna, who is advocating for LGBTQ, women’s rights, abortion rights, and gun control. Plus modern dance, jazz and ballet, and even a dance video from Madonna’s daughter, Lourdes. That’s a lot of themes.

A lot of this is set to showcase songs from the “Madame X” album, which didn’t sell well and didn’t come off well when it arrived. Surprisingly, those songs have been made into convincing theatrical pieces. You see, Madonna is not performing her greatest hits. If you’re coming to the Gilman for “Like a Virgin,” you’re in the wrong place. (There are financial reasons, too, for ditching the early hits– she didn’t write them and she’s probably tired of paying those songwriters.)

This doesn’t mean there aren’t nods to the 80s Madonna. Early in the show there’s a lovely a cappella moment of “Express Yourself.” You will also hear “Papa Don’t Preach,” “Frozen,” “La Isla Bonita,” and, very successfully, “Vogue.”

Last night’s show started an hour late, at 10:30pm, but Madonna did apologize and explain that later. There are other details that I’ll explore later this week in a real review. Last night, Rosie O’Donnell and Debi Mazar, her good friends, showed up to give support, and Rosie–who received cheers from the audience– got be part of a little “business.” The audience loved it.

And that audience– a group of people from Asia had flown here, and used Madonna’s lateness for a nap. The woman behind me came from Paris. There was a crowd from Brazil.

(Also be warned: your phone is locked into an airtight container upon arrival. It must be unlocked at the end of the show. No photos, no videos, no social media. Hence, no photo to go with this story.)

By the time you get to the last number, it’s well worth it. “Like a Prayer” finishes the show proper and leaves everyone on a high. But again, I think Madonna is doing some interesting work here. She’s trying pull off something much tougher than her arena or stadium shows, and you can already see the payoffs. She’s making a connection with the audience while ideas are settling in. The fans will love to watch it, and out of this will evolve a butterfly. I’d be first in line to return.

R84.. oh yes, i remember caresse now that you made mention of it? she committed suicide? when, how, why?...

R90 Madonna told her she had to work for one of the lessers like Mariah or Janet.

Where's The Party

Borderline

Cherish

Who's That Girl

I'll Remember

This Used To Be My Playground

Rain

Open Your Heart

Express Yourself

Material Girl

What It Feels Like For A Girl

Take A Bow

Erotica

Justify My Love

True Blue

Lucky Star

Ray of Light

Papa Don't Preach

Into The Groove

Encore:

Rescue Me

Like A Virgin

Vogue

R92 Say what you will about her, but she has so many hits she leaves #1 hits and huge hits off of Greatest Hits compilations.

Madonna's set lists have been a mess since Blonde Ambition. Exhibit A and B:

Girlie Show - She had released Justify My Love, Rescue Me and This Used To Be My Playground since her last tour and only included Justify My Love. She leaves off Bad Girl, even though it was a single from Erotica, doesn't perform Thief of Hearts, which was supposed to be a single instead of Bad Girl and instead picks two weaker songs from the album.

The Drowned World Tour - the show was dark as hell. She had three albums since her last tour. Leaves off I'll Remember, her redeemable hit after the Erotica backlash, Take A Bow, her longest running #1 song, The Power of Goodbye and Nothing Really Matters which were singles and performs the shittier non-singles from Music.

At least we weren’t treated to get another dreadful rendition of “Candy Shop”, a dreadful throwaway album track that nobody even remembers, yet she crowbarred it into her last three tour set lists. But “Human Nature” AGAIN?! Jesus!

This should be enforced at all live performances.

Nothing on the set list from Rebel Heart, MDNA, Hard Candy, Confessions on a Dance Floor. Yet the setliet includes 2 cover songs.

Yeah, what is her obsession with Human Nature? It's a shit song that didn't even deserve to be released as a single.

I like Human Nature, but I sure as hell don’t need to hear it AGAIN. Nor do I need to hear Like a Prayer, Vogue, or La Isla Whorenita again.

I like Papa Don’t Preach, but why does she keep singing just the first verse when she performs it (like on the MDNA tour)? Sing the entire fucking thing bitch.

She can’t charge $700 for a ticket and not play Like a Prayer and Vogue. The gays would riot.

She may be stupid but she isn’t crazy.

[quote]Nothing on the set list from Rebel Heart, MDNA, Hard Candy, Confessions on a Dance Floor. Yet the setliet includes 2 cover songs.

Or from her debut album or from Music or from Erotica. So stupid of her to perform to covers when she has countless songs of her own that she’s never even performed live.

That stupid bitch Madonna doing what she wants to do and not what everyone else says she should. Goddamnit, what a fucking insufferable cow.

That is something to be admired. She could have a monster of a tour, probably biggest of all time, with a tour of the hits, but she doesn't. She could have done 3 or 4 tours of hits in a row and had the biggest tours of all time.

She isn't making money off this tour. It is clear from reviews she has so many live instruments and other crew. She is paying a lot of people. She is doing this to make a point and from what the reviews said, she seemed very happy to engage with the audience.

The only way I’d pay to see Madonna again is if she did a show commentating the Erotica album or Bedtime Stories. I wish someone would break her wrists so she could never pick up a guitar again playing three chords.

This time she plays the piano r105

R105 and R106 Cue the same people always downing her instrument playing because it KILLS you. Grow the fuck up. You're tiresome.

R105 You'd be like taking 15 bars of Xanax attending her concerts anyway.

r107 = Madonna's piano teacher

R108 = a deranged dementia patient

R105 I agree that Erotica and Bedtime Stories have never gotten the proper attention they deserve. Instead she wants to sing Like A Prayer and Vogue over and over again.

Didn't she sing Deeper and Deeper on several tours? She did Erotica a few times. I'm surprised she hasn't sung Bad Girl. She sang Crazy For You on some Asian stops from her last tour and sounded really good.

At the end of the day, she sings what she wants. Despite this, she is the female touring champ buy a lot. She has so many hits it is mind boggling. Throw in the album cuts many casual and hard core fans like and it is impossible to make many happy.

Yes, R111... But wouldn't it be nice if she fucking TRIED once in a while? Really... Human Nature? At the expense of about 40 other hits? Human. Nature.

R112 Yes it would but it is her prerogative. It is frustrating but at least she is hold the attention and her shows are at least interesting. Her stage presence is undeniable. That said, she has a billion and one hits. She would do well to do one tour that is 75-80% hits. I don't mind when she tinkers with them but don't render them unrecognizable.

But it is ballsy she doesn't and goes against the notion (pushed by everyone) she is playing to be popular. She does the exact opposite of what someone who wants to pander does.

I know some fans have requested Rescue Me and Nothing Really Matters. I think the problem is both songs are too difficult to sing, especially RM.

I am betting she rehearsed Rescue Me but it didn't work or she found it too difficult to sing.

It would be cool if she sings Bad Girl or Survival or The Look of Love. I don't necessarily want a classic (she has sang Like a Prayer and Holiday enough) but it would be nice to get some gems from the catalogue.

She should do ONLY cover songs or perform chunks of musicals.

Only if she brings Robey on stage to help her sing One Night In Bangkok from CHESS.

R106, so did Count Bessie.

i think people (well not her fans of course) but the general public TRULY forget just how many hits the woman has had! it's actually pretty mind boggling especially when you compare her to let's say a lady gaga or a beyonce who get so much attention in the past decade or so but in actuality how many HITS top ten hits have they both had? perhaps hits (and record sales) are not the barometer anymore and too "old school"?...

if madonna did all of her hits (top 10, top 20 and so on) she would literally be up there for HOURS......

on this tour, if she wants to be intimate, perhaps throw a few ballads in there, would love to hear "something to remember" and "inside of me" "one more chance" and even from the like a virgin album "shoo-be-doo" with that great motown melancholy vibe..

I'd rather hear LOVE TRIED TO WELCOME ME from Bedtime Stories over HUMAN NATURE.

R119.. good one, good mention of "love tried to welcome me"... and then follow it up with the moody atmospheric mysterious "sanctuary" just like on bedtime stories..

I would've preferred Don't Stop or Survival from Bedtime Stories over that awful Human Nature.

Anyone planning to see her Brooklyn show? She's here until October 12.

R122 Nope!

Madonna, come to Canada!

She takes requests from the audience as long as the requests are for “I Rise”

She apparently sings Frozen with some fierce vocals, according to the critics. Also, they note she sounds particularly great on the Fado songs. Madonna's vocals have always been problematic due to her quick breathing, being a dancer and all. A slower paced show, where it is not balls to the wall dancing, seems a good fit for her voice for now.

Tickets for all of North America are over 90% sold, with most dates over 95%-100%.

I love to see Madonna just being Madonna. Create, Honey.

Because you spent money on her before you hated her, she has the means to torture you until you-or she-dies. Either way she wins. She won. Get it?

You read the NYT, she gets written about in the NYT. You Google Madonna, Madonna’s staff Googles villas in Tuscany. You are a tax payer and she is a corporation.

And it makes sense that much of this is what creates such ire, but I can’t think of a celebrity with a lifetime of success who has created as much animosity as this person.

And the irony is that in her latter years, it’s the hatred that is somehow keeping her relevant.

She even wins as a result of being detested. Quite a feat.

R128 She is only detested if you hang around gay pop diva fan boards full of gay incels who have mental disorders and attach themselves to victim-worshipping pop divas. To the general public, she is still Madonna loved and hated equally, as with most huge stars.

"A lack of respect and consideration for my wishes."

This is the same bitch who texted through Hamilton. Did she consider the cast's wishes?

I saw the show tonite...while not her best touring show, it was impressive and was probably the most personal show she has done. Musically, it was too heavy on the new MADAME X songs but a few of the old tunes were breathtaking....Frozen was the highlight of the night for me and only left me wishing the whole show had the impact of that number...the shows pacing is a bit disjointed and feels a bit forced but will probably gel as the tour progresses....

All of her vocals are autotuned. She is one artist who could have used this her whole career. Live Autotune is very simple, how do you think Katy Perry and Taylor Swift manage to perform? It creates a micro nano second delay in the vocal that is imperceptible in a large theatre. (Watch Gaga sing her Sound of Music medley for a good display of LIVE autotune up close) Madonna uses a lot of vocoder and pro tools effects, so she's not exactly hiding what she's doing. But the compressed vocals help her even on ballads of course. She's always had a wobbly voice except for a few notes in her contralto register. This current setlist is not worth more than $70. Drowned World and Sticky and Sweet were the best thing I could ever see by her. I knew I wouldn't return. I do that with all performers. I'll see them more than once, but I know when it's time to move on. No sense returning to see a pop star who never could really sing when she's in her sixties.

I've seen Beyonce 4 times and she is the greatest show and singer in the world. But I won't tempt fate and go again.

Let Madonna's die hards enjoy this and some young fans that don't mind the altered vocals and lack of dancing. She's done much better live shows. But I guess she'll never stop. Beyonce isn't that dumb or needy or greedy. She's inventive and has standards.

Adele will never tour again. I saw her too. It was a sweet night with my boyfriend, but totally what you'd expect. A lush orchestral sound, that gorgeous vocal resonance and her dirty earthiness. But there was no show and she sounds much better on record.

Jessie J, Kelly Clarkson, Pink or Lana Del Rey never disappoint for vocal excellence and a great experience.

Janet Jackson last year. Made me sad. I wasn't born until 1983, but she still disappointed me.

Madonna and Streisand are both embarrassing has beens in my opinion. But they have some rich old defenders.

I saw the show tonight. I loved it until I was overcome by the toxic vapour filling the opera house from the dozens of senior citizen medicines, creams and lotions wafting off each and every member of the audience and their ageless star.

All anyone wants is the Immaculate Collection Tour plus 4 or 5 early 90s hits. She should've scrapped this album and waited to tour until next year to celebrate its 30th anniversary.

She can’t dance anymore so there won’t be a biggest hits tour. Ever.

[quote]She can’t dance anymore

She probably would have been able to if she had stuck to the same choreography for 30 years like some others!

I have it on good authority that while Madonna is performing, Lourdes will be going through everyone's phones and stealing their contacts. And probably making a few long distance calls while she's at it.

Tricky little Lola!

WHY? can't madonna dance anymore, she's 61 and been a fine tune machine for decades with access to everything about the body, nutrition and so on... i know she had her body messed up and broken due to the falling off the horse incident, but that's already been what 10 years or so ago? i literally thought she would be 81 before she slowed down!...

R139, because Jabba makes shit up and then flings that shit everywhere hoping it will stick.

R132 That was the most batshit. stupid post I have ever seen and I've seen some batshit posts. I won't bother to refute any of your stupid, wrong points. You aren't worth it. I have pleasure knowing Madonna's success is killing you.

Success??! Bwahahaha. Bitch can’t even sell out auditoriums. She can’t sell albums. Not even face cream. This tour opening didn’t even trend on a Twitter. No one gives a shit. Give it a rest, Vadgebot with his red Kabbalah string tied too tight.

If I repeat it enough it'll be true!!!!

R142 Don’t forget gym memberships! All of those Hard Candy gyms she had went out of business after just a few years.

R133 You're just smelling your pussy, dear.

R142 Triggered!!!!! I love it!

Reviews have been GREAT. All the press showed up last night and it has been raves. I've bashed her plenty but the constant Madonna bashing here has gone too far and it only from 3 people. I blocked one poster and 25 negative posts disappeared.

But but... the negative reviews are just about to roll in! Jabba told us so two days ago!

Someone is slitting their wrists over the positive reviews the old big is getting.

Funny, I don't recall a certain someone who comped tickets to hotel guests (4 per room), getting reviews saying their show was going to change the game in terms of live acts.

R144 lol. Pretty soon the bitch will get desperate enough to bankrupt State Fairs!

More rave reviews just rolled in. Cue the crying and degrading comments pouring in from 1 or 2 posters. Oh, and those who will pretend they were there but we all know, were not.

BAM is doing a raffle to get people to buy tickets at face value.

From the look of OP’s photo, this bitch thinks she is either Ruth Negga, Joan Chen or some combination thereof.

Browser... switch!

R150 Put up receipts or you're on suicide watch. *all you fans of lesser divas on are suicide watch*

So they're doing a raffle to see who gets to buy tickets at Face Value which is like... at least $350/piece, right?

Wait, selling tickets for what they were put on sale for is...........bad? That was some LOW GRADE trolling there.

Nothing against BAM,. OK?

[quote] Thank you for entering the BAM Member Madonna raffle. Your name has been selected as a winner, giving you the opportunity to purchase orchestra seats at face-value for the Madame X world tour right here at BAM. As a reminder, tickets are $399 apiece and include access to a special pre-show reception with a complimentary bar and snacks. We do also have a very limited number of premium orchestra seats at $569 apiece if interested.

One could also go on Stub Hub for orchestra tickets between $300 and $400 for tomorrow night.

Let me know when she has to resort to Groupon and 4-Pack tickets for $17.99.... .oh and $9.99 tickets (USD) for Canada dates!

This pricing is all bullshit. What a rat fuck.

The reviews are fucking amazing. Even Roger Friedman, who hates her, gushed. Hmmmm

The photos do honestly look interesting. The reviews are good.

Vadge’s PR sure is working overtime on here trying to convince people to buy all those unsold tickets!

R161 Well, someone's PR team is here that is clear.

The only reviews that are real reviews are the ones that Jabba says are, ok?

So much talk of rave reviews yet zero links to those rave reviews......

Are the rave reviews not accessible online? Hard copy only??? Hmmmm??????

R164 Google them. They are all over. I would post them but I want to give you more rope.

uh huh.

You mean like a velvet rope? One at a State Fair?

OP, is clearly triggered.

This is what happens when a narcissist doesn't die young(ish). See also Donald Trump.

R168 see R167

Enraged? It's hilarious. I hope she keeps hauling herself onstage into her 80's like Marlene Dietrich, who used safety pins to pull her face back. At least Madonna uses more modern techniques.

You go, granny!! Don't ever stop!

R170 Sure, Jan. Every word of your posts drips with suicidal tendencies.

If you think I'm concerned in any way about Madonna when Donald Trump is president (and very well may be elected again), you're a moron. Nobody should give a shit about any singer, actor, sports figure, celebrity of any ilk, when our planet is at stake. Sheesh, I can't believe how ridiculous this thread is. Much ado about less than nothing.

And yet... here you are. Here you are.

R172 Doth protest too much you smelly cunt. I do hope you aren't around rope or razor blades.......

She needs to start banning Plastic Surgery next.

R175 Then where would Gaga go for hers?

After reading much of this thread, I finally forced myself to listen to her newest album and oh, my God. No. Nonono.

Not one catchy tune. And I still hate the collab with Maluma. She has been latching onto the newest, hottest, youngest act from like 5 albums ago and it's so passe. Stop already!

I know Madonna is much more a performer/showwoman/dancer than she ever was a singer, but the level of singing is just blech now that it's hard to overlook. Why is she doing this to her legacy? Get some great producers and song writers and create something really good, not an attention getting, "deep" crap about Madame LXI.

It's just lame. She's out of touch with what works musically for some time now and it's sad. Her insta is also a hot mess that it pains me to glance at occasionally. I don't even follow her because I'm not a fan of train wrecks who single-handledly are ruining my childhood.

It's true what some European stars say about social media making stars unglamorous.

Who are we kidding, "stars" have always been crap, normal people with extraordinary jobs and privileges, and shitloads of luck, but damn...at least publicists were there to keep the crazy under control. Do it again, publicists, PLEASE.

And I'm saying all this as someone who used to be a fan of Madonna until, oh, what was her last album again?

It's so reductive.

Cyndi Lauper, still respected and admired was left in the 80s chartwise. Madonna should be pretty proud to have the popular longevity she's had. She's now a solid decade past seriously chart-topping but somehow managed 3 decades of this stuff.

The new album is fascinating and brilliantly produced. If you don't like it, it's your loss.

You’re either with me or against me. There is no in between.

Madonna needs proven hitmakers to craft what she offers into something listenable. All of those writers and producers have long since moved on to Taylor and Ariana and other young things.

This is the kind of junk that Madonna puts out these days. You’d have to be deaf or a Madonna Stan (aka, tasteless idiot) to call this a good song.

R181.. can't madonna pay these songwriters who are writing for the young stars to write songs and produce her next albums? if so, why isn't she?

R181 and R182 So so so triggered. And not very subtle trying to imply she can't write hits when this is the woman who wrote Live To Tell, Like A Prayer, Vogue, Express Yourself, Frozen, Music and on and on. Those songwriters you speak of need to help Gaga as that bitch has never been able to make it on her own without someone helping her (RedOne, Mark Ronson- real songwriters not baby Gaga playing with words).

I think Crave is a great song. It sounds like classic Madonna to me. Shame she is not performing the original on tour.

R178 I saw Cyndi at the Hollywood Bowl last year. Her voice is stunning and she can still move very well at 66. It's a real shame that the eldergays chose Madonna over her.

R185 Give it up. Cyndi sucks with her speech impediment voice. She was a fucking clown in the 80's. Her songs nose dived in quality. You seem obsessed with "a voice" when most popular singers all through the years were average. Madonna has a more than capable voice. If you think only gays chose Madonna with her sales then gays must make up 50% of the population you whiny little bitch. You must be on the verge of suicide.

Madonna review — intimate risk-taking, rapturously performed

Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York City

Madonna’s show was a blend of physical theatre, political sermon, club night and royal audience

Well, she’s still got it. Not just the musical chops, but the ability to surprise. Madonna’s show at the 3,000-capacity Brooklyn Academy of Music, which comes to London for 15 nights in January, is two hours of intimate risk-taking, rapturously performed.

A recurring theme was a quote from James Baldwin that “artists should disturb”, the words punched on to a screen by a woman at a typewriter. Madonna has always liked to see herself as an agitator, but that often gets lost in bigger shows. Here the 61-year-old could communicate directly with a vocal audience, who were all the more engaged for being parted from their phones, which were sealed in special pouches at the door.

A bonkers blend of physical theatre, political sermon, club night and royal audience, the show criss-crossed between pop, disco, ballet strings, Portuguese fado and drumming from Cape Verde. The Portuguese influence comes from Madonna’s new home in Lisbon, where she moved to support her son David, a footballer with one of Benfica’s youth teams. He wasn’t here, but Madonna’s six-year-old twins, Estere and Stelle, danced ebulliently in feather boas, and her eldest daughter, Lourdes, 22, writhed in a giant-sized video cleverly projected over her tiny mother during her performance of Frozen.

Madonna’s often criticised voice was characterful and versatile; authentically Latin on Extreme Occident, imperiously diva-like on Vogue. Dressed at first in sparkly tricorn hat, she looked obscenely fit, treating us to a handstand like a playground show-off.

You wonder if she had been inspired by Kate Bush’s London residency in 2014, the closest example of a big star choosing conceptual chutzpah and audience communion over bums on seats. Here we had nuns playing violins, a gospel choir on a transcendent Like a Prayer and a Portuguese bar filled with hot young things.

Most of the songs were from Madame X, Madonna’s recent album and most ambitious in years. She described the alter ego of the title as a secret agent, professor, nun and whore (“I see you agree with that one,” she said, with a giggle as the audience hollered). In playful mood, she took a sip from a fan’s beer, sold a Polaroid selfie for $1,000 and asked: “What do you call a man with a small penis? Did someone say Donald Trump?”

The political debate got more earnest, Madonna projecting Me Too vulnerability as trench-coated journalists poked a camera up her skirt and mock-jammed her microphone down her throat. Later she addressed abortion rights by adapting a line from Papa Don’t Preach: “Are you OK if I decide not to keep my baby?” Yet, fabulously, she still reserves the right to make such pronouncements while dressed in purple hotpants.

The Sun, which always bashes Madonna, gave her a 5 star review.

One line from the review- "Her voice was impressive and on key throughout — shooting down any doubts which surfaced at Eurovision where she was let down by a technical failure."

As well as- "With her Madame X Tour, Madonna has redefined modern pop concerts as we know them and puts young superstars in the shade with her daring routines and incredible vocal range.

If anyone doubted whether Madonna still had it, I can safely say that she most definitely does. In spades."

The positive reviews are coming in droves. This is just from the UK. Even conservative outlets raved.

Wow, I really hit a nerve with that fossil! Cyndi is still better

R189 You're projecting. The nerve hit was yours. And I love it. LOVE IT.

[quote]I think Crave is a great song. It sounds like classic Madonna to me. Shame she is not performing the original on tour.

Are you surprised? She can never leave songs alone in their original form when she performs them and has to fuck them up by remixing them into some shitty version.

The so-far-unreleased Tracy Young remix of XRAVE is what is in the Madame X shows and it's incredible!

Only a short bit is available online but it is CLASSIC Madonna!

Yeah Madonna should be like some others who only play 30 year old versions of songs with 30 year old vocals that they still lipsynch to while using the same 30 year old choreography!!!

R183, my sides! Pat Leonard, Stephen Bray and Shep Pettibone wrote those songs. Madonna added one or two words and got co-writing credit for royalties.

[quote]my sides! Pat Leonard, Stephen Bray and Shep Pettibone wrote those songs. Madonna added one or two words and got co-writing credit for royalties.

Tell us about it!

I don't care for that Tracy Young remix of Crave. It takes out everything that's great about the original: the loneliness, the longing, the vulnerability.

Wow. So people are going to lock their phones in their cars before heading into the venue? And what about areas where most of the audience arrives via public transportation. They will have to leave their phones at home. Can people survive 3 to 5 hours without their phones?

Ha ha!

https://www.buzzfeed.com/amphtml/mjs538/madonnas-daughter-lourdes-is-suddenly-22-looks-like-a-young

Madonna's Daughter Looks Like A Young Lady Gaga

[quote]Madonna's Daughter Looks Like A Young Lady Gaga

As soon as that old Jewess gets her talons off the Gypsy musical, me and Lola will do it. Tick, tick Babs. You can't live forever. The gays have left you, so sign the rights over and maybe I'll let you play Mr. Goldstone.

Lourdes got her mother's tits.

R194 Except they have said the exact opposite but you knew that. You're projecting your Gaga insecurity on Madonna.

wow I really want to see this show

Is R188 trying to make us think those reviews are for the Madame X show?

R204 Can you google? Every fucking review has been raving for the Madame X Tour. EW, Showbiz411, RollingStone, NYT, NYP, The Times, The Evening Standard, BBC, Variety and on and on.

That’s great, R204, and yes I can google. I can also read. Can you? The image at R188 shows reviews for a different Madonna tour.

dum bitch don't even know how many thousands of fans she lost from bein late, and from makin a big fukin deal over the fones when she does it herself, and her kids do too !!!

I was a huge fan, bitch don't lecture me, im done.

I cannot believe she doesn't do Marerial Girl or Like A Virgin. That's like if Michael Jackson did a concert and didn't sing Billie Jean or Beat It.

Why do people pay for this?

She's Out of Touch.

[quote]I cannot believe she doesn't do Marerial Girl or Like A Virgin.

Nobody will believe her singing them anymore. She can no longer pass as a "girl" and she never was like the other.

I was a Madonna fan but her ego has gone too far with the lateness, phones and high ticket prices. Also, I heard she preaches a lot and most of us just want to be entertained.

who cares...

she lip syncs anyway half the shit.....

The irony is, the show costs so much she not making any $ in these tiny venues....

I hope her fans can bring along their emergency buttons though.

Like so many of us, I once loved me some Madge. I’ve been to two of her shows and she hit it out of the park.

That being said, I don’t like this grill wearing, severe hair colored, desperato that’s taken her place.

Someone needs to remind her she already earned her spot at the head of the Pop Last Supper table and now she should look as beautiful and well dressed as possible and hold her head up high. Not continue to grasp at what she thinks 2019 wants of her. You’re outta touch girl. You don’t have your finger on the pulse of pop culture any more, that’s just the tube to your colostomy bag (haha couldn’t resist an ageist joke, calm down queens)

Honestly tho, just be the best version of Madonna that you can be, no one gives a shit about Madame Xlax

Apparently you do hence all your posts.

agree totally #215....she should embrace age and get classey !

[quote]just be the best version of Madonna that you can be

FrauSpeak.

[quote] FrauSpeak.

OprahSpeak

Madonna and “classy” are two things that will never happen.

But R217 said "classey"!

[quote]Madonna and “classy” are two things that will never happen.

She so desperately tried to make it happen when she lived in the UK with Guy Ritchie. Remember the "lady of the manor" photo shoot?

English accent and everything!

Hey, kids, remember when I was playing Lady of the Manor with Guy Ritchie? Weren't these pictures by Vogue to die for?

There are so triggered, pressed Madonna haters in here. I wouldn't want any of you to Epstein yourselves.........

R224, "Ahnd I know awll of their names: Gemma, Hortence, Penelope (I call her HennyPenny!), Beatrix, Bronwyn, Sally, and the big guy is Rupert! But he's not gay!"

Poor Madonna, she is still the best selling female artist, best selling female touring artist, Most Acclaimed female artist (according to the comprehension critics site Acclaimedmusic) and is up there with Elvis, the Beatles, and MJ as top music royalty.

This performance was spectacular:

R233 Madonna thought she was going to take over the void left by Diana as the princess of the UK's hearts. You can see it behind her eyes, the lady-who-does-tea, with the posh accent and Laura Ashley florals. But the strippers pole never stopped calling her name.

R228 Quite possibly the post with the least wit ever posted on DL. You're low IQ trash. Be gone. You're obsessed and I am worried about your mental state.

[quote]I am worried about your mental state.

And this is from the troll who routinely goes around wishing cancer on anyone who does not share his idolatry. Hey troll, maybe you should learn some new skills or go and volunteer in a hospital. Do you know that your idol's MOTHER died of cancer?

[quote] Madonna has a more than capable voice.

Hahahahahahahhahahahahahaa

How big is your black car, Madonna? Do you go home to the Upper East Side every night? Congrats on the wonderful reviews.

is she or aint she sellin out these tiny rooms????

Is the lateness just because she can get away with it and it feeds her ego to think people will wait for her?

Or does she have some kind of mental illness - like extreme anxiety - that causes her to freeze up or panic or something??

I think it's a deal breaker. I not only am no longer a fan, I hate her for abusing people (unless she's ill). Ditto Klobuchar. I want to go throw some binders at her whenever I see her.

According to a poster on Popjustice, Madonna berated an audience member when she asked him what he did for a living. He said that he was a pharmacist. She went a tirade about how he was poisoning people. She sounded like a deranged anti-vaxxer.

Since, of course, we didn't have our phones, I can't say for sure, but I believe she was on a little before 11 tonight. Sometime between 10:30-10:45.

My friend and I were chatting with folks sitting next to us. We learned that one gentleman to our left had paid four times what we did for our seats (and, technically, we had a better view) and the people directly to our right paid nearly half what we did (and, technically, had better views than us). Ah, dynamic pricing.

It took me a while to adjust to seeing M in such an intimate venue -- it didn't "fit" right away. Like seeing a Broadway star suddenly in a minor role in your local non-Equity dinner theatre. She was clearly loving it, though. I don't recall seeing her smile so much before. Don't worry, she flipped us off, too.

I think these are probably her weakest costumes... ever? The ahoy matey outfit that opens the show looks like something out of a costume shop. The black slinky dress she wears for the Lisbon section is beautiful. Prior to that, a more... intimately cut black number shows off her recent... work. It's... um.. it's there. Her 'gypsy robe' outfit looks like something an aged theatre star would wear backstage in her dressing room inbetween a matinee and evening show. Oh, well, they can't all be winners.

The projections are, at times, stunning and at others feel rather static. Because of their near constant usage, don't expect a dazzling light show. In fact, the lighting is more like something you'd have seen at a concert in the 80s. And, be prepared for, by M standards, a decidedly low-tech show other than those projections. There's something charming about the dancers doubling as stagehands quickly rolling different parts of the main staircase set on and off the stage, though.

The sound was best on the more intimate songs. I was actually disappointed in how "muddy" the sound was on louder, more rhythmic songs -- especially during the first half of the show. It was also a shame not to have the musicians on stage throughout, but the way that soloists were featured was nicely done.

Those of you who complain about the robotic vocal fx will hate about 80% of this show. I don't hate them as much as some of you do, but I did wish she'd used them less frequently. When she did let her voice through [relatively] unmodified, there was still a fairly strong and, at times, moving instrument there. Most of the night, though, it's buried. Make peace with that now.

While, of course, her dancers are fantastic, this is not a dance-heavy show. She of course still moves well, but don't expect to see her moving even like she did on Rebel Heart. Those days are behind her. There's a little too much 'wedding party' mom choreography for my taste (think... Kylie shows), but, then, she'll just lift her arm or turn her leg "just so" and you'll see the lifelong dancer emerge for just a moment.

This is not a show you feel the need to be standing/dancing for the entire night. In fact, at one point, she told the orchestra section they should sit down and enjoy the show. I think the pacing could use some finessing, though, which is probably why so many didn't know if/when to sit or stand.

She performs the original arrangements of most of the MX songs. I may be in the minority here, but I hate what she did with Future and Crave. Future was turned into a dirge and lost its buoyancy and irresistible dancehall vibe. Crave's disco'fication is fine for a remix album, but robbed the song of its beautiful sense of longing. It's also the penultimate song before Like a Prayer and I think she needed a stronger uptempo number at that point -- one that isn't so square-peg-round-hole'd into being a dance song -- in order to whip us into a frenzy before taking us to heaven with Like a Prayer.

Don't worry about the comedy. There is a lot of stage banter. Would I say too much? Well, I wouldn't say it to her face, but... That said, she's a lot more relaxed than I recall seeing her and, at times, genuinely funny. At others... you'll groan.

(cont)

I hope she cuts the Polaroid bit. It actually got ugly tonight. This fan -- bless him -- gave her something like $2,000 cash for the Polaroid. She asked him what he did for a living and he said he was a manager at Ride Aid (a drugstore/chemist chain) and she -- without any apparent humor -- chastised him for selling poison to the people and challenged him to quit his job right then and there in front of everyone. Yes, because everyone can afford to quit their jobs and be a, quote, "freedom fighter." On that note, as par for the course, expect lots of broad strokes, generalizations and reductive (sorry, couldn't resist) lectures on political activism from a near-billionaire. (That said, $2,000?? Perhaps I need to quit my corporate job and go work at Rite Aid)

As for cultural appropriation, it's hard not to notice it, but her connection to Portuguese culture and music is genuine and impassioned and she took multiple occasions to showcase the incredible musicians she had with her. Is she perfect in this regard? Of course not, but I don't think there's anything remotely cringey in this area at the show.

Papa Don't Preach is just one verse and chorus -- so prepare for blue balls on that one Although I find Batuka a bit repetitive on the album -- I mean, it is, by its nature -- I had a feeling it would be a knockout in the theatre and it is. That said, again, I wish the sound were better on these louder more rhythmic numbers and that the vocals were better mixed/amplified. The women of The Batukadeiras Orchestra were incredible, but it felt like we were hearing more pre-recorded vocal backing then their natural voices. It's a shame that in such an intimate venue the sound couldn't have felt more natural. The sound design often worked against the intimacy of the venue. In other songs, like God Control, if you didn't already know the lyrics, you'd have had no idea what she was singing. Killers Who Are Partying -- despite its clunky lyrics -- was absolutely gorgeous.

In fact, despite the kinda hokey overly-literal set, that entire Lisbon section was utterly charming... I think this may have been the first time I genuinely enjoyed watching her play guitar.

Of the classics, I just assumed Vogue would be my favorite moment because, well, I still think it's the single greatest thing she's ever done. It was very good, but it wasn't the transcendent moment I was hoping for. Perhaps because she's mainly stomping around the stage and up and down the stairs rather than truly dancing.

Human Nature, which I felt indifferent about hearing, was probably the second best of the classics after the incredible Frozen. The way she moved inside her little circular pod was just perfect and the song ended on a rousing note with her special guests.

Everything you've heard about Frozen is true. Though, try not to sneak a peek if there's some crap video out there. See it in the theatre for the first time. I think it might be the single best moment in the entire show. A total stunner. M lets her voice be (somewhat) naked and she sings beautifully. The use of the projections on the scrim and the contrast of mother and daughter are so brilliantly executed. I wish there had been a few more moments like this in the show. What made it so powerful (besides, of course, the incredible song itself and her daughter's beautifully filmed dancing) was that it managed to be both a massive spectacle and one of the evening's simplest moments. It had a sleekness and elegance that wasn't present through much of the rest of the evening. Honestly, if I had the time, I would go back just to see that performance again.

R235 If that’s true, she’s seriously mentally ill (and could use some pharmaceuticals herself). Ironically, I remember after she fell off that horse she mentioned in an interview a few months later about all the painkillers she took when she was recovering.

As usual, a total hypocrite. Do as I say and not as I do.

Not to mention she is on her phone at movie theaters and comedy shows non-stop. She's banned from venues.

The audio from this show has already leaked. It's horrible. What a boring show. No wonder she doesn't want phones.

[quote]This is not a show you feel the need to be standing/dancing for the entire night

So basically it’s boring.

I just checked Ticketmaster and there’s still PLENTY of seats available for tomorrow’s show (and all the other shows as well).

I'm glad I saw her back in her heyday. This sounds like shitshow.

I just read r236 and r237 on Popjustice.

Great breakdown of the show.

Madonna's thrilling success with the Madame X tour has put Gaga over the edge, who is clearly drinking and being messy again.

You fucking mental case nutjobs haters. FUCK. You all just lie and lie and project and twist. THE FUCK is wrong with you? Of course you love the younger (ish) stars who are mental cases themselves who you've imprinted on because you're as weak as they are. Mental gay incels who cut and imprint on a damaged mental case singer so of course you hate on Madonna.

R244 Why would Gaga be worried about Madonna when she isn't even amongst the top females of her generation? When she has some success, it is always because of someone else like Tony or Bradley. As far as #1's, Top 10's, Top 40's, Album sales, and touring Gaga is left far behind about 15 of her peers in her age range give or take 15 years. And she is already stuffing her fugly face with fillers and botox on 36. She's no spring chicken but damn. Bitch is ugly enough before she hits 40.

R246 = Madge on another bender.

R247 That's all you have? JFCOAC.

sad, cant help but feel madge is on her way down mentally, I get the feeling her health is not good...

R249 You are looking in the mirror at your drug addled, meth stained teeth. Meth took away any wit you may (and I mean MAY) have once had.

Go back to ass kissing gay incel forums where mental cases like you rah rah to your fave lying, insane, mentally deficient, pop tart.

Can you imagine the uproar if Madonna had stumbled out of the theater and collapsed like Gaga did? We would have never heard the end of it. Her distractors would have called the NYPD to have her committed to an insane asylum.

wtf is wrong with #250???? bitch u go away, we here to enjoy free speech u old cunt

Gaga lost her balance for a moment as she stepped off a curb. I assume something like that has never happened to someone perfect like you.

“Collapse.” Either you didn’t watch the TMZ video or you are retarded. Since you’re a Madonna Stan in 2019, you must be retarded.

R253 GOD DAMN give it a fucking rest. Aren't you Gaga stans fucking tired of her shit, her lying, her many, many, many, many illnesses that only seem to bother her when she is flopping? You are as mentally ill as she is which is why you have glommed onto like she's your mommy because you both are fucked in the head.

R254 is a nutcase. Ignore is not his friend.

R255 Can't let it go.

I spent way too much money on my #MadameXTour tickets and I don’t regret it because I REALLY WANTED THOSE SEATS but damn now they’re selling tickets the day of for $95. I could’ve went to every single show at BAM for how much I paid.

R257 Just goes to show there are plenty of unsold tickets that they have to get rid of.

But they're not offering 4-packs for $17.99 yet...

But bankrupting State Fairs are totally just around the corner!

That's why these singers need to stop with these stupid VIP packages. Do NOT buy them.

I attended both MDNA and Rebel Heart and got great seats because I just waited for the VIP tix to be discounted.

I spent more on Madame X tickets than I ever have on a concert but my partner is 12 years old than me and I wanted to take him. It was really great!! Much better than I expected, and I can honestly say after seeing it that I understand now how Madonna has endured all these years when so many others haven't. She gets alot of hate on here but she's easily one of the best entertainers of our time. I don't regret a dime of all that money I spent.

R261 = PR working overtime

R262 Dumb fuck triggered hater working overtime yet bitch is still uber successful. Please don't keep pills or razors around, dear.

Popjustice:

The fact that she didn't come on until close to midnight kind of zapped the energy out of me so when the show started I was not here for it. Then, during God Control, she kept on yelling very pointedly "WAKE UP" which made me laugh because gurl, that's on you. As the show went on I got more and more into it. She was funny and very engaged with the audience although knowing the show beforehand it also felt less real because in a way she is following a script. There's obviously nothing wrong with that but it emphasized for me how the show seems to position itself in a twilight zone between rehearsed stadium show and off-the-cuff cabaret show. The big pop numbers worked less for me than the smaller numbers. Frozen was amazing. Come Alive was goosebump-inducing. I wish she went with the original version of Crave instead of whatever we got. I wasn't a huge fan of the way she used her children throughout the show (Especially when one of them was asked to say "#timesup" when they obviously are too young to fully understand the whole concept) but Madonna's gonna Madonna so whatever, I say please and thank you.

At any other show did she equate Portugal being the birth of slavery and “slavery to our phones”? Cringy but not unexpected from her.

Leaked cell phone footage of the hottest show in Brooklyn!!!!

R93, yet not a single song is a classic that will survive her death

Why is she being such a cunt about curtain time? And why hasn't anyone called child protective services to investigate?

R264, she was never actually funny. She’s is terrible talking to the audience

Absolutely NOTHING sounds appealing about this show. I can smell the gin and regret of the ticketholders.

Exactly!!! Any day now she's going to be bankrupting State Fairs. I for one can't wait!

[quote]I can smell the gin and regret of the ticketholders.

R29 That's the smell of Madonna ordering takeout before the show.

Coming on before midnight? Really? I don't mind 10 or 10:30 but before midnight is just ridiculous. Dragging her kids out after 12? She really is a narcissist.

This is the first tour I have not been excited about. I just don't get the same buzz as her previous tours, including MDNA and Rebel Heart. She's still up to her old tricks (coming on late, etc) and that whole selfie auction just looks boring.

Some of you would be more convincing if we couldn't see your posting history.

How do you see posting history?

"Why is she being such a cunt about curtain time? "

That's what I want to know. The cases I remember from the past - I always thought it had to do with substance use and not be capable of getting on stage on time, due to being drunk or high or badly hungover and barely functional etc.

But I'm not much of a concert goer or popstar follower. Is it common for big names to "make 'em wait" because they such egotistical bullies and they get sadistic pleasure out of making people beg (i.e. sit there for hours uncomfortably)?

It's disgusting behavior and makes me think she's a fucking monster - like Trump level.

R275, I thought they all did that, that it’s just a common problem with musicians.

There is nothing worse than a friend showing you a band doing a good song on their phone.

It’s always a little out of focus and the sound is never on point.

I get a couple of pictures but people holding them up 2/3 of the concert annoys me. Just enjoy the show.

Madonna's ridiculous wait time has to do with her OCD and need for "perfectionism." Before each show she does a COMPLETE run-through of the show, which is obviously a waste. I have no idea why she can't do the run through earlier. Someone once explained it had something to do with unions. I don't know about that.

Anyway, that's why she's always late. Or at least that's been the case for the past few tours. Again, it's ridiculous to do a full run through nightly, before each show.

R275 I agree with most of what you say but I’d never thought she was a substance abuser or a drunk. She is too big of a health nut. It just doesn’t fit with her.

She’s egotistical.

How can she run through the show if people are already in their seats?

It's narcissism, plain and simple. She thinks people will wait for her. But that Popjustice review is pretty enlightening. They love her on PJ but even her loyal fans are tiring of her bullshit. This is why she is not selling. People are tired of her lack of respect for her fans. Yes, she may put on a great show but making people wait 2-3 hours, and now without their phones, even that loyalty is diminishing.

And once again Guy is a shitty manager if he allows her to do this to her fans, the venues, the employees of the venue.

Making the audience wait for her is her way of asserting dominance and superiority.. She will grace you with her presence on HER schedule and not your schedule!

“Oh, and thanks for spending $700 to be in my presence! Don’t forget to buy some merch on your way out. And buy the record on iTunes when you get your iPhone back! “

R281 I agree with everything you said except she would never say “thanks” to her fans.

R280 because she's doing it late, right before doors open, and obviously they need a break in-between.

It's not logical, but that is what she's done the past two decades. It's ridiculous.

I saw the show last week. It was good.

Some of us don't have nannies, Madonna. We like to check in on our kids. Stupid bitch

I'm seeing her in Philly. If she waits hours to come out, I will literally lead my fellow audience members with boos and jeers til she comes out.

^^^I'm surprised more audiences aren't doing that.

OMG the suicidal tendencies in the last few hours is sad and extremely funny. Poor triggered souls......

Her fans are pussies and don’t have the guts. But they should definitely boo and jeer until the bitch comes out if she’s not on stage at the time stated on the ticket.

Even funnier would be if once she came on stage, everybody all walked out at once.😄

SHIT some of you insane mental cases are worse off than I thought. Reading your next level mental illness is wonderful. A monster? I can feel the tears fall as you type!

Take heart, R291, most of those posts are from the same person.

R292 Oh no doubt. I blocked one and almost all disappeared.

The love she shows for her fans warms my heart.

I had a strong feeling her making the audience wait 2.5 hours + banning cellphones is going to lead to an incident where an audience member's child was injured or something, the babysitter or whomever was trying to get hold of the parent, figuring the start time was 2030, the show would be over by 2230, but the parent didn't switch the phone back on until 0200 and by that time the kid had died. And this will be Madonna's Altamont. I wasn't even going to post this, but parents fucking need their phones. The other thing that amazes me is that people haven't started sending invoices into the promoters, billing them for the 2.5 hours they were kept waiting that they could've been working, using their phones.

But really who the fuck is paying $400.00 to see anybody? Ils sont fou!

You sound very concerned, Susan!

She's not getting attention for the shit music or other "art" that she unloads so here comes the antics and naughty behavior.

So reductive.

R297 Reductive. Still buuuurns doesn't it?

R295 FUCK you loons are unhinged. That was next level mental patient ramblings. Any one is free to go get their phone and check messages or make calls in designated areas you insane fucktard. All to get in a dig at her? Feel better you mental lightweight?