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What
is the best way to prep to see Madonna live?
If you’re a big fan, you probably have compiled a
library of Madonna material, from CDs to movies. (Although
I’ve never actually gotten around to them, I recently
purchased Shadows and Fog and Body
of Evidence... just because.)
My suggestion? Study up!
What I like to do before seeing Madonna perform is put the
experience in context. Seeing the concert is incredible
enough on its own; the two hours spent with Madonna are
(trust me) worth whatever you spent. (Yeah, even you who
binged on auction sites to get front row tickets!) Sadly,
spectacles are fleeting and need to be appreciated in the
moment. Go for the songs and choreography and video displays
and crowd energy. You’ll almost certainly remember
one thing most about the show: Her.
Remember: context.
This is MADONNA you’re seeing live. I hope it’s
not an honor you take lightly. People in some parts of the
world would give their right arm to see her. And just think
about the generations to come that will only have old footage
of Madonna to look at like the way we longingly watch clips
of Elvis Presley performing on "Ed Sullivan."
Wouldn’t it have been great to have seen Elvis live?
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You will be in the same room as Madonna.
When the show starts, it is too easy to get wrapped up in
the fervor, an adrenaline shot that wipes your head clean.
You’re so in the moment of paying attention to the
icon in front of you or up on the video screens that you
can lose the proverbial forest for the trees: the context
of the night, of the tour, what it means to have this legendary
performer before you and thousands of other sharing the
communal high.
Fans strain impossibly hard to get a "moment"
with Madonna because to exchange a smile, a wink, a lock
of the eyes with her is a split second that that fan will
always share with her. It’s not a thrill just because
she’s famous or the concert is merely entertaining
and everyone is clamoring for her attention.
Attending another popular performer’s show last year,
I was struck at how listless the crowd was, how excited
they were in brief flashes of interaction but very little
otherwise. With Madonna, the shows are always obscenely
draining, as if her performance has actually taken a bit
of your essence. She’s an absolute energy sponge to
the die-hard because of the stature that carried her there.
So, before you don your rubber bracelets and head out to
the venue to catch Madonna live, review that CD and DVD
library of yours. You don’t need me to educate you
on how essential Madonna is to pop culture and how watching
her is truly monumental.
But to flash through her career in the days leading up to
seeing her induces a catharsis on the night of the concert,
capping a fantastic ride and hopefully putting you in the
mindset to enjoy the show on so many levels.
Review old interviews and talk show appearances to catch
glimmers of her trademark faces and laughs. Listen to the
inflections of her voice as it changed through the years
and she became a household name.
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Watch the documentaries Truth or Dare and
I’m Going To Tell You a Secret (back-to-back,
why not?) and take in the fourteen-year bookend, reminding
yourself to look for the woman behind the performer, to
see the leap from 1990 to 2004, from Blond Ambition
to Re-Invention. (The tour names alone
speak volumes.) Try to connect the Madonna of 2004 to that
of 2006 as you watch her on the altogether different Confessions
Tour.
Amaze yourself by checking out the dozens of videos she
produced and then gawk at her body and hair when in person,
remembering how many outfits, how many hairstyles and dyes,
how many stylists were on that petite body.
Live performances – including showstoppers at the
VMAs and Grammys through the years – are the best
snapshots of Madonna at her finest.
I find that studying how audiences at various concerts or
awards show reacting to Madonna really rev me up for seeing
her live: "They’re freaking out, and they’re
totally onto something!"
And to see what those famously beautiful eyes have seen!
The controversies, the romances, the milestones, the travels.
I won’t spoil how, exactly, but Madonna does a great
job in the Confessions Tour with establishing
context. She doesn’t let the audience forget where
she came from.
But by that part of the show, you might be already blindsided
by the sheer NOW-ness of it all. Try and take a step back
beforehand and center yourself.
Though the cheers around you will cloud your thoughts, a
primer on pre-Confessions Madonna will
hopefully help you get metaphysical with Madge.
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