Madonna performed the first of her two Sticky & Sweet Tour concert at the Stade de France last night. The Parisian stop is always one of the most sought after gigs of any Madonna tour – maybe because the French capital is easy to reach from virtually anywhere in Europe and also because it kind of became a sort of traditional rendez vous for the fans, a show not to miss.

Paris was also the only European stop able to secure a second show for this Stadium tour – with no other date – not even Wembley – able to sell well enough to have a second date added.

The first reports from St Denis are once again mixed reviews – if by one side to see Madonna live is still something to remember, once again the organization showed a lot of weak points that were not solved even if this was the 13th concert of the European leg of the tour.

The main issue once again seems to be the show and the stage themselves that many people consider to be designed for arenas and too small for a stadium performance.

Here are a few reports posted by our Community members at the Forum or sent in by M-Tribe readers by email.

• From Fimi:

Just came back! Had great places in gold circle, but all was again badly arranged! people who waited for days (for real: don’t these people have a life (sorry)!) were passed by people who came in just an hour for the doors opened (me…). No guiding fences, nothing, just one big mess. Hit ticket holders were let in earlier but lost there expensive places to guys and girls more aggressive and keen (not me…).

Sound was awful, but she sang better then Amsterdam. Why do they put in so much bass? It ruins the concert I think.

And Gold Circle was indeed half the standing grounds! People with regular floor tickets (Pelouse) were let in the Gold Circle (Pelouse Or), which was intended solely for people who got Hot Tickets or Pelouse Or tickets, no decent waiting line, no drinks and toilets or the possibilty to reach them etc. And last but not least: Madonna came 30 minutes late. Yes then you get a bit tired and lame indeed.

Madonna talked and was noce to the French and she laughed a bit. All in one she was in a good mood. The old song she sang was Express Yourself. During the time she pulled the wig of the semi-madonna and put it on her head. She then threw it towards her keyboard player who put the wig on during music. Silly him!

• From patrickchristo:

Disappointing show… first time I had seen it. Felt like budget was cut and crowds increased to meet some gross targets… little we had not seen before, she is way better than this…

• From Rastar:

Brilliant show! It was everything i expected, and finished too fast… however for the first time in France, the crowd sucked! And I mean, lifeless… I think Madonna fans are ageing… they don’t move anymore… and I think at one point she yelled out Paris is da shit, and they the crowd went into confusion mode… they thought she was dissing Paris… intead of repeating it… quite funny…

But again, superb show! The songs were flawless, one thing though I don’t know if it is because light travels fster than sound, but was there a delay on the screens to the sound?

• From Bruno:

Hello,
I just came back from the first Paris concert.
I have to say that I am very desappointed by the show.
Ususally in Paris, Madonna concerts take place at Le Palais Omnisport Paris Bercy.
That represents 15 000 persons. At Le stade de France, it is 80 000. We had seats at 150 euros, bought through the fan club with pre sales and frankly, we barely
saw here. We were up in the sky. How could we have bad seats with presales?

Another bad point: the sound quality. We would expect great quality for this price and from Madonna. But the sound was awful.
I hope it would be the last time that she perfoms in a stadium in Paris and that she will go back to Bercy.
And, may be, it would be better to do less tours, but better ones.
Where’s Stuart Price? The music was much less good than the last tours.
And what happened to the back videos??? Did anyone noticed their poor quality? No creativity, no quality.
The stage… well, No Madonna on the right, no Madonna on the left. It is supposed to be the bigger stage ever…
Interlude wise, except the Get Stupid videos, the others were boring and a lot of people took the opportunity to go get some drinks.

I understand that the music industry is in a crisis and that, now, the best way to make money is to go on tour.
But what’s the point on going on tour every 2 years, if the show is not worked enough.
I had the feeling that everything had been done in a rush.
I think it was too soon to go on tour with a new album. The proof: no one was dancing around us.
So no good sound, no good backvideos, no crazyness in the audience.
I am going to see her again tomorrow and for the first time, I am bored instead of happy.
On the way back to the city, in the subway, many fans said that they were disappointed.
I am one of them. I still love her, I understand that she doesn’t have the luxury of time, but maybe she should take more time and more talented people to work on the next tour.
I can’t imagine that I just wrote that because usually after her concerts, I am always in heaven, thrilled, extaticly happy
But what’s a real fan? A tool in the promotion process of her work (as it is required now at Icon, “call the radios and get a signed cd” contest for exemple) or someone who simply enjoies what she does?
I was 13 for the Blond Ambition Tour and couldn’t believe that I was there, I had tears in the eyes during I deserve it and Secret in the DWT, I was speechless when i sawThe Beast within and Vogue in the RIT, CT was perfection.
Emotions make the real fan.

• From Morgan:

Hi tribers,
I’m a Madonna fan since the 80s’, saw all of her shows in Paris, sometimes twice, and I always had a lot of fun. The shows used to take place in Bercy (17000 people) but this time for the Hard Candy tour it tooked place in Stade de France (80000 people).
I paid 127€ and my seat was close to the top of the Stadium, maybe more than 100 meters from the Stage. Even the screens were small, and finally I could not appreciate this show.

The sound was not so good, and people around me looked bored, too. I’m very desappointed. I saw a ant walking on a stage that’s all!
This is not the first bad critics I can read about this tour, and I hope that Madonna and above all Live Nation will take into consideration that this is not what fans are expecting. I prefer concerts in smaller places, giving a chance to every one in the place to be close to her, to be exiting and to sing with her.
Today it was not the case for a lot of fans (I heard critics in the train back to Paris). Maybe only the people in the golden circle had fun.