“I just saw Mo for the third time… the crowd was amazing, and the Pond was apparently sold out!

Madonna was back on track after her illness. At the 3rd LA show at the Forum she was definitely not with it, as she flubbed lyrics several times and missed some dance moves.

Tonight she was on her game, extremely vocal and talkative with the crowd last night in Anaheim. She said things during Material Girl that I couldn’t make out.

After Hanky Panky, before Deeper and Deeper, she yawns and sits next to this circus platform thing on the stage… Really vamp-like… much like Breathless Mahoney… she yawns and says “I need to… sit down… for a minute…” Then she goes into Deeper and Deeper. She didn’t say this at the other two concerts I went to.

She really got into Like A Prayer… more than at the other concerts. While Siedah sang the part at the end (you know… the one Nikki sang in BAT… the one the black singer sings in the video… “oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!!”)… Madonna puts her arm around Siedah‘s waist and they dance together… Mo is smiling at the crowd, mouthing the “oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah” while Siedah sings. She didn’t do this at the other concerts I went to.

She put alot of emotion into Mother & Father, as she had dedicated it to her little sister who was in the audience. “I love you Mel” she said before singing it.

There was also the latest victim of her “don’t sit down during my show” speech. In the intro to Like A Prayer, Madonna got right at the front of the stage, pointed to a man in a suit who was on the first row, and specifically told him to stand up. He did it begrudgingly. After he stood up, she gave him a curt “thank you“. If I was front row center, you better believe I wouldn’t be sitting!!!!

Getting to the concert was a fiasco. My friend Raoul and I are poor college students, yet huge fans. We drove from LA to Anaheim with the faith that we could find a cheap ticket. We ended up with horrible seats in section 219, literally beside and almost behind the stage. We had time to exchange them for close seats in the first tier, that were still far enough to see all the screens. We were seating a few seats from Kevin Richardson from the Backstreet Boys.

For those of you still getting tickets. I’ve seen this 3 times now. Once next to the stage on the side and twice further back. Next to the stage is cool cause you can see backstage at times and she is closer to you, but this show is so visual, the screens are so important to the overall effect, that I highly recommend sitting further back in the tiers, unless you can get a floor seat.

There was an awkward moment at the end however. The massive screens that act as “curtains” over the stage failed to close over the stage at the end of the show. At the other shows I’ve been to, they’ve slowly closed over the stage as she finished Holiday, to reveal the words “ReInvent Yourself“. Tonight they never closed, and as Madonna realized they weren’t moving she looks off stage with an annoyed look on her face.
At the end, the platform with she and her dancers descends halfway into the stage and they all duck down and kind of look to her as far as how to exit the stage, while still in full view of the audience. (Normally these screens would block their exit). They ended up just walking off. I could see backstage… she got into a black SUV parked just off stage and was driven off very soon after the end of Holiday.

I’m done… Mo is leaving Southern California. It is now up to all of you to enjoy her shows!!!”

Review by MadonnaTribe Forum member rmurphy37 – thanks a lot for sharing it with the M-Tribe! – and thanks to deli for the picture.
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