Ok so here it goes …

I went to the show with my friend Nighisty who has never seen Madonna before. It’s always amazing going with a Madonna-virgin … the amazement and awe look they have!

Got to the Air Canada Centre early to shop for merchandise, but only ended up buying the program and the Limited Edition Toronto October 18 Lithograph (gorgeous!). The program is really nice, and printed on thick glossy paper.

We were Right Floor Row 15 seats 35 and 36… right beside the catwalk end stage! We were literally beside it, there was no seat next to us, just the barricade!

For those wondering, the catwalk stopped at Row 18, the first full row in front of the catwalk was Row 19.

Before the show, three of the dancers were wandering so we talked to them and one of them gave me his card and asked me to email him.

Then I saw Guy Oseary so went up to him and chatted to him (SUPER FRIENDLY) and took a photo with him. After the photo I asked if he minded if I asked him a Madonna question, and he said sure, so I asked “Are we ever going to get Reinvention Tour DVD?” He laughed and I asked what was so funny, and he said “I don’t believe it” and I asked “what?” and he said “you’re like the 30th person to ask me tonight” so I said “so what’s the answer?” and he said “I’ll work on it”.

I think everyone in every city from now on who sees Guy O should ask him about RIT!!!

After Guy, I noticed Nelly Furtado sitting in Row 19, just four rows behind me, so I went up to her and she was very friendly also. I said that I’m a big fan and she said “thank you very much” and then said she hopes I enjoy the show.

So my friend and I went wandering because we were getting antsy, and suddenly the lights went off at 8:15pm! We RAN to our seats because I was shocked and though the show was starting! To my surprise though, it was an opening act! They had set up a table at the end of the catwalk and a DJ came out and spun remixes for about half an hour. They had lights flashing etc and it gave the entire area a real nightclub atmosphere! People were cheering and dancing in their seats. The DJ started off with a hot remix of Give It 2 Me, then played a bunch of other remixes, including a remix of Britney’s Womanizer. The DJ finished at about 8:45pm or so.

The lights came back on, and the wait continued.

Like clockwork, the lights went off at 9:20pm and the “cube” came alive on stage.

I was mostly spoiler-free when it came to videos, so I hadn’t seen really what the intro was like and I absolutely LOVED it! The build up was awesome, and everyone around me started to freak out when C-A-N-D-Y started!

This was my 12th time seeing Madonna in concert, and my heart still pounds when she comes out and I first lay eyes on her! The screen spun around and there she was, the Queen herself on her throne!

I really REALLY love Candy Shop as the opening number, inviting us into her candy shop with some hot dancing and a command of the stage and her dancers!

Next up is one of my favourite songs on Hard Candy… Beat Goes On! I loved this one as well, such fun, such high energy, and the car was a hot touch! Everyone around me in my section was going nuts! Amazing performance of an amazing song!

Human Nature was next, and even though I love this song, and I love the version she performed, it felt like a bad fit because it slowed down the energy she built up with CS and BGO. Maybe it should’ve been after Vogue?

Ah, Vogue. This is the one video I allowed myself to be spoiled with and it was even hotter in person. I love LOVE this remix and the choreography was amazing! I also got some super-close-ups of Paul, my favourite dancer, he’s so hot and so talented!

Die Another Day interlude was very cool, loved the video and the boxer-dancers in the ring was cool. Hot remix too.

Into the Groove was so much better than I expected, from her coming out skipping to the double-dutch part! It was visually stunning, high-energy, and so much fun. Part way through the song, Madonna puts the mic out to a girl near the front of the Right Floor to sing along and the girl was really bad (sorry whoever you are if you’re reading this lol) and Madonna made the most hilarious face, it was a total grimace (but in a playful way). Oh, and btw, Madonna wore the pink shorts and pink jacket.

Heartbeat was really good, better than I thought it would be, but not my favourite. I can’t really say anything bad about it, it was just an overall decent performance of the song.

Borderline was next, and Madonna totally rocked it out! It was funny because I could tell at first people had no clue what it was, but once she started singing, they cheered and sang along! I really love this version!

Following Borderline was She’s Not Me, and I must say, this was one of my favourite performances of the night! It brought so much new life to the song (even though I already loved it). The performance was amazing, I loved the choreography, I loved the screens, and I loved the “other Madonnas”. Madonna went berserk at the end ripping off the wigs and jewelry etc of the “other Madonnas” then had a dance fit similar to the one during Let It Will Be on Confessions Tour but much much better. The one on Confessions always seemed kinda forced or something imo, I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it was amazing/hot /better on She’s Not Me. Definitely one of the highlights of the night for me!

Next up was Music, the subway door entrance was really cool, I liked the remix, and the dancing was hot, but I didn’t get that much into it for some reason. I guess maybe since she’s performed Music so much on tour etc. It wasn’t bad at all, I just didn’t as excited by it as I did with other songs.

Rain/Here Comes The Rain Again was next, and um, it was pretty, but it seemed pointless and out of place. My friend and I took this opportunity to review the photos taken so far lol.

The thunder and rain filled the ACC, and Madonna made a haunting entrance atop a piano for Devil Wouldn’t Recognize You. I absolutely LOVE this performance, another definite highlight for me! I love this version with a “real” piano so much more than the album version, and Madonna’s voice was gorgeous. The ending was amazing when like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon she sheds the black robe and emerges in the rainbow streaked black dress.

Spanish Lesson is a song I’ve disliked from the first day I heard it, but I really enjoyed the live version. The dancing was hot and I love the little remixed (for lack of a better term) part at the end. Still not my favourite by any means, but I have a new appreciation for it which often happens when I see Madonna perform a song for the first time.

Miles Away was amazing, I love this song, and loved the simple yet beautiful performance.

La Isla Bonita was AWESOME. I know some grumbled because she did it on Confessions, but I thought this version was SO much better. I loved the energy of it, and the crowd seemed to really get into it. This was another definite highlight for me!

Doli Doli was interesting, It’s always cool to be exposed to different cultures and such, but it was weird to see Madonna just sitting there doing shots lol

You Must Love Me. Wow. Just Wow. Her vocals were amazing, and she prolonged the ending, singing “You Must Love” then pausing, waiting for the crowd to get louder and louder and louder, then finally singing “Me”. Absolutely gorgeous, the only true ballad of the night.

Get Stupid was really cool, I loved the mix of Beat Goes On, totally giving a new meaning to the lyrics. I was surprised, considering this is Canada, that the crowd let out a HUGE “boo!” when McCain came on screen and a loud “YEAH!” with cheers when Obama came on screen.

The build-up to 4 Minutes is intense, it’s freakin amazing, the crowd went WILD when Timbaland came on screen. Although it’s a good performance, it fell kinda flat for me. It wasn’t bad at all, it’s just weird to not perform it with Justin since it’s a full out duet. I guess they did the best they could with it.

Like A Prayer. Oh my God. The crowd went absolutely wild when she belted out “Life is a mys-ter-ry”. This was definitely THE performance of the night in my opinion. The energy was through the roof, I loved this version of it, it blows the Reinvention Tour version out of the water! Madonna smiled at winked at us during the performance and my friend just about fainted lol.

Ray Of Light, although an almost total copy of Confessions (there were slight differences) was amazing. It’s a song that gets the crowd going, and I was jumping so hard that my feet are killing me now. This was another moment when Madonna made eye contact with us and a huge smile broke out on her face when she saw us jumping like idiots. lol

Madonna babbled a bit after Ray Of Light, fun banter with the audience, and she singled out someone in the front or second row asking them why they’re sitting so much. She said “I’m working my ass of up here and you’re sitting” or something like that lol

Madonna then asked the audience what request they wanted, and she went to the Left Floor first, stuck out the mic, and someone yelled “Express Yourself” so she sang it as the crowd sang along. Then she said something like “I want to do another” and went to the Right Floor, stuck out the mic, and at first we thought the guy shouted “Hollywood” but it turned out to be “Holiday“. Madonna grimaced and said she didn’t want to sing it (again in a playful way) but the crowd was cheering so she said we had to sing it for her so she sang the first few lines and then the crowd took over.

Hung Up was next. I don’t know what to say about this. I really like the rock remix, but just as I said about Human Nature, it felt really out of place. It really slowed down the energy built up by Like A Prayer and Ray of Light. Not a bad version at all, I think it just didn’t work as the second-last-song.

Give It 2 Me started and it made up for the energy lost during Hung Up. I absolutely loved the hard mix of it and the crowd seemed to really love it and get into it, jumping along with Madonna whenever she sang the chorus. When it came to the sing-along, since we were right beside the stage at the end of the catwalk, Madonna stuck the mic out at our area and everyone around us was singing as loudly as we could! I still think my all-time favourite ending of the three tours I’ve been to is Holiday on Reinvention Tour, but this was definitely a strong ending as well, nowhere near as blase as I’ve heard some other people claim. Before we knew it, Madonna thanked Toronto, wished us a good night, then disappeared as “Game Over” came on the screens. Two hours passed in the blink of an eye! The lights came on and Holiday loudly started to play and I think some people thought it was an encore because they started cheering again and going back to their seats before finally realizing it was done and leaving.

Overall, I think this tour blows Confessions out of the water. Confessions was good, but not nearly as high-energy. The dancers seemed to steal the spotlight from Madonna a bit during Confessions, but this tour was totally purely about Madonna, and she shone every moment that she was on stage. I can’t wait to see it again tomorrow night!

Thanks to Torontophoenix. Click on any of the images above to check out his complete gallery of pictures from the first Toronto show at MadonnaTribe’s Sticky & Sweet Tour Galleries.