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*Screens introduce us to the 90s*, Erotica - Madonna is fighting back against those who say she couldn't be overtly sexual in the early 90s Justify My Love - a continuation of that theme {now this is my own interpretation} Hung Up - Madonna is seeking someone to have a child with because her biological clock is ticking at this point in her career Bad Girl - she's sorry for hurting lovers / being "bad" Vogue - she finds new life in the gay scene of the 90s Human Nature - she's not sorry for being herself Crazy for You - she's crazy about that inner devil inside of her The Beast Within - this is about pregnancy and giving birth to something new; she got pregnant from the last section Die Another Day - her career rebounds after the sex backlash Don't Tell Me - she won't stop her career Mother & Father - she reflects on her mother and now that she's a mom I Will Survive - continuing the theme of survival in her career La Isla Bonita - she's inspired by Latino culture while trying for the role of Evita Don't Cry for Me Argentina - she finally lands the role of Evita which changes her career Bedtime Story - she finds a new awakening in dance music (we're at about the late 90s / early 2000s of her career thematically) Ray of Light - she finds spirtuality Rain - after all the sorrow that has happened in her life / career she has finally rebounded and can enjoy the sun Like a Virgin - its just a silhouette of her without showing her face because if you recall during Holiday, they didn't even know her name, she was a nobody. Now you don't even need to say her name, she has achieved fame as the Queen of Pop, next to the King of Pop. Since the King has died, in royalty, the Queen now takes over Bitch I'm Madonna - basically she's Madonna and there's no one else like her

Popular holds at #18 on the Global Spotify chart with 2,703,154 streams!it beats itself, becoming, again, the 4th best streaming day! Madonna goes up one to #147 (+1) on the Spotify Top Artists chart.

It tells a story when combined with the visuals based on the setlist. For instance: Nothing Really Matters - Madonna in present time looking back on her life *Screens count back from 2023 to 1982* - Everybody - this is the start of Madonna's career Into the Groove - her making it in NYC getting into the groove of things Burning Up - her early days when she was finding her sound Open Your Heart - the lyrics have always been about working hard and getting people to love you Holiday - she's finally made it and is celebrating but her friends die of AIDS Live to Tell - paying tribute to the friends she lost from AIDS Like a Prayer - questioning her faith based upon what has just happened *Screens introduce us to the 90s*, then you get the idea

This is cute: The amount of great songs we've got with this tour. God, I love her.

Can we stay on topic here? Would be great. ❤️

03/01 - 41,656,330 (+88,969) WW #72 (+1)

I had a very different interpretation of this segment. To me Erotica, JML and Hung Up were all about her exploration and expression of her own sexuality through her work. Vogue is directly relating to her support of the Queer community, (you see that on the screens at one point.) and the whole performance is an homage to queer culture. She is arrested and taken away for both of these crimes leading to Human Nature and the whole backlash period. She faces her self during Crazy for You, essentially expressing love and appreciation to her rebellious “I’m not sorry” self from those years. The Beast Within represents damnation to hell as there is the lake of fire, the song quotes the bible etc. I think this is reflective of the guilt she still carries from her Catholic upbringing. Die Another Day is her discovery of Kabbalah and I think that’s pretty clear with the imagery that is incorporated into that performance, not to mention the lyrics of the song itself are all Kabbalah related.

The problem is that the narrative kinda falls apart after this part in the setlist at least that’s how I felt when I saw it live.

I love hung up but the Celebration performance is not that great imo. It's not bad, but it's not one of the highlights to me. Hung up on The Grammys or Ema or Star Academy or confessions tour is iconic 😎

Not just this topic. In general, this end of the year has been quite "dead" in terms of leaks or unreleased musical material if we compare it to previous years. We couldn't even get a special video of Madonna wishing us a happy new year at the end. I can't imagine how busy Madonna's life must be so that she couldn't have a few free minutes to make a video with an end-of-year message for all those millions of people who love her. Videos should not be dedicated only to when we buy and sell out tickets to her shows. Anyway, maybe by the end of this year 2024 things will be different and we will have a more communicative Madonna with her fans or some collector fan who does not lack empathy and decides to share some unpublished material with all those millions of Madonna fans that are scattered throughout the world. It is not for nothing that they say that the feeling of well-being that comes from sharing something with others is something incomparable.

God Control ("almost official" Offer Nissim Rosh Hashanah Remix - was comissioned but single as a whole got scrapped). You can download it through this post: https://madonna-infinity.net/forums/topic/37419-i-dont-searchifindoffer-nissim-requiem-remix-wav/?do=findComment&comment=1203660 (I won't embed link for obvious reasons - right, my idol @Would You Like To Try?) I Don't Search I Find (Honey Dijon Remix) × I Don't Search I Find (Offer Nissim Remix)?

Leaving out the bridge "Here comes the sun..." makes this meaning so empty to me though - unless the sun is the ending which is Celebration. But then I don't see how that silhouette Like A Virgin part fits in between. I get she needs to do a costume change... but an extended Rain ending like the Girlie Show, to me, would have been more effective. So many questions lol

#Popular re-enters at #17 on #NewZealand Official Singles Chart on this week. Peaked #6 Total 29 weeks Platinum

I hope she'll reach 50 M this year 😍

For Hung Up I think this is her lesbian/bisexual side

the song order itself doesn't tell the story, but together with the choreographies, videos, iunterludes, spoken introductions, narrating etc, it tells the story much more clearly. And it's much easier to understand seeing it in person than watching the youtube videos. I will make a separate topic about the narration in the tour.

Question is that ALL THESE SONGS HAVE A MEANING TO HER (once screaming, always screaming, can't help myself). All these songs, TOGETHER AND IN THAT EXACT ORDER, tell THE STORY OF HER LIFE. She could've gladly to present all songs she eventually rehearsed before and after the rebirth but, besides such endeavour being beyond fatigueé, the songs she scrapped wouldn't do any favour to herstory as the ones who did the cut do. And about them, So, irrespectively of charts, these songs - even and esp Mother and Father and Burning Up - are ACTUAL NUMBER ONES TO M.

What I wanna know is, What determines the winner? It's like, I upload my favorite pic and they're like, "No that's not the one!"

Those alternate "Church synth" chords towards the end are great. Also there's some more prominent synth in the first section.

A fan asked Tony about a tour book [emoji1694] https://www.instagram.com/p/C1u3ADXPu1p/?igsh=NDU2dHB5dDF5NTdn

miss you die another day or american life

Rescue Me. Rescue Me (Houseboat Vocal) × Rescue Me (Alternate Single Mix)? https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=rRjwFqQmJvw&si=5mYoU7YCb0W5Eoqo https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=0N4EMRY5Afw&si=ZcUc5sN6B4x-gVrS These are my favourite Rescue Me remixes! Btw, after the monopoly of Spofity, feels like I need to promote YouTube Music more often here too, hehe!

this one true blue or celebration.... songs.....

love how M always put herself in her songs..... listen to them you can know everything.... or a big part of her.... the people she love or loved, the god she pray.... how hard is with herself...... Every night before I close my eyes I say a little prayer that you'll have mercy on me Please dear God, to live inside the divine Not like I want to die Teach me to forgive myself, outlive this hell Is it really love if it hurts? Is it really pain if it's inside? On the outside I'm strong Hold my hand, please, sympathize Hard enough trying to forgive Hard enough trying to live Please don't criticize (yeah) Please, please, sympathise (yeah) Somebody to teach me to love Somebody to help me rise above I need to survive I'm looking for, looking for, looking for mercy Looking for, looking for, looking for mercy I'm looking for, looking for, looking for love Looking for, looking for, looking for mercy Looking for, looking for, looking for mercy I'm looking for, looking for, looking for mercy Every night before I close my eyes I say a little prayer that you'll have mercy on me Please dear God, to live inside the divine Not like I want to die Teach me to forgive myself, outlive this hell Is it really faith if I'm wake? Can you tell the truth when you live lies? I'm just looking for the signs Hold my hand, please, sympathize Hard enough trying to forgive Hard enough trying to live Flawed, flawed by design (yeah) Please, please, sympathize (yeah) Somebody to teach me to love Somebody to help me rise above I need to survive I'm looking for, looking for, looking for (Looking for, looking for, looking for) Looking for, looking for, looking for mercy Looking for, looking for, looking for mercy I'm looking for, looking for, looking for love Looking for, looking for, looking for mercy Looking for, looking for, looking for mercy I'm looking for, I'm looking for, mercy Somebody to teach me to love Somebody to help me rise above I need to survive I'm looking for Looking for, looking for, looking for mercy Looking for, looking for, looking for mercy I'm looking for, I'm looking for, looking for love Looking for, looking for, looking for mercy Looking for, looking for, looking for mercy I'm looking for, looking for, looking for mercy Looking for, looking for, looking for mercy Looking for, looking for, looking for mercy (Looking for, looking for, looking for mercy) I'm looking for, I'm looking for, looking for love Looking for, looking for, looking for mercy Looking for, looking for, looking for mercy I'm looking for, I'm looking for, looking for mercy this, one of the last song of her one of my fav .... tell us a lot.....

bothhhhhh crimes of passion or Live to tell

BOOOTH AMAAAAAATO!!!! Secret × I'd Rather Be Your Lover?

Watch it through YouTube, carissimo amico mio:

Like a Prayer (Churchapella)... https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Nyt6O9bok1I&si=GDbJrtzZEh8__Avt ...and LIKE A PRAYER (12" Dance Mix). https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr1BOwchG8w&si=e0Dor63BFj6ONgBu Which one of these 2 LAP remixes is better? The former × the latter?

with 440 million total streams, popular works so good for her and for her streaming numbers.... i hope Riaa will give us a certification this year for the song....

Gambler (Extended Dance Mix)... ...and Bitch I'm Madonna (Sander Kleinenberg Remix) too. https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=ObRqDeN3gPo&si=IzIfHu0aNjZhkIgf https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=sHniye2P5cI&si=90a8f9Vt6iJ4SHEr Rescue Me × I'll Remember?

MANTONA is the Vasilissa of Greece!!! Right @MadonnaLove @Régine Filange????

love spent my dear @Anapausis..... love spent all my life bitch im madonna or gambler

or this: or even this:

Thats how I took it too. But it’s also juxtaposed (yep, that word lol) with technological and futuristic visuals , which is reflective of the modern world that has been evolving around her throughout her own spiritual journey.

best friend candy shop or superstar

It represents the spiritual side of her journey, that's why it's probably the least "realistic" one without a clear chronological order, no clips/videos/photos/references to reality, it's supposed to be dreamy.

If that happened hopefully because these remixes are amazing it would probably be a vinyl pic or a promo cd pic or this one:

Are they on vinyl?

Well she did start writing songs with Stuart during the Reinvention tour so anything’s possible . He seems the type that would present her with stuff when she’s not even asking her for it.

I'll Remember × You'll See?

Imagine having this gorgeous album cover: and deciding to absolutely murder it with this monstrosity: WHY THE FUCK IS IT ZOOMED IN LIKE THAT???

Falling Free MY ASS. Love Spent really deserved a single treatment to a double killer music video (one for album version, another for acoustic iTunes one). Would love to see how M envisioned the moment of her life this song came to her aside from MDNAT performance.

you took a pill & had a dream.....

Ballroom bitch for VOGUE? OBVIOUSLY = Shep Pettibone!!!!!

Nicky & Donna or Rupaul would be iconic

Harry Styles… I’d like more young, cool stars.

Jose Xtravaganza sounds like a sure guest somehow during the NY visit

Stuart Price Shares Sonic Secrets From Madonna’s Celebration Tour https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/stuart-price-madonna-2023-celebration-tour-interview-1235449185/ A few days after Madonna’s The Celebration Tour kicked off at London’s O2 Arena to a sold-out crowd and rave reviews, the tour’s music producer Stuart Price – previously a part of the pop icon’s orbit as the co-producer on her high-BPM classic Confessions on a Dance Floor – welcomed Billboard into his London studio. The English producer/DJ’s flat is in the thick of the fashionable Notting Hill district — close enough to the action that during the annual Notting Hill Carnival, Price says “the alarms in the studio always go off because there’s all these bass systems pummeling through the walls.” The second-floor recording studio is a clean, neatly arranged space dotted with guitars, comfortable chairs and a cornucopia of electronics, much of it vintage (at least by the ever-shifting standards of technology). As we speak, Price is seated next to the wood-paneled board he used to mix Confessions; not far from it casually rests the $250 microphone that Madonna used to record a number of songs for that 2005 LP. With no live band backing Madonna’s 78-date trek – her original recordings take center stage on this tour — Price’s role as music producer has afforded him more opportunities for input and innovation than someone in the same role might have on another pop star’s tour. To that end, The Celebration Tour includes sonic Easter eggs and clever references for the faithful to parse as they’re engulfed in an aural and sensory journey through the life and art of Madonna. For as much time and thought as Price has put into the Celebration Tour, he’s certain it pales in comparison to what the Queen of Pop has invested in it. “As much as Madonna demands of anyone working with her, she demands that much of herself as well,” Price tells Billboard. “It’s always in the pursuit of, ‘How can we improve this? How can we aid the arc of the show?’ It’s nice to have a show you can unpack whether through memories or during a second visit. It’s a show that can keep giving.” Of a tour that covers four decades of classics – and is notably her first tour not in support of a new album – Price opines that, “It’s impossible to look back without looking forward.” Referring to the airborne platform that permits Madonna to float above the crowd during “Live to Tell” and “Ray of Light,” he explains, “That’s why there’s a window frame in the show. That window frame is about reflecting backwards and reflecting forward as well.” From providing glimpses into his creative process with Madonna to revealing certain audio Easter eggs that pop up during the show to potential setlist changes, here’s what Stuart Price told Billboard about working on Madonna’s The Celebration Tour. I’m going to start with a granular question. In the Celebration Tour, “Like a Prayer” is melded with bits of Sam Smith & Kim Petras’ “Unholy” and her own “Act of Contrition,” which features electric guitar from Prince. Yes, correct. The medley is inspired. Was everything from “Contrition” that appears in the tour from the album? There were some parts of the Prince solo where I was listening and thinking, “I don’t quite remember this bit.” Part of the joy of working on this tour specifically was how we were going to approach featuring original recordings. It’s a tour which is essentially biopic in style, documentary in style. When you see a great documentary you get archival footage, a real taste of stuff that happened at the time. Madonna’s archive of multi-track recordings covers a vast era: multi-track two-inch tapes all the way through DAWs today. When you work in a DAW today, you delete what you don’t use, and the file is gone. But the old tape multi-tracks, everything was recorded and what was muted was done at the time of the mix. So if you now listen to those recordings 25 years later and have the channels open, you hear all this stuff that was not present in the final recording but is available. I used everything I could of the guitar because it’s incredible. For a tour that is connecting memories of relationships, partnerships and musical experiences, using original stuff is so important. If you’re able to find stuff in that original recording that no one has ever heard, you’re actually getting to peek behind the curtain. Was there anything else like that? There’s another moment like that at the beginning of “Erotica.” We were searching for atmosphere for the intro — “Erotica” begins with this big, booming bass line and we needed to fill some time. In the original multi-track to “Justify My Love,” there’s this great moment about 30 seconds before the song begins. Madonna gets into the vocal booth and she’s waiting to record and she’s getting into the mood of the song and Lenny Kravitz appears. He says something very innocent like, “We’re gonna put some reverb on your voice, we’re gonna f–k with you a bit.” And she says, “That’s okay, you can f–ck with me.” It’s such a great soundbite. That’s a great example of this thing that’s from the time but has never appeared. The tour features music from Prince and a bit of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.” I’m guessing the estates gave their blessing. I approached everything on a musical level for the tour, I don’t know relationships or how they do that. “Billie Jean” appears in “vs” form alongside “Like a Virgin.” The “Virgin” vocal struck me as slightly different from the original. “Like a Virgin,” the vocal from that is the original recording. There’s a few things happening in the show. There are segues or mashups of songs where you just need to make it work. So that might involve transposition or time correction or stretching or shortening or whatever it is. When you’re trying to pursue storytelling ideas through music, you should never let a technical consideration get in the way. If you do that, you’re diminishing the strength of the idea. We may change the key of the song because it’s better for Madonna to sing — the A note is to serve the arc of the show. There’s probably elements of time crunching that happens. Opening the show with “Nothing Really Matters” was totally unexpected, and the setlist includes a few songs she hasn’t done in decades. Was the setlist locked by the time you got involved? I first talked to Madonna about this tour in February of this year. When we first spoke at the time, she was already prepared with her full pages of setlists and ideas of exactly what she wanted to do and how she wanted to do it. The phone call was actually Madonna directing what the show was going to be. Her preparation is always so considered. Much is always made of Madonna’s collaborators, but there’s no two ways about it: She’s considered everything before she even gets into the room with a collaborator. And it’s fantastic to work with someone with such strong direction. So to answer your question, the setlist was almost fully realized. On opening night, she was very candid about the bacterial infection that sent her to the hospital and postponed the tour. When she was in the hospital, did you ever wonder if the tour might not happen? For a tour you’ve been working on for such a long period of time and that’s had so much time invested in it — especially by Madonna — when you take a break for it, the only thing you focus on is “what’s the end result of what happened here?” To me that is someone who looks so strong, so healthy, sings so great and moves so great. Your experience when you see the show is one of wonder. Not just creatively but artistically as well. Her voice sounded amazing. And she does “Ray of Light,” which is a tough one to sing, and nails it. In terms of building the show, top of the list is got to be, “Can we make something that is enjoyable to perform? Can we make something you feel confident doing?” The number one reason for doing that is it’s all about the vocals. To give a singer the platform to sing and be themselves is the number one goal. All this stuff is aimed toward, “Does Madonna feel like she can hold the microphone and really go for it and deliver on it?” I love a comment I’ve received from fans after the show. A couple fans go, “Is that all tape vocal?” To me, that is the biggest compliment because it’s all live vocal. There’s a couple of spoken word sections in the show where we just use track. But it’s all live vocals; there’s backing singers — there always has been — but it’s all live vocals. I hope that you hear the humanness of the vocal coming across as well. Well, you certainly knew it was live on opening night when there were sound issues on “Burning Up” — she even joked about it. One thing I marvel at – I go to a lot of DJ shows, and what’s the biggest cheer of the night? Is it the beginning of the show, the end of the show, or when the DJ accidentally knocks a fader or button and the whole thing stops, the DJ pretends it wasn’t them, points somewhere else and gets this huge reaction from the audience? Because it says, “This is real. It’s fragile.” After eight months of rehearsal, the factor that changes is the audience. There’s a heat, a bunch of extra noise, and on that night, there was a technical hitch with the computer system on “Burning Up.” Whilst anyone responsible for the show is concerned, there’s this other connection going on between Madonna and the audience, which is completely improvised, off the cuff and more importantly a real human connection. It’s a unique human thing that happened for the night. And it gave the audience a few minutes with her, totally unscripted, which was great. When you’re watching the show now, are you still making tweaks and fixes? Yeah. The day you lose desire to keep improving is the day you should step aside. If you’re invested in something and care about it, it’s impossible to be an artist and not constantly be considering how you can improve or evolve over the course of a tour. There are a lot of clever audio moments in the show. I love when the camera is rotating around Bob the Drag Queen and we hear the “Lucky Star” synth roll as it moves. Are there any deep cuts most people won’t notice? Sure. Actually, prior to that movement, the startup noise of the show when Bob the Drag Queen comes on and says, “it’s show time,” there’s this sort of slow-building motorized arpeggio sound. And it’s building momentum like a clock or disco ball spinning faster. (It’s) from the song “Lucky Star” — there’s that iconic arpeggiated sound. I took that and we just stretched it out as long as we could. And then we stretched it a little bit further until we could break it down into individual component noises. So that speed-up is coming from the original “Lucky Star” arpeggio deconstructed and gradually sped up until it gets to original speed. That’s cool. There’s a little moment right before “Live to Tell” which is a very emotional part of the show, where there’s a reference to “In This Life.” When you look at her volume of work, there’s gotta be more than 70 hit songs. So how do you approach 70 hit songs in a two-hour show? The answer is by creating a continuum of references, of lyrics, of melodies of as many songs as possible, whether it’s a bridge or an overlay. (You hear) “In This Life” between the end of “Holiday,” which is about the death of people in that era, and using it as a transition into “Live to Tell.” And using a spot of “Angel” as a transition from “Billie Jean” into “Bitch I’m Madonna.” That’s how you collect all these songs. When she called you up, was the decision to forgo a band already made? Madonna, right from the start, decided she wanted to present the show in a different way. And she wanted to do it in ways that were noteworthy. With this tour, I thought it was fascinating that she’d decided, “I want to come out, be me, sing the songs and perform them front and center.” Whilst I love having a band on stage, I thought it was an interesting idea she wanted to do for this. Within that discussion came conceptually how do we create a set of performers from original recordings. The answer was, we’ll feature the recordings: we’ll deconstruct them, manipulate them, reinvent, juggle and use parts that haven’t been heard before. When you get to a gallery or a museum and see a sculpture, you don’t just experience it in fixed, static two dimensions; you get to walk around a sculpture and study it from different angles. Wouldn’t it be exciting if we could do that with music — study it from different dimensions? Those are different ways to peer inside. And it’s pretty amazing watching her kids perform during the show. Mercy James’ piano playing was so impressive. All Madonna’s children are gifted individuals and they’re musically gifted. It’s impressive getting to witness contributions that large in a stage show. Mercy’s piano playing is just stunning. David as an individual – as a singer, as a guitar player – you get a sense of his wonderful personality, it’s so infectious. Estere and Stella – same thing. Is it possible you and Madonna could be working on new music? You measure a working relationship not by the gaps between but by how easily you pick up again from when you left off. As soon as we started to work together on this tour, the shorthand was there. We were able to create productively. The key component of working together is “do you understand each other?” And musically, are you able to challenge as well? That’s how you get the 1 + 1 = 3 outcome. So, I’ve really enjoyed working together again. [laughs] Can we expect setlist changes or surprises as the tour rolls on? I think… Madonna’s reputation is for always having a highly rehearsed, highly choreographed show and she provides the element of dynamicism with her interactions. But at the same time, her mind keeps evolving and reaching further. And it’s common on her tours to start to perform to audiences, feel what works and where there’s an opening to do something new. It would be foolish to not take opportunities to act on inspiration. It’s a long tour. Right now, what audiences are seeing is the pure form rehearsal version of the show, and as it goes on, there will be an evolution. London’s O2 Arena has an 11 p.m. curfew, and on opening night she went a bit over. What makes it difficult to start on time and hit that curfew mark? What’s happening in those 15 minutes before it starts? Yeah. Well, what goes on is preparation, preparation, preparation. Madonna is committed to always showing up on stage in a zone of confidence and inspiration. Every day before the show there’s soundcheck, there is rehearsal in the soundcheck. I think being so uncompromising about making sure the show doesn’t have anything that could be overlooked takes a certain amount of time. It’s interesting, in my experience – I worked with Madonna [on tours] in 2001, 2004 and 2006 – the ticket always said 8:30 and she was always on by 9. And on this tour, the ticket said 8:30, and she’s been on by 9. No one is delaying for delaying’s sake. What’s your favorite moment in the tour? Emotionally, the strongest moment in the show is “Live to Tell.” It’s powerful. It’s a reminder that Madonna has soundtracked a lot of our cultural history. It’s so striking because she’s addressing people that have been lost, people that were friends, people that were muses and collaborators. You see them on the screen, and they’re gone, and Madonna is still here, having been with those people, and now singing to them. It’s hard not to feel something on a human level. Also, when the opening happens, it’s so powerful. Nothing compares to the moment when someone comes out in such strong voice, looking so powerful. It really hits you. That’s what the audience will connect to – and in turn what Madonna will connect to from the crowd. That relationship is what it’s all about. I also love “Nothing Really Matters” as the show opener because of the line, “Everything I give you / all comes back to me.” That seems sort of like a theme of the overall show. The Easter egg there is the end of the song. What she did is repeat the lines “in your arms, in your arms.” She says it once on the album but four times live, because that’s the message.