Out forum moderator Verity was in Paris for the first two show of the re-Invention tour. Here’s his detailed description of the second concert.

“For the second night in Bercy, I wanted to be as close as possible, so I got up at 5 in the morning and joined the que a bit later.

Fortunately the weather was nice but late afternoon the sun really started to burn and I turned into a walking fashion disaster putting all kinds of loose clothing on my ecologically challenged head.

It was quite fun to be there and see all the other fans arrive – security had organised things rather well too so we had enough space to stretch our legs, lie down or sit all day long. Two passers-by in particular deserve to be mentioned: this Asian guy that acted as if he was a movie star and entertained us with very convincing yet totally effeminate moves and this beautiful girl wearing a Barbie t-shirt who I spotted later dancing in the seating block next to the stage.

Once the doors were opened, we all just RAN to the front to get the best place possible. I ended up before the middle of the left screen with one person in front of me, which is really totally crazy. Seeing Madonna so close just gives you so much extra energy. Her hair, her muscles, her legs, she is so beautiful – it’s amazing. You can see all the eye contact that goes on between Madonna, her dancers and her musicians. She smiled and rolled her eyes a lot.

At the start of Don’t Tell Me she forgot to accept her mike from a staff member in the front stage, remembered, turned around, said “whoops” and was obviously amused.

It’s these tiny errors and spontaneous moments that make every concert so special so I was very happy she got to fuck up things slightly occasionally. At the end of Die Another Day, she teased the left pit by pretending to throw her head bracelet (or what is that called) to them and dropping it instead, which was quite cool. During Mother & Father, I saw Stuart Price rolling his eyes over the Jesus image on top and making funny faces at people in the pit. While doing Like A Prayer, Madonna was in front of us and she looked me in the eye (which I suppose everyone thinks at one point in the show, but I moved my hands in a funny way at her and she waved back with the exact same movements) – WOOHOO !

During Holiday, me and my friends just totally lost it and started dancing together ecstatically without looking at the show. It got even better when the show was over – I was already overwhelmed with Madonna’s presence and the front row energy but then my eyes crossed with this guy I had spotted earlier on as being exceptionally cute and we just stormed towards each other and hugged and kissed.

The evening couldn’t have ended in a happier way.”

Special thanks to Verity