Madonna at MSG

Madonna! Madonna! Madonna! (Think Robin Williams's Armand Goldman in The Birdcage.)

I promised myself that I would see Madonna live in concert at least once in my lifetime. And considering I love her latest album, Confessions on a Dance Floor, I thought that now would be a good time as any to see her. Unfortunately, I couldn't get 2 tickets to any of her concerts at Madison Square Garden. Her show must've sold out in less than 5 minutes. So then I did the next best thing. I searched for one ticket on TicketMaster and snagged one. So I went alone! Ha!

Tonight's performance was her first NYC show on her tour. This morning I was warned by a radio announcer that Madonna was keeping the air conditioning low or off (couldn't exactly hear) in the Garden to preserve her voice. Oh puhleaze! What a diva...give me a break. She was pulling a Whitney Houston.

A little put off by the fact that it would be stifling hot in the Garden that night, I came prepared and wore a tank top underneath my work clothes and the hippest pants I owned that would still be professionally acceptable. I get to my nosebleed seat (seriously must've been tenth row from the roof!) but got compensated because it was an aisle seat. Thank goodness because I don't think I could've handled being sandwiched between sweaty people.

The ticket said the concert started at 8pm, but my girl did not come out until 9 nor did she have an opening act. So what did our crowd do? By 10 to 9, we were getting antsy so one really flamboyant gay male several tiers down decided to harness that energy into doing the wave. After several attempts, we managed to do a 3 or 4 complete waves all around the Garden! Hysterical!

There was an announcement about the AC being turned off or low (again, couldn't hear above the screaming crowd) but the pleasant man's voice assured us by saying, "Madonna appologizes for any inconvenience but hopes you enjoy the concert." The lights go down and "Future Lovers" starts to play with a background slide show of horses and Madonna in her equestrian get-up. Then this crystal ball lowers into the middle of the Garden floor and opens up to birth a Madonna in her riding outfit complete with hat and whip (of course), which she used as she played dominitrix to her back up dancers. In these first few minutes of the concert, I realized that out of all the concerts where my seats did not matter, this one did. Madonna puts on a show. And you want to see it clearly with your own eyes rather than watching a jumbotron 'cuz what's the point of that. You may as well be home watching it on TV.

There were some parts of the concert that were painful to watch like when she played guitar. I don't even think it's playing...strumming is a better adjective. She even slipped with her guitar as she skipped down the runway at one point. But her yoga practices have taught her acceptance instead of resistance. So she let herself fall to her knees instead of trying to break her fall and it was cool to see that even Madonna is human. She trips and falls like the rest of us!

But lemme tell you, all that yoga must be doing something right. That woman's body at 47 is ripped! Of course, she makes millions of dollars so there is no excuse to look anything but amazing. If I could look at least half as good as Modonna at 47, I would be stoked! But she's inspiring nonetheless. Middle-age isn't a death sentence as it once was and seeing her in concert tonight taught me that. I hope to be staying active, fit, and doing what I love at middle-age too.

Overall, the concert was amazing albeit hot. She sang "I Love New York" and she was disappointed afterwards and said, "I wrote this song for you guys and I don't even see you jumping!" So of course, we complied and jumped as she started singing "Ray of Light". But we stopped and in the middle of the song she yelled, "You're NOT jumping!" I yelled back, "Bitch! That's because we are hot!!!" LOL. Still, I had a great time and sang every single word to all her songs. And she did what she did best -- dance! My favorite part of the concert was when she and her back up dancers dressed up in 70s suits and moved like John Travolta. It made me want to go out and get a shiny white suit with the big shirt lapels and dance to Disco Inferno or something.

One final note, I have to admit that I shook my head when she got lifted on a disco cross as if crucified with a crown of thorns on her head singing "Live to Tell". I wasn't offended but rolled my eyes at the serious ego that this woman has. I mean seriously, what makes her think that she can be the Christ? I know she was trying to send a positive message encouraging a unified faith community as verses from several major religions flashed in the background, highlighting the virtues of love, forgiveness, and peace in humanity but was the crucifixion scene really necessary?

Oh Madonna, what a piece of work! Nonetheless, I still live for her.

We Froze our Butts Off for Depeche Mode

We're city folk. Therefore, we don't own cars. So The Quirky One and I took the LIRR to see Depeche Mode at Jones Beach. We thought we would be 2 out of oh say, 10 people needing a shuttle bus to the theater...when in fact there must've been a few hundred of us. I couldn't believe it.

Fooled by the warm weather of the afternoon, The Quirky One wore summer clothes: flip flops, capri pants, and a tank top with a light zip up sweater to the concert. I was dressed a little more warmly but all thanks to luck really. When we got to the outdoor theater (our first time to attend), the wind picked up as we realized how much colder it can get right by the bay! Needless to say, we froze our buns off. I was afraid our toes would fall off too. So, it was even more reason to buy Depeche Mode paraphanelia. We ended up wearing our newly bought purchases to provide extra layering against the wind.

I've waited 17 years to see these guys. This is a shout out to my JHS peeps!!!! We wore black, teased our bangs high, and listened to Depeche Mode's Violator on our Sony Walkmans, and thought they were just simply amazing with the hits that came off that album: "Enjoy the Silence," "Policy of Truth," and "Personal Jesus." Here's to you ladies! Boy how we've grown: three of us are getting married this year, two are engaged, and three (including yours truly) are still standing.

Thanks goodness I always manage to sneak in my camera. I don't know why I bother though. I never have terribly good seats but the camera has a video function. So sometimes I take a video...but then I'm always singing so I just end up hearing my voice on the video. That's definitely not a good thing to post. Ha!!! I'm a little disappointed that they didn't play Policy of Truth tonight. It's my favorite song, I have to admit!!! It elicits such strong JHS memories!!!

The Quirky One and I were on the lookout for lots of Asians at the concert considering our group of friends who listened to DM were all Asian. We were surprised to find very few Asian folks at the concert and even more surprised to hear a lot of foreign languages being spoken. There were A LOT of Europeans there. It's the first concert I've been to where English was not the predominant language (As a side note, a Pearl Jam concert was the concert where most of the voices I heard singing belonged to men.)

On a final note, which serves as a funny story to boot: when The Quirky One heard that I was a DM fan and how long I've been listening to them, she was startled at how far back they go. She's only three years younger than me but got into them in college. I told her that I was listening to them in the late 80s! A few days later, in the excitement of perhaps finding another DM fan, she asked if she could borrow my DM disc collection so she could burn copies. I had to break it to her that I listened to them on cassettes and never got around to buying CDs!!! Funny, huh?

U2 @ MSG tonite!!!

The rest of the story to come. I just wanted to get some pics up for your viewing pleasure. My camera also has video capacity so if I can figure out how to post a video, then I'll post one on here.

This was U2's first concert at the Garden this Fall. They were here for a few days back in the spring!! Above, is Bono & Adam Clayton. And on the left is Bono (with a nice view of his behind in both shots) with the Edge. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a back shot of Larry Mullin.

The crowd thumping at the Garden! We had seats at the rear of the stage and althought it wasn't ideal, it certainly gave us a different perspective of the place. It also gave me the chance to take a shot like this one.

I'm sure these folks were also cheering for the fact that the Boston Red Sox lost their game and the division series to the Chicago White Sox that night. Wahoo!! Down with the Red Sox!!

Bryan Adams & Def Leppard at Keyspan Park, Brooklyn

Joe Elliott of Def Leppard (left)

Bryan Adams (below)















Man, was this an amazing concert!

Erasure: New Wave Music -- ahhh, the memories!

I just got back from a Erasure concert at Irving Plaza in NYC -- and I am sooo pumped!!! They did not disappoint their loyal fans since they played all of their top hits (all the songs I wished to hear, they played!) and Andy Bell is quite a flamboyant performer! They opened with Bell in little tightie whities and a nude colored top with silver glitter and wearing angel wings while his back up singers were wearing fairy wings. They sang Heavenly Action. When he finished singing, Bell proclaimed in a high falsetto voice, "Welcome to Fairyland!" The crowd went nuts!!!

He changed two more times; his second act was an outfit that seemed to be in tribute to Liberace because his first song was Ave Maria with a piano accompaniment in the background. His last outfit was merely silver sequined boy shorts and a bare chest!! He entered with a big pink feather fan in both hands! He threw glitter, danced his familiar moves, and threw paper airplines in the crowd. I had so much fun! And it was great to hear men singing and dancing throughout the audience, many were gay. I felt like I was at an Indigo Girls concert, but in reverse! LOL - it was great!

But Bell's flamboyance is not how I remember them back when I was 11. All I cared about was their music and their unique beat (I'm not sure if Bell was even out back in 1987). Erasure and other bands like New Order (Bizarre Love Triangle is my cell phone's ring tone), the Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode, and OMD defined my musical interests as an early teenager. We called it "New Wave"!!! And I loved it!!! *sigh* I remember listening to these bands so intently in junior high school, when my bangs were teased high to the ceiling and all I wore was black, black, and black. All my friends at the time listened to the same music and it was great to go to tonight's concert with Karen, an elementary & junior high school friend who I recently reconnected with.

In spite of the fact that Erasure was so significant to me at such a young age, it was my first time to see them in concert. Tonight was FINALLY my opportunity to see a concert I was prevented from seeing as a teenager since I grew up in a really strict household. My mom never let me go out!! So tonight, I made up for lost time! Erasure's music, especially their old school stuff, reminded me so much of the happy 80s, a decade that I am proudly a child of..


Erasure's Andy Bell & Vince Clark

U2 -- Vertigo Tour 2005!!!!!

I want to trip inside your head

Spend the day there...

To hear the things you haven't said

And see what you might see

-Miracle Drug

Yeah baby!!!!! I managed to get two ticket to their October 7 concert at MSG!!! I was on the phone calling Ticketmaster AND online with Ticketmaster trying to get tickets right at 9am. After 17 minutes of excruciating agony (Ticketmaster online really plays with your emotions because my wait time went from 15 minutes down to 6 minutes and then went back up to 15 minutes. "How is that possible??" I yell at the poor lap top!), I GOT THEM!!! I was so delirious at my success that I didn't even look at the date, the seats, the cost...I just plugged in my credit card info and kaboom, I was charged! Now that's power baby!

I must've been dancing on my bed for the next half hour! WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!


Look at these hot Irishmen!