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Showing posts with label tour. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tour. Show all posts
'No one's telling you how to live your life but it's a set-up, until you're fed up.'
'No one's telling you how to live your life but it's a set-up, until you're fed up.'
So deep
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Who Am I?
This is from Madonna's "The Confessions Tour - Isaac". Heartfelt thanks to Donnaleigh de LaRosa for posting this on Face Book! Stunning video! The words here are fiction - they are not meant to reflect the content of the video. The video acts as a focus, or catalyst for the writing.
Hear that music? hear that voice? It speaks to my soul - it asks me who I am, and what I am going to do about that. Hear that quickening? Eveything is moving faster … faster … faster!
What is this cage that I am in? I choose to move - faster … faster … faster! Keep moving! Don't stop! Don't wonder why I am in this cage. As big as it is - it limits me … it forces me to live within boundaries that are not mine!
Hah! As long as I keep moving, you cannot catch me! You cannot define me! You cannot control me!
Who am I? It really doesn't matter, because I am as free as I want to be!
(c) October 2010 Bonnie CehovetWho Am I?
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madonna let it will be live confessions tour
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You Must Love Me
Don't freak out, this isn't a post about my love life. At least, not my romantic life. This is about my first love: musicals.
Within my general obsession with musical theater, there are a few areas I find particularly interesting, all of which can be grouped under the rubric of transformations. I am fascinated with the way stories are told and retold, and few storytelling arenas are as obsessed with retelling as musical theater.
I love to read/watch the books, plays, and movies that musicals were based on to see how the composers, lyricists, bookwriters, directors et al applied their craft. For example, my already huge admiration for Oscar Hammerstein II grew exponentially after reading Edna Ferber's original novel Show Boat. The way that Hammerstein transformed the central metaphor of the book - Magnolia's relationship with the Mississippi River - into the central metaphor of the show - Magnolia's relationship with the musical stage - is genius.
I am also intrigued by the ways in which musicals change of time. No theater piece is ever as static as film (unless the film in question belongs to George Lucas), but this seems even more the case with musicals. Maybe it's due to the ways in which technology has changed (bringing in microphones, mixing boards, and electronic instruments), or the fussiness of living composers (I'm looking at you, Mr. Sondheim), or the egos of contemporary directors… but musicals seem to change. A lot. I'm not only talking about contemporary auteurs like Sam Mendes deciding that Cabaret needed the injection of a half-dozen extra songs from the film or cut from the original production. Even the first Broadway production of Show Boat added new numbers, including "Nobody Else But Me" which has become a standard. And no production of Annie Get Your Gun today would dare omit "Old Fashioned Wedding," added for the 1966 Lincoln Center revival. Some shows, such as Beauty and the Beast, even added songs to their original productions after they opened (and after the cast albums were recorded).
A third, related fascination of mine is songs added for the film versions of musicals. And that is where our friend Madonna comes in. Musicals made from Broadway shows have added songs since films first had sound. Seriously, The Jazz Singer is based on a Broadway show, but the film score is augmented with plenty of songs that weren't in the original play. (Wikipedia tells me the original play had no on stage singing, so maybe this isn't the best example, but if I use Show Boat for every single example here, it will get tiresome. However, the song "I Have the Room above Her," added for the 1936 film version of Show Boat, is a favorite.)
I have other, related interests, such as songs cut from shows and films, and songs from shows that never got recorded by their original cast, and cover versions of showtunes… but future blog posts can examine those categories.
Why do songs get added to film versions of successful musicals? There are several reasons, some more artistically driven, others commercially driven, and of course, not a few are ego-driven.
In the best cases, songs get added because film is a different medium than the stage, and storytelling works differently on film. Take, for example, Little Shop of Horrors. I'm not going to argue that "Mean Green Mother from Outer-Space" is a fantastic song, but it takes advantage of the special effects capabilities of the screen in a way that the stage production never could. In the film, Audrey II is even more of a star, and the song gives the star his 11:00 number. But the song hasn't migrated back to the stage because it wouldn't work delivered by the considerably more Muppet-like plant used on stage.
Sometimes songs get added in order to create a hit single, court an Oscar, or give more screen time to a star whose character sang less in the original. Some of those examples are interchangeable. But commerce is commerce, and often one commercial move can support multiple commercial reasons.
Which brings us back to Evita and "You Must Love Me." When it was announced that Madonna would star in the long-anticipated film version of Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice's musical, there was little doubt she would get a new song written just for her. No one was going to deny Madge her shot at another hit single, nor would anyone get between Lloyd Webber and his Oscar. And it worked.
But did it work? I remember rushing out to buy the single (because it was released in advance of the soundtrack) and feeling underwhelmed by the song. It was a pretty enough melody, and Madonna sang it well, but… the lyrics sat awkwardly on the tune. Whenever Madonna sang the title phrase, she treated each word as though it were it's own sentence. You. Must. Love. Me. The effect was similar to the film's real hit song, "Don't Cry for Me Argentina." The song might be catchy, but I defy anyone to say what the title really means.
But the more I've come to know "You Must Love Me," the more I like it. When I hear it, I find myself wondering, is Evita giving her husband a command (you must love me!) or having a realization (you must love me!). I'm not sure Madonna is capable of playing the nuance (forgive me, Madonna! I love you… just not when you "act"). But the song has migrated back into the show, and I'd love to see a better actress play the scene.
However much I might dislike Madonna the actress - in other post, I will detail my long and sordid history with Dick Tracy - I do love that she has incorporated several songs from Evita into her concert repertoire. The video above is from her Sticky & Sweet Tour DVD, in which "You Must Love Me" is paired with "Don't Cry for Me Argentina." On the tour documented in I'm Going To Tell You A Secret, she sang "Lament," my favorite piece from the show. I'm still waiting for a really dance-able take on "Buenos Aires," but who knows, that may come with the next tour.
You Must Love Me
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madonna the RIT rehearsals
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Madonna - 25/08/04 - Wembley Arena
Tiny Madonna a long way off
I had to be dragged kicking and screaming to this one, I really did. The wife some how convinced me that spending over ₤100 each on tickets would be a good thing to do. Our seats were halfway back, up the side, and were easily worth more than all my previous Wembley gig tickets put together. I estimated I was in a 5% minority - 50% women, 45% gay men, the rest reluctant husbands/boyfriends. This was going to have be very very very good not to seem like a total waste of money, I mean, I don't even like Madonna, save for (literally) a couple of tracks that I'll put up with if in an exceedingly good mood.
The first thing that struck me on entering the Arena was the scale of the stage set - there was just so much of it. Walkways suspended from the ceiling, podiums, risers, platforms and all kinds of stuff that would have filled a fair few dozen trucks. She hadn't even come on stage and already I was beginning to appreciate that she might have spent a fair bit putting this show on. Her actual entrance (fnar fnar) was a little underwhelming, I think I was probably expecting her to abseil down from roof, or fly in by personal jetpack, but she just ran on dancing, to Vogue. I have to say, I never would have thought that I would say what I'm about to say next. Ever.
From the moment she opened her mouth to the very last farewell, I was amazed, enthralled and utterly gobsmacked by how good it was. It took the concept of live performance to a totally new level for me - every song brought a different stage set, a different accompaniment, a different set of dancers and a different lightshow. Slick is not the word - a huge amount of set changes went on virtually undetected in between songs, for one song (don't remember which) she wheeled out a troupe of skateboarders on a full size half-pipe. Her dancers (no idea if it was many dancers with few costume changes or few dancers with many costume changes) were, as you'd expect, ultra-professional, it was like the corps de ballet at the Kirov (not that I've ever been to the ballet, but you know what I'm driving at). The interplay between the live music and the video screen, during the one (no idea, can't be arsed to research) featuring Missy Elliott, was just stunning. It was so slickly put together, it's as if she was actually there.
Musically, however, the highlight for me was 'Material Girl'. A track I usually wouldn't give you tuppence for (like, er, all of them), Madge came out with a Les Paul strapped to her, apparently playing a new guitar riffy version all by herself. Not sure if it was merely for show, after all, she has been accused of lip-synching so miming the guitar is hardly beyond the realms of possibility, but it really didn't matter. She rocked, the song rocked, and above all she looked great wearing a guitar. All in all, a brilliant, brilliant show, I left thinking my 100 pahnds was well spent. A bargain even, given the scale of the whole thing. Shows of this magnitude are not put on cheaply.
Madonna - 25/08/04 - Wembley Arena
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Madonna: Truth or Dare
Labels:
black and white
,movies
,tour
,videos
I came across a clip of this doccie last week and had to watch the film. Found it on YouTube today.
It's called Truth or Dare or In Bed with Madonna (she hates the latter) and documents her controversial Blonde Ambition Tour of 1990. It was released in 1991 and did exceptionally well becoming the highest grossing doccie ever. Today it is the 8th highest grossing doccie.
Here it is all neatly chopped up and ready for online consumption. Madonna - Like you've never seen her before…
There's more… I'll put it up later ♥
Madonna: Truth or Dare
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Confessions vs. Sticky and Sweet.
I watched both Madonna's The Confessions Tour DVD and her Sticky and Sweet Tour DVD, and I thought I'd offer up an opinion on which one is better or which one might be better to buy if you were going to buy one.
Personally, I enjoyed The Confessions Tour better. It's very disco/dance-oriented, and that's the kind of music I really like. Plus, Madonna looked nicer, which is always a good thing.
However, Sticky and Sweet had a better all-around song selection-all of her most iconic songs got played, including some that I really wished had made Confessions, such as "Vogue," "Borderline," "Like a Prayer," "Ray of Light," and "Into the Groove."
I think, essentially, what it boils down to is what you like better: dance music or classic Madonna. If you're not very familiar with either except for the basics, Sticky and Sweet is probably your best bet. That being said, Confessions is great if you're really into the more in-depth parts of both.
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Live to tell
I have a tale to tell
Sometimes it gets so hard to hide it well
I was not ready for the fall
Too blind to see the writing on the wall.
A man can tell a thousand lies
I've learned my lesson well
Hope I live to tell the secret I have learned
Until then it will burn inside of me.
I know where beauty lives
I've seen it once, I know the warm she gives
The light that you could never see
It shines inside, you can't take that from me.
The truth is never far behind
You kept it hidden well
If I live to tell the secret I knew then
Will I ever have the chance again?
If I ran away, I'd never have the strength to go very far
How could they hear the beating of my heart?
Will it grow cold? The secret that I hide.
Will I grow old?
How would they hear?
When would they learn?
How would they know?
Porque tuve hambre, y ustedes me dieron de comer; tuve sed, y me dieron de beber; fui forastero, y me dieron alojamiento; Y le contestarán los justos: "Señor, ¿cuándo te vimos hambriento y te alimentamos, o sediento y te dimos de beber? El Rey les responderá: "Les aseguro que todo lo que hicieron por uno de mis hermanos, aun por el más pequeño, lo hicieron por mí"Live to tell
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Future Lovers
Porque es una de mis canciones favoritas. Porque contiene parte de una de las mejores canciones y pionera de la electrónica, I Feel Love (1979) de Donna Summer. Porque la puesta en escena es impresionante. Porque las coreografías son increíbles. Porque la edición es fantástica. Porque el backdrop es épico. Por eso y mucho más… in the evidence of its brilliance!
Future Lovers [I Feel Love] - Madonna
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Candy Perfume Girl Chords (DWT)
We figured it's time to post another Madonna guitar sheet and start having some fun now that 2010 is just about to begin! And what could be more fun than to play another great song by the Madge-sty, which is also a very simple one to learn as well? Plug in your electric guitars and get the "Candy Perfume Girl" sheet from the Guitar Tabs & Chords page!
Monte Pittman & Madonna strumming some high notes (click to see the video)
Madonna first performed CPG in the "Drowned World Tour" (2001) and it was first song in which we saw her playing an electric guitar! (a Gibson Les Paul Classic) And she even played a solo towards the end! Needless to say that Miss Fitz and I would LOVE to see her nailing the guitar like that again in her next tour!!
Candy Perfume Girl Chords (DWT)
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Don't Tell Me
One of Madonna's beautiful songs. Insightful, true and has a nice beat too!
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Music Sounds Better On Holiday
Mash-up of Stardust's 'Music Sounds Better With You' and Madonna's 'Holiday'.
I hadn't heard this remix before, not until I saw this video of a rare Daft Punk DJ performance at a 1999 WMC afterparty:
(cut to 6:25)
Can't forget the original; one of my favorite house tracks of all time:
Music Sounds Better On Holiday
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Like it or Not
staronetickets.com
"This is who I am
You can like it or not
You can love me or leave me
Cause I'm never gonna stop"
Madonna
As Much as I Love me some Gaga, Madonna has earned the title Queen of Pop. I believe Lady Gage is still yet a princess, not that one day the torch wouldn't be past, but for now I have no doubt the Queen still has a few more tricks up her spandex. Here is to me hoping they both put out new albums for me to move my dancing feet to sooner than later.
Long Live the Queen and Princess of Pop
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Madonna riles things up pre-concert gig!
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The Fashion Office Recommends…Madonna Songs
Believe it or not, it seems that The Fashion Office have somehow neglected covering Madonna so far (a little like last week's theme). Possibly a punishable crime, we're setting about putting our sins right by devoting this week's post to our recommended, or rather favourite, songs by none other than the queen of pop.
A timely choice too as despite wondering what took her so long, it's just been announced that further to her M line at H & M, Madonna is launching a new fashion line in partnership with US store Macy's, aptly named Material Girl.
Enjoy.
A Work in Progress picks: Holiday.
Ellie from Notes on the High Street elects: Like a Prayer.
Favourite Thing opts for: Material Girl. The video's pink, we needn't say more…
Suzie recommends: La Isla Bonita. The song that had me singing "eyes like potatoes" for many more years than is cool to admit to…
Sartoriology chose: Vogue.
Soldiersailor selects: Luckystar. Closely followed by Borderline.
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The Fashion Office Recommends…Madonna Songs
Believe it or not, it seems that The Fashion Office have somehow neglected covering Madonna so far (a little like last week's theme). Possibly a punishable crime, we're setting about putting our sins right by devoting this week's post to our recommended, or rather favourite, songs by none other than the queen of pop.
A timely choice too as despite wondering what took her so long, it's just been announced that further to her M line at H & M, Madonna is launching a new fashion line in partnership with US store Macy's, aptly named Material Girl.
Enjoy.
A Work in Progress picks: Holiday.
Ellie from Notes on the High Street elects: Like a Prayer.
Favourite Thing opts for: Material Girl. The video's pink, we needn't say more…
Suzie recommends: La Isla Bonita. The song that had me singing "eyes like potatoes" for many more years than is cool to admit to…
Sartoriology chose: Vogue.
Soldiersailor selects: Luckystar. Closely followed by Borderline.
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Sunday Night Live: Who Was That Girl?
Occasionally in a live performance there's a moment, something indefinable, a split second when the show turns from something really good into something you'll never forget. In this fairly old Madonna performance, the moment (for me anyway) comes just past the 5-minute mark. Your mileage may vary, as they say, but that's when it hits for me - just the combination of the music, the energy, the crowd, the feeling that for the folks on stage this isn't just another night on the road.
This particular performance is from Madonna's "Who's That Girl?" tour from the summer of 1987, specifically one of the final nights of the tour when she played to about 70,000 people in Torino. The Italian government aired the whole thing live on Rai Uno, reportedly to prevent a mass influx of people to the country's north, and this is a rare unedited clip from that broadcast (other versions are available, but they're mashed up with performances from Florence and Tokyo).
It's strange to look back over a distance of twenty years and realize how controversial Madonna was at the time, how absolutely dangerous. Her frontal assaults on traditional gender roles and sexual mores were shocking and, to many, threatening, and she pushed the edge whenever she could (dancing on stage in a bustier with a 13-year-old as she did in the opening number on this tour wouldn't raise an eyebrow these days, but in 1987 it was quite the little scandal).
Madonna fans tend to treat her "Who's That Girl?" tour the same way Star Wars fans treat Return of the Jedi - publicly they roll their eyes at it, but privately they've got a soft spot for it. Yes, the outfits look like Andy Warhol puked all over Molly Ringwald. Yes, the choreography looks like it came from an alternate universe where Footloose is considered the apex of dance. Yes, there is ample evidence that Madonna made a wise decision in going to partly canned vocals after this tour. But the show has this goofy energy to it, and it shows her really coming into her own as a performer.
There were definitely a lot of firsts and lasts for her on this one: it was her first world tour, and the last time she was greeted quite so rapturously in Italy. It was the first time she used elaborate set pieces, and it was the last time they were so unformed and unrelated. It was the first time she was quite such a dominant presence on stage, and the last time she used purely live vocals.
It was, by her own admission, the first time she realized how big everything had gotten. And it was the last time she looked like she was really having fun.
"Into the Groove", Torino, Italy, Sep. 4th 1987. Enjoy.
Sunday Night Live: Who Was That Girl?
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Express Yourself & Burning Up from RIT!
Check out this professionally edited & directed clip of "Express Yourself" and "Burning Up" from Madonna's Re-Invention Tour! We had already seen a professional edit of "Burning Up" (that was officially released as a promo for a firm's mobile clients), but this version is not the same!
P.S. Take a close look of how Monte "The Montster" Pittman masters the fretboard at 5:09… *jaw drops*
Express Yourself & Burning Up from RIT!
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