[thanks to mark and michelle for the pics (yeah, i forgot my camera that night!)]
THIS was the showcase of the season to go to and by some miraculous fate (and some serious grovelling), i managed to get into the madonna hard candy showcase at roseland last wednesday. fans had been lining up overnight to get one of the many wristbands to fill up the 3000 spots allocated to diehards, worldwide contest winners, label folks and 'press' like me. after going through 2 rounds of name checking, i was finally in the building and ready for a special night.
bumping into a few friends (equally connected press folk), one of them led me to a spot on the side of the stage which was away from the crowds, but close enough to see all the action. my friend showed me the set list that was given to her and we quickly started to speculate what kind of cameos would happen tonight. we decided that justin was a sure bet, but whether pharell, kanye or timbaland would show was a stretch. hey, it's madonna.
after bopping along to a mish mash of pop songs, the dj started a mix of tracks with the word 'candy' in it (bow wow wow's "i want candy", 50 cent "candy shop", new edition "candy girl"), the crowd went wild cause they knew the show was about to begin and begin it did!
[the queen emerges and damn is her skin flawless!]
check out the opening performance of candy shop below (thanks to queeria)
madonna @ roseland - candy shop (live) [link 2]
[now i have to be honest and say that i wasn't a big fan of the album upon first listen, but something about the perfect sound coming out of the speakers and the crazy crowd made me totally rethink the whole collection. i can now call myself a fan of hard candy's instant sugar coated-ness.]
after her fabulous introduction, madonna took a swig of champagne and got into guitar mode, playing my favorite track off the album, 'miles away'. i, like all the people around me only knew the catchy chorus but sang along anyway (imagine a hundred folks going...'your always nabadaba... MILES AWAY... i hear it...yabadababoo... MILES AWAY... SO FAR AWAAAAY..'). hilarious!
madonna @ roseland - miles away (live) [link 2]
going to black (and knowing the set list), i was ready for the appearance of justin timberlake. with the lights out completely, i knew we were in for an amazing performance and boy did they deliver. with moving video panels and a certain JT hiding behind one of them, the room went insane the second he popped up. with a gaggle of girls surrounding me, i squealed along with the best of them.
i LOVE this pic cause it really captures the energy that evening. mad house!
madonna @ roseland - 4 minutes (feat justin timberlake)
[ok, i couldn't tell when i was there, but how off key are both madge and jt? yikes!]
with madge doing what she considered 'oldies' ("music"/"hung up"), i was pleasantly surprised with the song 'give it to me' the most. as i mentioned before, i didn't enjoy the simplicity of the album upon first listen, but when i heard this song live, i realised just how poplicious it really is (maybe it was the laser beams that they used during the performance or my new favorite kooky interlude in which madge gets on her knees and does some marionette popping. somehow it was just too fabulous to ignore.)
madonna @ roseland - give it to me (live) [link 2]
so after 32 minutes of pure high energy fun, the lights went up, everyone walked out in a daze and we all looked like we had the biggest sugar high ever. i was talking to another journalist and we both thought maybe all concerts should be this short from now on. all it does is make you crave for more AND we'll all be in bed by 11pm. thank you madonna!
THIS was the showcase of the season to go to and by some miraculous fate (and some serious grovelling), i managed to get into the madonna hard candy showcase at roseland last wednesday. fans had been lining up overnight to get one of the many wristbands to fill up the 3000 spots allocated to diehards, worldwide contest winners, label folks and 'press' like me. after going through 2 rounds of name checking, i was finally in the building and ready for a special night.
bumping into a few friends (equally connected press folk), one of them led me to a spot on the side of the stage which was away from the crowds, but close enough to see all the action. my friend showed me the set list that was given to her and we quickly started to speculate what kind of cameos would happen tonight. we decided that justin was a sure bet, but whether pharell, kanye or timbaland would show was a stretch. hey, it's madonna.after bopping along to a mish mash of pop songs, the dj started a mix of tracks with the word 'candy' in it (bow wow wow's "i want candy", 50 cent "candy shop", new edition "candy girl"), the crowd went wild cause they knew the show was about to begin and begin it did!
[the queen emerges and damn is her skin flawless!] check out the opening performance of candy shop below (thanks to queeria)
madonna @ roseland - candy shop (live) [link 2]
[now i have to be honest and say that i wasn't a big fan of the album upon first listen, but something about the perfect sound coming out of the speakers and the crazy crowd made me totally rethink the whole collection. i can now call myself a fan of hard candy's instant sugar coated-ness.]
after her fabulous introduction, madonna took a swig of champagne and got into guitar mode, playing my favorite track off the album, 'miles away'. i, like all the people around me only knew the catchy chorus but sang along anyway (imagine a hundred folks going...'your always nabadaba... MILES AWAY... i hear it...yabadababoo... MILES AWAY... SO FAR AWAAAAY..'). hilarious!madonna @ roseland - miles away (live) [link 2]
going to black (and knowing the set list), i was ready for the appearance of justin timberlake. with the lights out completely, i knew we were in for an amazing performance and boy did they deliver. with moving video panels and a certain JT hiding behind one of them, the room went insane the second he popped up. with a gaggle of girls surrounding me, i squealed along with the best of them.
i LOVE this pic cause it really captures the energy that evening. mad house!
madonna @ roseland - 4 minutes (feat justin timberlake)
[ok, i couldn't tell when i was there, but how off key are both madge and jt? yikes!]
with madge doing what she considered 'oldies' ("music"/"hung up"), i was pleasantly surprised with the song 'give it to me' the most. as i mentioned before, i didn't enjoy the simplicity of the album upon first listen, but when i heard this song live, i realised just how poplicious it really is (maybe it was the laser beams that they used during the performance or my new favorite kooky interlude in which madge gets on her knees and does some marionette popping. somehow it was just too fabulous to ignore.)
madonna @ roseland - give it to me (live) [link 2]
so after 32 minutes of pure high energy fun, the lights went up, everyone walked out in a daze and we all looked like we had the biggest sugar high ever. i was talking to another journalist and we both thought maybe all concerts should be this short from now on. all it does is make you crave for more AND we'll all be in bed by 11pm. thank you madonna!
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