Sticky and sweet concert in Berlin – 28.8.2008

I’ve been to the concert in Berlin. Had regular tickets and made it to the second row in the golden circle. I could decide where to stand so I went to the right side of the stage, right after the top of the catwalk ended. Its more or less the same spot I went to on the Confessions tour in Hannover two years ago. The stage in stadiums is pretty high, although the catwalk is a bit lower and that is a bit frustrating for the neck. I remember the catwalk being much lower in London for the Confessions tour.

Anyway… The two hours passed by really fast. I was in the line since 10 am and as I arrived in front of the beautiful Olympia stadium I found just the really hardcore fans that had spent the night in tents in front of the stadium gates. There were not many there.

The access to the stadium was “granted” at 17:50 aprox. and we all ran like crazy…
Some Hot ticket holders entered first and some didn’t… I had many hot ticket people with their special bracelets standing behind me during the show… I guess it all adds up to who runs faster through the stadium towards the stage and golden circle during the first couple of minutes after the gates open.

The concert itsself passes very quickly… typical for Madge to fill it up as much as possible so that we never get bored. I was not a fan of the Gipsy part. That did border to boredom. In general I had the impression that the four sections were not really blending well into each other and that she was lacking a clear and strong concept in this tour.
In fact she always had to sweat more during the hard candy songs to make us participate more… that was not the case wih the other songs.

Technology hasn’t advanced much since the confessions tour and we can see that by a total lack of new props and effects in sticky and sweat… it all seems to be a miniature version of the confessions tour… I guess we will have to wait a couple of years for the next tour to see new types of screens and machines on stage. The cube doesn’t top the disco ball entrance!

A big new thing in my opinion is the fact that Madonna ends the show more pimped up then she is in the beginning… Usually she starts off very sophisticated in looks, posture and outfit and ends more loosened up, hair and looks closer to who she really is… remember RIT (holiday) or DWT (Music)… and to some extent also Hung Up in (CT)… this time she ends the show transformed into something more complex and sophisticated and that is good for me. The new like a prayer was impressive.

The fourth section of S&S seems to be the best and freshest. Love the wig! And in the fourth part… right after the slow gipsy thing, she involves us more by taking requests, pointing the mic at us several times, boosting energy into the public and really dancing her shit off! That’s what I expect the whole concert to be like.

I think this tour is more suitable for video. it is full of special details that, if filmed properly, can really be great on a DVD. There is a lot happening on stage and many details cannot be seen live but could be given proper life if zoomed in by cameras. If they don’t ruin everything by cheesy digital effect in post production, the concert might be a real pearl on video!

The small stage is a plus in my opinion because it makes everything seem more intimate. Nice feeling… coming from Madonna…

The merchendise in Berlin was sooooo expensive… tourbook 30 Euro, Confessions coffee table book 50 Euro and the S&S tour jacket 90 Euro!!! Crazy! Its 86 dollars on the wbsite…

The hot ticket people did not have an apparent extra entrance, but did ask the staff working at the doors how all would be regulated and were eventually allowed to step first in the line before the gates opened.

Robyn (Madonna’s “warm-up pre band) had to fight a lot… poor girl… I think it must be terrible being Madonna’s opening act. I love Robyn, but if you play in a stadium with around 60000 people in it and all are there to see the pop goddess… chances are nobody will give you the proper attention you need or deserve. Robyn tried hard to involve the publc but it was energy draining… but I guess it is also great training for her…

So the atmosphere was intersting. The Madonna anticipation was good but not as magical as right before the confessions concert beginning. Maybe because in the past tours we were used to see the dark Steven Klein videos of madonna before she entered the stage. I think that seeing her on huge screens before her actual appearing is a plus for her because the public gets a boost of star power… she seems so etherial and unaproachable… and then, a couple of minutes later she appears in flesh and bones. Thats a good kick! Like a drug!

S&S starts with a pretty cheap 3D animation of gears and candy and a flipper game simulation… and then the box moves and madge is on stage…. what the heck… I mean really… she CAN do better then that. The entire beginning is just not serious enough and not worthy of none the less than M herself! The beginning is indeed a bit lazy. So the atmosphere is lazy too…

I don’t know… but my favorite song from Hard Candy is “Incredible”… and it seems to be the least popular among fans. It is the most experimental song on the album and with it’s energy twists and changes and rhythm turns really had the potential to be her opening number! It has a strange long length and the lyrics are simply… well… incredible. Could you imagine her kicking the show off singing “sex with you is icredible”… that is Madonna!!! Not the “let’s always stay young and be a nice fun girl” act.

So the atmosphere was weird whenever one would stop to think and realize that there is a 50 year old woman on stage dressed like a teenie girl (reference to the third section of show in particular), moving among dancers more then half her age…
really wanting to be like them… it was a bit embarassing. As much as I love her, I still felt awkward seeing her enact youth in that way… it was too simple… she could have worked harder on that kind of paragon and could have come up with a more mature way to show it off.

That’s why the mood and quality of the last part of the concert were so good, because I had the impression Madonna got older again and took the part of an intelligent and strong woman on stage… transforming and projecting towards the future and not simply holding on to the past.

The fans in the golden circle were tired… well, I was… after waiting a bit more then eleven hours just to see her… I needed a kick! And that kick came in the last part of the show, when she started comunicating more with us. I guess the seated audience had much more energy because they started arriving at five thirty in the evening and were therefor more tollerant.

The entire show was full of glitches though and she did apologize for that right before the requests part. Her mic came off right after she tore the wig off the cone bra Madonna… she stopped for a moment, went into total panic and a technitian tried to help her but it seemed as though she stopped him… I could recognize her saying “Fuck!” as she was on her knees struggleing with the thin mic cord hanging from her back.

The screens went on pretty late in human nature and the mic was off or not connected to the guitar at the beginning of ray of light… so we all missed her nice entrance at the top of the catwalk because no sound came from there… she was already on stage and singing but nobody heard her… these were the biggest messups… there were minor ones like the volume going up and down during other songs… but all in all I like those messups… they make everything seem more human and give us the impression our pop queen is also like we are… you know… mortal and all that stuf But I know it’s just an impression

She never gave us the impression she was happy to be in Berlin. She never stopped to say something like: “good to be here”… she just asked us twice if we were having a good time and also told us: “come on Berlin!”, trying to make us participate more during the hard candy songs.

I think this tour really could work on video. If they don’t ruin it with special effects… like most parts of the CT DVD… remember when she goes down the little square hole at the top of the catwalk… why on earth did they have to fill the gaps with cheap filters in post production?!?! And then they did it almost only for her disappearing acts… almost never for the dancers… that was not consequent at all… and all the fade-ins and fade-outs of background videos over Madge’s close-ups… NO! This tour should be edited on video old school style… it’s already so pimped up as it is live… no need to add more stuff.

Another thing is the fact that Madonna really gave me the impression (in Berlin at least) of doing it all waaaay too fast. The woman should calm down and not be so concerned or worried about having to fill up every possible gap there might be visually, soundwise and materially on stage. I wouldn’t mind at all seeing her closer to who she really is, when she actually enters the stage. If something actually fucks up during the show… let it be, deal with it and improvise… unfortunately she is the worst improviser ever…

she needs to have everything under total and, at times, dictatorial control. That obsessive control will ultimately be her undoing because the more you grow as an artist and the more you risk to fall into the trap of having to prove to everybody that you get bigger and better with every step you make. I say relax Madge, stop the music and the huge screens, panels, videos… and just for a moment be with us: your fans, and just let go of having to prove and show off anything… that would be a magical moment. So simple and at the same time so impressive and deep.

I want a human madonna… not a wonder woman from Mars. There’s too much confusion… so let’s focus
and as for Mr. Jamie….it’s time the Queen parted from this “King”.

kisses to everyone