Leaderboard

Last night I was offered 2 floor tickets in row D center, right at the edge of the left corridor. So I managed to get a very up close view of the show, that I’d like to share with you. Please understand that some of these are my personal opinions and experience and please respect that. There were some truly amazing moments in the show but also some really bad ones. The audience interaction was much better than TOAC but still a bit forced and unnecessary. Could have been cut down quite a bit. I wish she used a live band rather than pre recorded tracks. Also most of the projections were extremely lazy and tacky. I would have liked it better if she kept them to a minimum or actually come up with more original ideas (like the Frozen video). The show started close to 11 and everyone was a bit tired and annoyed by that time. If it wasn’t for this extreme delay probably everyone, including me, would have enjoyed this experience so much more. The no phone policy makes complete sense. The venue is very small and intimate and phones would be so much more distracting than at her previous tours. The merch wasn’t that great in my opinion. The only thing I liked was this shiny bomber jacket with the logo and the Madame X manifesto embroidered on the back. Also it looks fashionable and expensive. I was very disappointed because the tour book was still not available. First act was the weakest in my opinion. The opening is a bit too long and repetitive and unmemorable. Madonna finally comes out in a horrendous George Washington inspired costume. She performs God Control similar as Pride, with visuals from the video projected behind her. Next is Dark Ballet, similar to Eurovision with projections from the music video. At this point she strips part of the GW costume and wears a loose piece of white cloth strapped at the waist by a corset, military boots and the eyepatch. At the end of DB she’s awkwardly captured by 2 policemen and thrown into jail, which is a circular opening in one of the set pieces. She performs Human Nature while doing a coreo that could be really cool but she seems to struggle with it. Also I felt the costume made no sense and was in the way. Towards the end of the song this guy comes on stage with conga drums and Madonna joins him to play them together, which is a very cool moment. Then she starts talking to the audience, plays the EY snippet acapella and the twins and Mercy join her on stage for a bit. Then she goes behind a little screen and continues talking while we see she’s changing for the next number. The Madame X manifesto is projected on the little screen and Vogue starts. It’s the same version from Pride but I think it’s not as effective because Madonna is not hidden between the other dancers in the beginning. Also she doesn’t Vogue at all and barely dances. She mostly moves around the stage and that’s all. The projections are of the Steven Klein trench coat images and typewriters. Then she goes into I Don’t Search I Find. To me this was one of the highlights of the show. It has a French film noir tone with 2 spies capturing Madame X. As all these cool black and white projections are everywhere. After this it’s all a bit messy. She sings a snippet of a reworked version of Papa Don’t Preach and talks about women’s rights and tries to sell the Polaroid selfie. This poor guy offered something like $160 for it. You can tell he’s a hardcore fan cause he had this whole American life inspired outfit on and front row tickets. But she’s very rude to him and dismissed his offer. Eventually she sells the photo to a girl who offered $1000. The whole moment was kind of bad and off putting. Then she goes into American Life. Great performance on her end and the rap part was very intense and well done. Similar to the album version. It was hard to pay attention though because during this song there was a lot of commotion around me. A lot of people got up and left the concert at this point lol. I hated the staging. There was an American flag and 2 guys dancing in uniforms also a mattress on which military uniforms were being dropped from the ceiling. Maybe I missed something but it didn’t make a lot of sense. The projections were from the uncensored music video. At the end of the song these guys in marine outfits carry a coffin covered with the American flag across the stage. And the 2 of them perform a dance similar to the Beast Within in the Girlie Show. The projections are of old ships and maps, from the 1700s. Visually this was not great or original but the song was beautiful. The interlude ends with the thunders from Batuka and the Batukadeiras invade the stage coming from behind the audience on the corridors. They go and sit in a circle on the stage, and there’s a carpet on the floor, just like in the second half of the music video. The projections are again from the music video. Madonna comes out looking absolutely stunning. With the brown wig and the gorgeous purple sparkling dress. Also she wears these amazing silver high heel sandals. The performance is absolutely stunning. These women are such an inspiration and they radiate pure joy. At the end, this Asian lady comes out with a cello and closes out the song as Madonna and the Batukadeiras hold hands in a circle. A truly amazing moment. Then she has the “soccer mom/moving to Lisbon” speech. It would have been great if we didn’t hear it 100 times by now haha. Then she introduces this young talented musician and they perform a snippet of a fado song. I thought she sounded a bit off and her voice was a bit too aggressive for that specific. Then the whole stage turns into a whimsical Lisbon street, similar to the billboard performance but more extravagant. She performs Killers and Crazy. Both were good but she should have shortened it somehow. I can’t say why but by the time Crazy was over I was a bit bored. Welcome To My Fado and the snippet of La Isla Bonita were very cute and after she went into this amazing rendition of Sodade. She should release this cover since it’s incredible. Then a typewriter is brought on stage for no reason and she sits down and writes the video intro to Medellín, as the words are projected over the entire stage. Made absolutely no sense and was very boring. Then the song starts and towards the end her and the dancers descend into the crowd. It’s a magical moment since I’m right by the corridor where they come. I dance a bit with one of the dancers and Madonna walks right by me. It was incredible to see her so close! She was very tiny, beautiful and happy. Some people tried to touch her but I thought that would be very disrespectful. Since she didn’t engage I didn’t want to be intrusive. Then she went on the other corridor and randomly started to chat with someone from the audience as she sat in his chair. Next she did this incredible performance of Extreme Occident. No projections. Just her moving around on these set pieces and a guy playing the accordion. Very intimate and theatrical. The next interlude was my favorite. There were 6-8 dancers all wearing white shirts and black pants dancing on rhythmic breathing sounds. At one point the spoken lyrics from Rescue Me are played over the breathing. It’s very eerie and conceptual. It would have been great if this went into an actual Rescue Me performance. But it awkwardly transitions into Frozen and it seems like a second interlude. But it’s not. Madonna appears with the nude scarf from the album cover and a similar black dress. But she’s behind the projection screen and looks like she’s floating. The video of Lourdes is simply amazing and the way it’s superimposed with Madonna singing creates a truly artistic moment. Also it’s very moving. Probably my favorite part of the show. After that the whole stage lights up and there’s all these colorful projections of Moroccan art and everyone is wearing North African inspired costumes. Come Alive starts and Madonna shows up wearing the same head scarf and a Versace robe. The whole thing seemed messy and I wasn’t into it. Then a piano is brought on stage and she starts Future. Another terrible moment. This slower version makes no sense at all. Wish she either did the album version or an actual piano ballad. There were projections of the Amazon burning and a post apocalyptic world. Also there were 2 awkward dancers wearing these cheap looking gas masks with flowers (similar to Dark Ballet but much worse). Next is the dance remix of Crave. This doesn’t really work at all but somehow she makes it work and fun. She comes out wearing the same Versace robe but with a matching military hat. The ensemble looks great. The projections are a mix of the music video and NYC streets. The dancers wear flashy 70s inspired outfits similar to the God Control video. And the twins come out on stage and dance with everyone. The whole moment is very cute and a great show closer. The first encore is Like A Prayer. For me was extremely boring since it was the same performance she did since Super Bowl and she was wearing a boring black robe with crystals on it. The stairs were in an X position and the choir was on the steps in an X formation, while wearing black robes with red fabric draped as an X on the chest. Madonna was standing in the center on the X and the projections were of multiple red X letters. After this the curtain came down and lights turned on and some people started to leave. But then she came on again with the Pride version of I Rise. She wears a military jacket decorated with a lot of gold jewelry and the I Rise video is projected. The performance was good but not great. At the end the choir comes out and everyone leaves the stage through the corridors in the audience. Unfortunately Madonna and the dancers exited through the left corridor so I didn’t get to see her walk past me again.

I have to laugh to the people telling this is the worst tour and they didnt even attend. It's surreal.

It's absolutely hilarious to see people go on these long rants about how much they hate the show and describe how bad it is in all ways when not only they never attended it, which can be excusable, but they don't even have one single video clip or a photo to judge by, nothing, nada. They are pissed that she's not doing their Borderline or Causing a Commotion so they decide right then and there that it's the worst show ever

Negative reactions can't do much for the mood of the forum

Ok. So it definitely doesn't stay like that. And there's definitely more that you cant see. Theres doors and openings in all of those stairs pieces. Every single inch of every part of the stage is used. The projections are so precise that something will be projected on the stairs and something different on the wall behind the stairs with no overlap. You can imagine with the stage props moving every song how complex this can be.

My brave comment which she will never read: Having said that, I don't think we can say we have the right to film or recorded. The have the right to forbid recordings. Still, they have to give the audience something back: promo pictures, promo videos, tour book, punctuality.

like a prayer is what eurovision should have been and the projection of lordes almost looks like she is wrapping herself round madonna ...looks really cool

Yeah. A lot of people in my area have left during American Life. I guess they got top notch tickets for free and they thought they’re gonna see a 60yo lady playing the harp lol. I felt bad for all the real fans who can’t afford to be there while these idiots wasted these prime tickets. As for my review, it’s my experience and my opinions. And it’s supposed to be taken with a grain of salt. Yes Madonna is 61 and I don’t care if she dances or not but I do wanna see her evolve and be the true innovator and artist that she is. If she can’t Vogue she should just leave it out of the show instead of doing a subpar rendition. Honestly my favorite parts of the show were the slower more stripped down ones. I feel like that’s when to show was the most creative and she was at her best. But this is only the 3rd night. I’m hoping it will evolve and grow.

In my honest opinion it is her worst and I don't have to attend to judge it. The setlist and the production of the tour renditions along with the whole concept/set-up of the show are enough to objectively judge it. I am a long-time Madonna fan and I have expectations, especially if people pay exorbitant prices to see her. It's my right to criticize her and be entitled. A forum is a place where people exchange thoughts, opinions and reviews. Not everyone will agree with everything and not everyone will like everything she does. It's a fact that her tours have been declining in terms of production value and her setlist or song choices have been very predictable for the last three tours. Coincidentally, her tours have been rather disappointing ever since Kevin Antunes was chosen as musical director. The tour seems very last minute, improvised, unfinished and a lot of the performances are way too short. 1 hour and 30 minutes of music for an artist with such a big and diverse catalogue and she does the same songs she's been doing for the past three tours. Even similar renditions...there is just absolutely nothing exciting, inventive or interesting about this show. There were some interesting choices on the preliminary setlist but they have all been cut in favour of her "wannabe standup jokes" and cover songs. It's not worth the money she's charging.

Man she's right to try and make her fans less entitled. Don't like it, don't support it.

What is she talking about? Don't we only have one picture and one tiny video where we can barely see anything? I understand what she's saying and I respect her wishes, but fans will be fans. Fan culture that has always existed is not gonna change overnight. I think it's awesome that we don't get everything and that the show is still largely mysterious to most of us, but if we didn't have the crumbs we've gotten, then i would be really sad about not being able to see this tour. At least, for the rich people in the front row, it will be completely new and they won't have those low quality recordings that we are surviving on lmao, since i doubt they care that much to be browsing all over the internet for the tiny amount of Madame X Tour material we have so far.

It’s really Sad to read all those bad things by her fans, while the reviews are Very good. And most of us didn’t see the show. I think we all calm down and enjoy the fact that she is still here, perfect or not. I’m not saying that we have to like everything she does, simply not be so hard with her.

she really need to kick this habbit of being late on stage i agree with the reviewer here who said he would have enjoyed it more if she wasnt so late ...people get tired ..she should be aware of this it can ruin the atmosphere too

Another official picture from the concert!!

There's already a thread to talk about the setlist. Please use that thread. Topic locked for half an hour. ?

We once went to shows without phones, and did just fine. We werent hungry for information all the time. It's funny how when you take people's phones away, they start displaying behaviors of withdrawal...you know, like addicts. They get cranky and upset and want MORE. Theyre just PHONES. Not organs. We've turned into addicts who cant be bothered to put them down for two hours and be a SPECTATOR. And aborb. And enjoy. And BE PRESENT, in the moment. We dont need to be documenting everything. Im glad artists are doing this at show now. People cant be bothered to have manners, then you have to treat them like children: take their phones away.

Of course not! and I'm not asking for her greatest hits. I'm asking for a balance of old songs and new material along with some fan favourites and diversity from the previous three tours. It's not much to ask for her to fucking change it up a bit, okay?

rotfl I stopped right there. bye

As Madame X, Madonna Is Her Most Authentic Onstage Self In Years https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/8530575/madonna-madame-x-tour-bam

Finally a good pic of the stage structure

I love the fact that there are no pics or videos of the show ! It gives a real mystery feel to it and it has so much more beauty to it.

Thank you @thegoldencalffor your great review! Together with @RUADJAIaccount you guys took us straight inside BAM!!! The story of the poor fan who offered money for the selfie and was rejected almost made me cry. Felt really really bad. A material, a material whore

When I first saw this image I thought she had the infamous 1979/1985 nudes projected! Lourdes looks so similar to her.

1. George Washington outfit with hat and jacket 2. George Washington outfit only white shirt/dress 3. Trench coat (like Pride) 4. Black lace top and shorts (similar to rehearsals) 5. Sparkling purple dress and silver sandals and brown wig (one of the best looks she ever had on tour) 6. Album cover look. Nude scarf and black dress 7. Nude scarf and Versace robe 8. Versace robe with matching hat 9. Black robe with embroidered with crystal crosses 10. Military jacket with metallic gold details.

Some pics...

I cant wait to Lisbon. What I have seen looks amazing and a truly experience different to the other tours I attended.

It shows a lack if respect to the audience. Respect your audience, especially when they’ve paid a fortune to be there

I'm all for criticism, I've been vocal about any artist's career that I follow. Madonna or otherwise. That's passion. But your post is an example of a knee-jerk decision inspired by brief clips, murky recordings, and hearsay. You may not like the tour but good god, you haven't seen it.

She's owes you (or me, or anyone else) absolutely NOTHING. Life is really quite simple; if you don't like something, don't engage with it. Unless you're a masochist. You're right that a forum is a place to share all opinions and you're welcome to yours but why continually disparage something you haven't seen (no, you can't base a critique of a live show on set-list alone). I suspect most fans aren't thrilled with the set-list but M is putting on a tour, still performing, still creating and doing it in a setting where we can get closer to her as a person that we've even been able to before. I'd hear her sing Candy Shop all night for that... try and find the joy, please.

I LOVE that she didnt do another semi greatest hits tour, as she said on opening night, shes not concerned with popularity and it shows how much she believes in the album.

There should be a Madame X Tour - Psychological Breakdowns Regarding Visuals thread

well if you dont like madame x album you will prob not like this tour she did say it would be 80 percent madame x she is not a nostalgic artist ..not yet anyway ...she is creative and like her music she is trying to reinvent her shows and im proud of her

human nature madame x version is the best yet ..i would love a studio version of this mix

i know right portugal inspired the album and people are shocked the concert has themes of portugal lol ...and tbh i love the welcome to my fado audio ...

Truly the worst tour she has ever done. I'm shocked she was able to do something that is even worse than the Rebel Heart Tour. I'm shocked at the sheer mess that is the setlist. I wouldn't want to pay a shit ton of money to hear Madonna tell jokes and talk more than actually singing. That Welcome to My Worst Tour thing and the cover songs are a total waste of time. Papa Don't Preach is even shorter than the MDNA Tour Version, Vogue & Human Nature are just beefed up album versions and there just barely any surprises in the setlist. It's trash from beginning to end. Where are Easy Ride, X-Static Process and Rescue Me?

The one song I really miss and that would have been a perfect fit is Nothing Really Matters, especially the Demo Assembly version. Aside from that I think it's a good setlist, mainly because Madame X is such a wonderful, warm album.

So wait... is there video out there?! Or did she hear my recording too?! ?

She writes about the respect and consideration for her wishes and explicitly uses more than once the expression "my request". It's true that the mobile free policy is common in theaters to safeguard the productions copyrights and the audience experience but it's not universal, I don't think that a theatre would have denied her the right to let people use their mobiles during her own performance. I studied at a drama school, l acted for many years and go costantly to theatres. I know how it works and I think I'm perfectly able to understand what I read. It was not kind of you to use those words.

Unfortunately, this album lacks a track that can work as a great opener. God Control is not doing well enoough, from the first fan reaction. Maybe cause the first part is slow, then there's the choir, then it's a spoken part. It's not Express Yourself. I need to see the show to understand what IDSIF has to do with this political section. The coffin interlude gave me the idea that she could be killed many times during the show and the survive at the end, singing I rise. The 2nd Segment is interesting, but risks to be boring. I think it would have been perfect had she reworked some of her old songs as fado, as we heard Like a virgin in the documentary. The 3rd Segment is the most confusing. Rescue me as an interlude only is of course the greatest disappointment. Crave remix is not for me.

No. I like the setlist. But thanks.

Not. Because she is still working. At 61 With a carrer like that, most of the artists decide to do the same stuff over and over. Maybe she is not perfect like When she was 30, maybe her choises are less focused, but she is still working. We can criticize the things we don’t like, but Why be so mean with her?

I mean. It makes sense. She was probably inspired by the intimate moments in Portugal and wanted to try and recreate that. I wouldn't say the whole show revolves around Madame X, I would say Madame X is bended around the idea of doing an artsy Rock Concert/Broadway Show. Songs like Killers and Extreme Occident or even IDSIF are nothing like what I expected. Think about Nobody Knows Me from Reinvention Tour. The song was good, but the performance which doesn't necessarily mean anything but is very artistic and cool and takes the song to a new level. That's kinda like the whole Madame X show.

There are so many but for starters, I loved her Joan of Arc look in the last tour. In fact, I loved every look in the last tour. I loved every look for her Vogue productions. So many good ones!

It's not only because of that. Human Nature Like a Prayer Vogue American Life Papa Don't Preach (an 80 seconds version) Frozen These are the only pre-Madame X songs she's doing and she has done all of these in the past 11 years NUMEROUS times. Of course there will be a large part of the current album but to lure people into buying tickets for this tour with rehearsal clips of Easy Ride, X-Static Process & Rescue Me and to then go on and not actually perform them is the worst form of betrayal. Human Nature is definitely the best tour rendition of the song but was it really necessary to perform it again when basically the entire Bedtime Stories album and a good portion of Like a Prayer, Ray of Light and Erotica remain unperformed? Why is it the only 90s song she's willing to dig out aside from Vogue which has also gotten a really bad tour rendition. Why is she doing improvised songs, cover versions over her own damn catalogue with so many songs WAITING to be performed. She's 60+...we won't have her long enough and it's a shame she won't get to sing most of her music on tour before she dies. I agree, the visuals add to the show but we have seen some of it and how much can she actually do with a staircase and a projector?

I'm not attending that tour and i like the "No camera" rule. I'm 37 yo so i've been growing up in a time where you had to wait to buy the VHS tape of a show to discover it, exept a few shots press in the magazines (M herself has already shared two pics from the show on her Instagram account) so yes, it brings me back to a time where things had more charm and appeal and if the world would go back to that time where mobiles where just able to make a call and a text msg and nothing more i would be more than happy. I like technology but within reason and not when it kills some reality charm. I've always complained about people watching a show througb their phones or camera's lensed instead of their real eyes and get memories they'll keep until their last breath, so yeah, i cpuldn't be happier with her decision !

@Fighterplease can you add more reactions???

Have to say im very very very disappointed about Rescue Me not being performed(heavy breathing and a few spoken words ???? ) and the set list overall is a major bummer - I mean I love Human Nature and Frozen but there were so many other old songs she could have done - im not sure I want to pay the 300 pounds to see her in London now :( unless of course the set list does change ?

It is also common at all Broadways shows, dance concerts, stand up Comedy and the Opera to start ON TIME. Trying to educate us? Start with yourself Madonna.

Madonna surprises with the launch of ambitious, intimate Madame X show Source: Showbizz 411 - New York City - 17 Sep. 2019 Roger Friedman 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.