Madonna Confessions Tour - Amsterdam

On September 4th, I was TOTALLY BLOWN AWAY by an awesome concert: Madonna's Confession's Tour.

I have always wanted to see Madonna but the timing has never really worked out for any of her previous tours. So when I heard that she would be performing at the Amsterdam Arena, I called a few of the girls and landed us some tickets.There were 5 of us in total: (from right to left) Katia, Ann and, of course, Bubbles. Randip and her sister Renu joined as well, but sadly were not sitting with us, so I do not have any pics. Perhaps if I ask nicely :-) Randip can share her pics so I can add them here too. Although our seats were in the nosebleed section, we still had a fantastic time. With my zoom at it's maximum, the shots do not do the show justice. But with a bit of imagination you can perhaps feel the anticipation while waiting for the dance diva to appear on stage. Her introduction, began with gentle thundering horse hooves, proceeded by huge images of Madonna in chic black riding gear on the jumbo screens, with the pulsating beginning of the song "Future Lovers". Above is a close up (thanks to Arnie's colleague's mobile phone & her close proximity to the stage on the ground), I have this fantastic picture of one of my musical idols as she makes her grand entrance. The atmosphere was absolutely mind-blowing and supercharged with explosive energy.

Above is a sequence after the intro that I, felt to be quite powerful with stories of those less fortunate, with painful beginnings of sadness, abuse and misfortune until they were brave enough to chose a different road that eventually leads to recovery & success. Quite an inspiring message with the song "Jump" which is about the chance to find your way and not be a afraid to make it alone ... with hard work.

Although (in my humble opinion) I found, this show did not have her usual sexually provocative display that her earlier tours were famous for - fine with me as she has grown over the years into a different kind of artist. However, it was still VERY full of Madonna's one-of-kind expression & style!! The most controversial part (as we know she thrives on a bit of controversy) was the famous performance on the cross that caused a major stir with the Vatican and Catholics everywhere - yet again. "Live to Tell", one of her successful songs from her True Blue album, set the scene for Madonna, while performing from a white cross, to remind us all about the number of children in Africa that needlessly die every day from AIDS ... while the government does little about it. It was a VERY powerful visual presentation with images of young, wide-eyed, angelic children (both healthy & ill) and flashing numbers representing the deaths of the innocent.

This tour was, without any doubt, an opportunity to make a political statement to the leaders of the world but still have a bit of fun, cuz it was not all about politics. Some other, personal highlights of the night:

Her request to hug our neighbour in the stadium with the reminder to accept each other and our different cultures - during these troubling times of uncertainty and war a gentle nudge on this subject is always welcome.

She did a fun, super-boppy, latino version of "La Isla Bonita" with lots of percussions, colourful caribbean clothing and scenic blue-green beach images - TOTALLY recreating this much-loved song.

She also showed diversity as an artist by playing a raunchy rock-and-roll version to "I Love New York" with a wicked electronic guitar solo and a short message to, none other than, BUSH himself.

Also enjoyed "Isaac" the Middle Eastern-flavored song starring Yitzhak Sinwani, a Yemeni singer, live on stage.

The grand finale approached with her famous dance number that was at the top of the charts everywhere - the ABBA mixed "Hung Up" that was welcomed with a CRAZED eruption of enthusiasm from each and every person in the stadium.

Here is a quote from Madonna about this album that I read in one of her interviews:

Secret does share with Confessions an unabashedly personal tone. Madonna has described the latter as an unapologetic dance album "about having a good time straight through and non-stop." Dig beneath the buoyant beats and neo-disco arrangements, though, and you'll find wistful undercurrents in both the music and lyrics.

That's why I called it Confessions on a Dance Floor," Madonna explains. "Most people equate dance music with being fluffy and superficial; it's just about having fun. That's fine, but I can't write 12 songs about nothing. My feelings or point of view inevitably sneaks
in."