Madonna at BAM- Page 9
Madonna at BAM
#200 Madonna at BAM
Posted: 10/1/19 at 6:34pmIs the theater uncomfortably warm? I know she likes it warm but I’ve always been able to wear layers before and been perfectly comfortable. I’m trying to decide on my outfit for tonight. Of course it doesn’t help that it’s unseasonably warm outside for this time of year in New York.
#201 Madonna at BAM
Posted: 10/1/19 at 7:11pmIt’s FREEZING when you walk in then warms up a bit when the show starts. The house manager did tell me she doesn’t like the AC.
#202 Madonna at BAM
Posted: 10/1/19 at 7:46pmI’m about to head down there for the show tonight. So she not only keeps you waiting for hours but they shut the AC off? Sounds like one of those experiments they do to see how long it takes people to go crazy.
#203 Madonna at BAM
Posted: 10/1/19 at 8:25pmI didn't find myself to be too warm, even when I was up dancing. (And I get hot very quickly.)
#204 Madonna at BAM
Posted: 10/2/19 at 1:57am
Heading home from tonight’s show. She played for almost two and a half hours which surprised me when I saw what time it was. I’ve had such a long couple weeks and the idea of seeing a concert if she wasn’t going on until the middle of the night (as I wrote here) just really didn’t appeal to me. But I pulled it together tonight and I’m so glad I did. As I was sitting there waiting and waiting for the show to start I kind of thought about how the 13 year old me would sh*t himself if he knew he’d one day get to see this show in this setting. It really was wonderful to see her in a normal theater, closer than I’d get for the money in a stadium.
The show was at its best when she sang her hits and some of the bigger songs from this new album. I’ll say the part I started kind of found myself losing interest in was when she took us on the “Portugal Journey”. That entire segment of the show was something I could have done without. But again I got to see Madonna again, the one celebrity/famous person/whatever who has had the greatest influence on my life since I was a kid getting yelled at to stop listening to her records so much. So even when the show faltered, I still wouldn’t want to be anywhere else than I was right then.
As for the banter, I thought it was insanely tame for her. Maybe she changes it nightly but besides a few F-bombs and saying how her p*ssy is hot, that was about it.
The Polaroid sold for $5K tonight to a guy who ran up to the stage with a ton of cash. I hope he posts it online somewhere because I’d love to see the one photo taken of her tonight.
I’m so tired I don’t know what else to say right now as I type this on the subway except that I was really happy with how fantastic she sounded. She’s always a bit hit-or-miss vocally when you see her live. It tonight she really sounded great. I’m sure the fact she wasn’t running around burning off a million calories like she usually is in concert helped a lot with that.
#205 Madonna at BAM
Posted: 10/2/19 at 4:05am
Jordan, glad you had a great time tonight. I did as well. I think show is best experienced free of spoilers so I’ll just say it’s her best concert tour since Confessions. Also, Maluma was in one of the box seats although interestingly he didn’t perform Medellin with her. I was Row N, seat 33, Left Orchestra. Great view. Can’t wait to experience it again on Thursday from the front row. I did not find her overly crude. She was in great voice.
I found much of the grumbling about the start time overblown. It’s true she is starting later or at least performing longer so concerts lets out very late. However, as overblown as the VIP perks are, they helped bide the time. I arrived around 830. VIP lounge was small, crowded and very few seats with very basic appetizers and a photo area. Main advantage was ability to use your phone in the lounge and short line for overpriced cocktails. By time I got through security (note to self: crucifixes are not security-friendly), hung out in VIP lounge, connected with a couple of fellow Madonna fans from IG, shopped for merchandise, I didn’t sit down in theater until around 10:00. Got to talk to young, gay couple to my left who live in Brooklyn and just got married 3 weeks ago (at same place Steve and Miranda got married on SATC). They had also been at opening night and said she was more relaxed tonight.
The polaroid went for $5,000 tonight! I bought both tour jackets plus two t-shirts. I’m almost certain to buy more Thursday. I stagedoored. She came out around 2:00 a.m. Concert let out about 1:10 maybe. Not sure. Didn’t miss having my phone during the concert and it stopped me from really thinking about how late it was which might’ve made me tired.
#206 Madonna at BAM
Posted: 10/2/19 at 9:52am
Well, I don’t think the grumbling is overblown, a lot of people in the audience were getting pretty pissy the longer we were waiting. But it is what it is. I wished Maluma would have performed also but based on how that song technically is staged and choreographed along with all the projections/film that went with it I can understand why.
There also seemed to be this sudden mass exodus from the theater about 20 minutes before the show ended which was really confusing as there were no signs that the show was ending. I think it was right before that beautifully done version of “Frozen”.
#207 Madonna at BAM
Posted: 10/2/19 at 10:15am
I’m just saying that time passed quickly for me.
I think people might’ve had to make the last train home for those weren’t staying in NYC. Then again the guy next to me (on my other side) declared before the show that this was a bucket list item for him. However, he also said he didn’t know she was performing in Brooklyn until 7 days ago and didn’t seem to know any of the Madame X songs. And we were applauding and screaming when we realized Maluma was in the box seat, he didn’t know even know who that was. He left several times during the show to get more cocktails possibly and also probably to go to the bathroom and then he left before I Rise even though he lives in NYC. He also seemed to smell like weed. He declared before the shows that since we were both there alone, that we were now a couple. At first I thought it was kind of cute but soon became annoying when he wanted me to dance with him before the show even started.
He said we had to start the party and I said Madonna f***ing starts the party I just started ignoring him and finally he left me alone. He sat down during MX songs while most of us were standing for 98% of the show. My feet and back were aching so bad after concert (and today!) that I had to take Uber back to Hilton Brooklyn which was just 14 minute walk. Definitely not wearing those boots again tomorrow night.
I also thought that might’ve been why Maluma didn’t perform.
Oh one thing that the couple next to me say has been added since opening was the musicians playing Latin acoustic versions of some of M’s songs before the concert. I really loved that!
SouthernCakes
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/19
#208 Madonna at BAM
Posted: 10/2/19 at 3:15pmI doubt I’ll see this for financial reasons and just don’t really love the new album, but would love for someone to spoil it for me! Sets, design, etc?
UncleCharlie
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/26/16
#209 Madonna at BAM
Posted: 10/2/19 at 3:24pm
SouthernCakes said: "I doubt I’ll see this for financial reasons and just don’t really love the new album, but would love for someone to spoil it for me! Sets, design, etc?"
Here's your set list.
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/madonna/2019/bam-howard-gilman-opera-house-brooklyn-ny-439c1fc3.html
SouthernCakes
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/19
#211 Madonna at BAM
Posted: 10/2/19 at 9:42pm
SouthernCakes said: "Honestly more interested in the visual aspects"
Spoilers ahead.
It's a box set with three white walls and multiple moving white staircases. There is heavy use of projections on the walls and stairs. In the Portuguese section the stage transforms into a street scene in front of a bar. Unfortunately this is one of the slower parts of the show.
The set seems simple but I was impressed with the projections. Especially during Frozen. Madonna sings behind a scrim with a projection of a dancer who is revealed to be Lourdes. It was the highlight of the show for me.
When she sings I Rise at the end of the show a rainbow flag rises up and covers the back wall of the stage.
If you follow her on IG she has been posting clips of the show so you can get a sense of how it looks.
#212 Madonna at BAM
Posted: 10/3/19 at 7:30pm
I loved the show. I was engrossed the whole time. Her voice sounds incredible. Probably because she doesn’t have to sprint down a runway the length of an arena in heels. Originally I wasn’t into Madame X but it has grown on me. I will say that songs I don’t like such Killers Who Are Partying and Medellín I loved in concert. She is delivering the Madame X album live with such passion and a sense of fun.
I think she feels more free without phones in her face. I loved not having phones during the show. I got a fist bump during I Rise and burst into tears. She’s more vulnerable than I’ve ever seen her. I also think she is done caring what anyone thinks. The show is avant garde, uneven at times and silly at points but it felt so joyful. She’s truly having a good time.
Lourdes was there the night I saw it. She was in the lobby at points and no one bothered her.
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello
#213 Madonna at BAM
Posted: 10/4/19 at 7:50am
Revised for better chronological coherence:
A friend a few years ago told me that one day I would meet Madonna and I thought he was of full of ****. It seemed too lofty a dream, foolish. I was wrong. My skepticism proved me a fool for that is exactly what happened to me tonight.
I’ll try to recap what happened tonight but I’m still in a bit of shock and some of the details are slowly coming back to me so I may have to go back and edit this post more than once.
So on this tour Madonna selects at least one person from the audience during one interlude and sits next to them to hold a conversation. This is something she has never done on any other tour partially because it’s hard to do something like this in an arena tour. However, on this tour she is doing smaller theater dates which are much more intimate and are cell phone free.
Since I knew I had a first row seat for Thursday night’s concert, I knew there was a shot that I would get to talk to her but nothing certain. One of the Madonna fans from Ireland that I befriended on Instagram messaged me Thursday morning to ask where I was sitting. I told him and he said OMG - That’s the seat she comes down and sits by and talks to the audience. Now I had already been thinking about what I would say if I ever got to meet her for years and have been refining it some since I knew my chances were better for Thursday night and now I knew the chances were very very good so I really began refining in my head what I would need to say. I also knew that if she started talking to me and I wasn’t engaging back she would move on to someone else so I had to stay out of my head and stay engaged with her.
I was told that if she was going to talk to me someone would tap me on the shoulder and talk to me while she’s performing Medellin. Partway into this song I was worried that maybe it wasn’t going to happen because I hadn’t had a tap on my shoulder and then the magic tap on my shoulder occurred. I turned to see him. He asked if I had been to this show before and I told him I had been here Tuesday night. So he said you know what’s getting ready to happen. And I replied, yes. Then he told me something which was hard to hear over the music but basically he said that she will come down and sit in the chair next to me which they had produced and they would tell me when to sit down and then I will have about two minutes to talk with her which would mostly be me answering the questions she asked. They also handed me a beer bottle to hand her when she asked for it.
So the number ended with her dancing with her son David and after some repartee between the two of them she looked over at me and asked David if he thought I was safe for her to sit next to. He replied that I had plenty of the merchandise from the tour so I should be OK. She said something to the effect of “merchandise, huh?”. She then approached the chair that was empty next to me and asked if it was free. I manage to say something like, yes it’s free.
Now I can’t be certain of the chronology of what happened next and some details are coming back to me as I retell the next few moments of my life. I may have to come back and edit this a few times.
Madonna: What’s your name?
Me: Kevin
M: Where are you from?
Me: Oklahoma
M: Do you live on a ranch?
Me: No (I realize at this point I’ve only responded with one word answers which is not very engaging)
M: I don’t know why I think everyone in Oklahoma lives on a ranch.
Me: I can see why you’d think that.
M: It’s a big state.
Me: yes (is it though?)
M: I’m not sure what to make of your answers.
Me: (panicking a bit) I know they’re short.
M: No that’s not it. They’re mystifying. Are you a secret agent? (I’m not sure whether she said all that or if I invented some of that)
Me: I’m Monsieur X
M: Oh do you speak French?
Me: Oui (She seems to like that answer. And although I have only been peripherally aware of audience reaction to our exchange that seems to get a big reaction from the audience as well)
At this point the chronology of what happens next is a bit fuzzy.
M: what do you do for a living?
Me: I work in criminal justice reform.
M: Criminal Justice Reform? (She seems to like this answer) I have some friends you should meet.
Me: I’d like that.
I do recall that I tried to silently offer her the beer bottle before she was ready for it. Also, later when she has the bottle in her hand she puts her hand down (with the bottle in it) between us and I think she’s trying to hand it back to me so I grab it, but she doesn’t let go so I release it.
I also remembered she asked me fairly early on if I was at the concert alone and I said yes. Then she asked if always came to her concerts alone. I said yes again. Again another two questions I answered with one word answers. It’s good I finally opened up.
At some point around this time I believe is when she asks if she can have a drink of my beer. I say yes. (It is the prop handed to me earlier by the man) She asks if there’s any backwash in it. I say no. She says she doesn’t believe me, that she sees something frothy floating at the top of the beer. She takes a drink anyway.
M: What do you think of the show?
Me: I love it. I danced so much I broke my crucifix. (This is true - I had the crucifix dangling from my belt loop and when I had looked down earlier, the bottom part had broken off)
M: let me see it. (I show her). It sure has. Jesus is going to be cross with you. (this spontaneous bit of humor cracks me up as well as the audience)
Me: I also tell her that I think the world would be a better place if it was more like a Madonna concert.
(She reminds me this isn’t a Madonna concert but a Madame X concert. I reply that she is right.)
M: She asks how the world would be better?
Me: it takes me a second to realize this relates to the last thing I said to her and I wasn’t prepared for her to ask this question but I’m able to stammer something about her show representing Freedom and that seems to satisfy her.
M: But these tickets aren’t free.
Me: yes, I know.
M: All of this (motions to the stage) isn’t free. I’ve got to pay for it somehow.
M: Have you ever Cha-Cha’d?
Me: Yes, with you.
M: Where? In front of the television?
Me: No, just now (during Medellin)
She seems to be winding down our conversation now to get back to the stage. I ask her if I can say one more thing. She says yes.
Me: On behalf of all my friends who didn’t survive the plague, I want to thank you for your artistry and advocacy.
She seems to both appreciate my heartfelt and personal message and also shaken by it. I’m also not sure what the audience reaction was, but she tells them this isn’t funny. I imagine she’s also thinking about all the friend she lost to AIDS. She pauses. A solemn look crosses her face. She doesn’t seem to know what to say. She still has the microphone, but I tell her I love her.
M: (solemnly) All your friends...
She certainly said something else, but I must’ve blacked out for a moment because I can’t recall it.
Someone that was there last night remembered the piece that I blacked out for:
“She told you. To all your friends. “this one’s for you” and she drank from the bottle again. Beautiful moment. Surreal. glad to have been there. Thank you too.”
She really seems to be winding up our conversation now, but I have one more thing I want to tell her.
Me: Can I tell you one more thing?
Madonna initially says no, but then says okay.
Me: On behalf of my younger suicidal self...
M: wait, please repeat that.
Me: On behalf of my younger suicidal self, thank you. There were times that the only thing that kept me alive was knowing there would be another album in a year or two (this is true; I do manage to hear the audience applaud this)
She initiates a hug and holds me for what seems like a nice long time. I hug her back. She is so tiny, but it’s somehow the best hug I’ve ever received. She whispers something in my ear that I can’t quite hear. I imagine it to be “I love you” or “Thank you” or “Take Care of Yourself”. I whisper “I Love You” into her ear. She gets up and as she takes steps back up to the stage, she looks back at me and tells me, “Thank you for staying alive.”
And then the concert resumed.
#214 Madonna at BAM
Posted: 10/4/19 at 8:31amSo happy you got to have such a special moment, Kevin. That is beautiful.
#216 Madonna at BAM
Posted: 10/4/19 at 1:32pm
Im so happy for you Kevin. What a powerful moment for you both.
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#217 Madonna at BAM
Posted: 10/4/19 at 2:44pm
Kevin,
Thank you for invoking all of our friends who weren't able to make it through the plague.
Sincerely,
Your friend,
Name
Twitter @NamoInExile
Instagram none
#219 Madonna at BAM
Posted: 10/4/19 at 6:07pm
Miles2Go2 said: "It’s the least I could do."
You gave her a beautiful gift. Knowing that her work saved a life is immeasurable. Such gravity to that. It's so wonderful the universe gave you the opportunity.
I was sad to hear she cancelled (or rather rescheduled) opening night in Chicago. A few of my friends need to make other arrangements now. Also she cancelled the SF Halloween show. That's just downright cruel to do to queens. I had friends flying in for that too. I don't know whats up with all these changes.
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello
#220 Madonna at BAM
Posted: 10/4/19 at 11:05pm
Someone that was there last night remembered the piece that I blacked out for.
“She told you. To all your friends. “this one’s for you” and she drank from the bottle again. Beautiful moment. Surreal. glad to have been there. Thank you too.”
Javi
Featured Actor Joined: 7/13/03
#222 Madonna at BAM
Posted: 10/5/19 at 2:39pm
In town car on way to JFK accompanied by my mountain of luggage. I was surprised I didn’t break down into tears when I got to express very personal things directly to Madonna Thursday night. Things I’ve been dying to say for a very long time. But now it’s hitting me. Intermittent tears as the week especially Thursday night washes over me. If I could tell that sad young man who sometimes contemplated ending it all every time a love affair went bust anything, I’d tell him it gets better, the best moments of his life are ahead of him, that he’ll one day get to meet his idol and tell her what she means to him and it will be meaningful to not only him, but also to her. Lastly, I’d tell him I’m very proud of him and I’d thank him for persevering through unimaginable pain so I can experience such moments of bliss.
Updated On: 10/5/19 at 02:39 PM
SouthernCakes
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/19
#223 Madonna at BAM
Posted: 10/5/19 at 10:59pmLove this!! Makes me want to slurge and see the show but rent is due...
#224 Madonna at BAM
Posted: 10/5/19 at 11:58pm
SouthernCakes said: "Love this!! Makes me want to slurge and see the show but rent is due... "
Do it! I wasn’t comfortable with what I paid (back in June) for front row (although cheaper than any other night) but I will say it paid off in spades.
I sat row N on Tuesday night in the orchestra and I still had a fabulous time although I will say Thursday night is the best night of my f***ing life.
