Kevin Antunes destroyed Madonna's reputation as a Live Act.

[nito84bcn 2,734]

That's it. Since Sticky & Sweet all the live renditions sound like fanmade bootlegs, soul-less, uninspired, cheap... that doesn't translate well the music to the audience, and even if she has the best tecnology or dancers, or budget, the public don't have the feeling of being on their best night ever. Ditch him please!

[Brendanlovesu1 11,881]

she needs a better musical director for sure, her work with Stuart price was magnificent in re-arranging older hits to sound current

although the audio for the RHT film was way better than MDNA for sure and it was a step in the right direction

[nito84bcn 2,734]

12 minutes ago, Brendanlovesu1 said:

she needs a better musical director for sure, her work with Stuart price was magnificent in re-arranging older hits to sound current

although the audio for the RHT film was way better than MDNA for sure and it was a step in the right direction

I can't believe that she had Stuart for only 3 tours and Keving for 4 of them, and maybe till the end of her career! 
I was watching Kylie's infinited Disco, and definetly the way she reinvented the songs, or made them sound live and emotional reminded me of the amazing work that Stuart did for Madonna. THE TRANSITIONS BETWEEN EACH SONG! Were amazing. Now it sounds like if she has an ipod conected to the speakers and when a song is over, someone press play for the next one. 

[Guest Nobody Knows Me]

Kevin Antunes’ live arrangements have been pretty awful, so I agree he needs to go. It is said a lot, but Stuart Price’s arrangements were just fantastic. He knew exactly how to modernise or remix a song without completely destroying it.

[NowRadiate 3,331]

42 minutes ago, nito84bcn said:

That's it. Since Sticky & Sweet all the live renditions sound like fanmade bootlegs, soul-less, uninspired, cheap... that doesn't translate well the music to the audience, and even if she has the best tecnology or dancers, or budget, the public don't have the feeling of being on their best night ever. Ditch him please!

I have to fully agree. Really uninspired stuff, unfortunately.

[VogueMusic 677]

Stuart was great at re-inventing her hits...but I was NO fan of his live musical direction. That 'canned' sound started with him.  (Yep, I said it).

I'm going to disagree with most here, and say Kevin's work was actually quite good on Sticky & Sweet. The band sounded live and funky, and the arrangements and transitions were great. The downslide started with MDNAT and into RHT.
I don't hate Kevin's work entirely, he can be quite good with other artists...but it is time for a whole new band and new musical director.

The truly last LIVE band that was great through and through was The Girlie Show band, led by the phenomenal Michael Bearden.

[NowRadiate 3,331]

Just now, VogueMusic said:

 

The truly last LIVE band that was great through and through was The Girlie Show band, led by the phenomenal Michael Bearden.

This. Always loved that live band and what they did to the songs. I like Stuart‘s work though too, especially compared to what came after him. Monte is no genius either imho.

[nito84bcn 2,734]

1 minute ago, VogueMusic said:

Stuart was great at re-inventing her hits...but I was NO fan of his live musical direction. That 'canned' sound started with him.  (Yep, I said it).

I'm going to disagree with most here, and say Kevin's work was actually quite good on Sticky & Sweet. The band sounded live, and the arrangements and transitions were great. The downslide started with MDNAT and into RHT.

The truly last LIVE band that was great through and through was The Girlie Show band, led by the phenomenal Michael Bearden.

I agree that Sticky & Sweet wasn't bad at all and the laziness started with MDNA Tour. But even being heavily programmed sounds, DWT, RIT and CT had soul, had energy, were modern... 

[Prayer 14,282]

"The Girlie Show" is probably peak live Madonna in terms of music, vocals, band, mixing... audio wise it's perfect (and a great show visually of course).

It's true that the "studio" live sound started with Stuart but his versions were mostly great. Kevin Antunes is very hit or miss, yeah.

[Guest]

I have to agree. Watching the Rebel Heart Tour in person fell very short for me... only until True Blue is there an interesting rearrangement of a song. Then things go downhill. Deeper and Deeper was unimpressive, Like a Virgin was essentially fan-made, La Isla Bonita -> Dress You Up/Into the Groove sounded like YouTube-d karaoke tracks, Music's "reinvented" section lasted literally about 1 minute, Candy Shop was essentially the same, Material Girl had a slightly different drum track, and Holiday... was just the album version pitched down with a few seconds of a weak breakdown. And all the interludes are literally just the album tracks. 

Sticky & Sweet had its issues too: the drums in Human Nature sound dry and lifeless like a MIDI track + the unnecessary rock versions of Ray of Light and Hung Up. But most of it was fun and interesting (Vogue, Get Stupid, Into the Groove, Die Another Day, Spanish Lesson, Like a Prayer, for example). MDNA still had some unexpected reinventions too (Open Your Heart, Hung Up, Heartbeat/Best Friend, Like a Virgin/Love Spent) but it's where things started to get very lazy.

[Angelo 5,712]

Guys you just forget ONE thing that Kevin (or ric’key??) said recently...

MADONNA HERSELF WANTS THE TRACKS AS THE ALBUM VERSIONS. She’s tired reinventing them

[Guest]

Then that’s a shame. They still sound very cheap when they are changed up though.

[Voguerista 11,742]

I agree. I wish she’d ditch him and please bring back Stuart. 

[musicinferno 3,660]

Agree, he needs to go. When listening to MDNA and RHT, it just sounds like they added crowd noise to a demo with no apparent live instruments. Even the back-up singers sound pre-recorded and they just lip synch on stage. This probably explains why the band on stage has been pushed almost out of sight since S&S. 

[wtg1987 10,151]

Even though he’s not a great musical director she has to take the blame for her “ live” sound - my biggest problem is why does she have musicians and back up singers on stage when we can’t hear them but just the backing tracks and why doesn’t she like the live sound anyway in general ? I miss hearing real drums , guitars , pianos and back vocals like the 80s & 90s tour and I really thought she might bring this back for the intimate Madame x show but alas she didn’t ? such a shame 

[Enrico 15,788]

I totally agree. I hate the fact that in MXT two great singers like Muchie and Yahzarah can't really be heard, because you only hear the original album BG voices. I miss the real voices of Niki and Donna. The musical direction in WTGT was great: the sound was raw, but powerful. And of course the GS band!

But I have to confess that during the backstage visit in MXT, we met Kevin and had the chance to "interview" him. I kept asking many inappropriate questions, including which songs were discarded and why, like Rescue me (he obviously said they didn't fit) and why there are no bass player and drum player anymore in the band. Of course he showed me that he can play almost everything with his pad, and played a little of Vogue and also, if I remember well, Into the groove. He said that the sounds are always done live but I don't believe him: the strings during Frozen we saw in some IG stories were much different that the ones we heard on stage.

He pointed out that Madonna wants the live sound to be identical as the album version. So Madonna should be fired, too

 

[momosfantasy 946]

I just want her to put down the guitar.  Forever.  At first it was cool, and if she persued it the way she does her skin-care line and all the non-musical stuff, she would probably be fairly good by now and be able to actually compose with it and/or use it to record new music.  But as it stands, the three-chord thing is just a kinda silly way for her to "rock out" onstage and to take away what should be a great opportunity to rework her older songs with more interesting arrangements.  I would loooooovvvvvveeeeee to hear a cool new take on something like "Burning Up", but instead she straps on that damn guitar and plays a ridiculously lifeless version of one of her best early tunes.  Don't misunderstand, I love me some guitar rock, and I love primitive, Stooges-type 3 chord stuff, but the novelty of M bashing out her classic songs with that thing on every tour is so over.

[RUADJAI 14,909]

8 hours ago, TheRoad said:

I have to agree. Watching the Rebel Heart Tour in person fell very short for me... only until True Blue is there an interesting rearrangement of a song. Then things go downhill. Deeper and Deeper was unimpressive, Like a Virgin was essentially fan-made, La Isla Bonita -> Dress You Up/Into the Groove sounded like YouTube-d karaoke tracks, Music's "reinvented" section lasted literally about 1 minute, Candy Shop was essentially the same, Material Girl had a slightly different drum track, and Holiday... was just the album version pitched down with a few seconds of a weak breakdown. And all the interludes are literally just the album tracks. 

Sticky & Sweet had its issues too: the drums in Human Nature sound dry and lifeless like a MIDI track + the unnecessary rock versions of Ray of Light and Hung Up. But most of it was fun and interesting (Vogue, Get Stupid, Into the Groove, Die Another Day, Spanish Lesson, Like a Prayer, for example). MDNA still had some unexpected reinventions too (Open Your Heart, Hung Up, Heartbeat/Best Friend, Like a Virgin/Love Spent) but it's where things started to get very lazy.

I agree  with everything... except Candy Shop on RHT... That shit was FIRE. 

[luluthecat 1,109]

I want him GONE. Yeah he's had a couple of highs, but far too many lows for me. I just want Stuart back or someone similar like Kylie's director Steven Anderson, someone who just gets dance music.

[Enrico 15,788]

I think RHT had some good moments, especially True Blue. But it also featured the lowest point ever: the bad karaoke rendition of Take a bow*. Which replaced the marvelous version of Who's that girl!

Madame X Tour has no excuse. The best part musically was the pre-show. With such great musicians such as Gaspar, Jessica, Rickey, Mariko and performing in the same small venue for many days, she had the chance to create a beautiful live sound. Instead everything was FAKE. In retrospective, it feels so disappointing.

* Does anyone have this with sound?

 

[momosfantasy 946]

3 hours ago, Angelo said:

Guys you just forget ONE thing that Kevin (or ric’key??) said recently...

MADONNA HERSELF WANTS THE TRACKS AS THE ALBUM VERSIONS. She’s tired reinventing them

Gaaaah, why???  That works for bands like The Cure, but come on!!  She has so many versions of so many of those songs that she could use as a starting point for more interesting new arrangements.  I love M.  I always will.  But let's face it, she's not the best singer in the universe, especially live (Don't attack me, please.  She is capable of wonderful live singing, obviously, but she's definitely inconsistent there). Part of the glory of her live performances is the way that she reinvents her music to keep it fresh and interesting and relevant.  I STILL think the Blonde Ambition arrangement of "Like a Virgin" wipes the ground with the album version.  If I wanted to hear the record, I would listen to the record, not drop hundreds of dollars to hear her sing to a backing track of the same thing.  

Sorry, ignore my rant.  It's Sunday afternoon, the roof of my apartment is leaking, and I've been in better frames of mind.

[Raio_05 777]

[Jackie 8,023]

I think he's done a great job, I loved the music of S&S - Frozen is so cool! It was all very well done! MDNA was a masterpiece, RHT was amazing also.

Let's not forget that Madonna is very involved with the direction, sounds, effects, playback etc. 

[kesiak 3,033]

Destroyed her reputation as a live act? You mean by being the musical director of the highest grossing tour for a female artist ever?  

[deathproof 10,555]

2 minutes ago, kesiak said:

Destroyed her reputation as a live act? You mean by being the musical director of the highest grossing tour for a female artist ever?  

This.