Get Into The Groove!: Music sounds better live! Part I

I'm way too excited about Madonna going on tour again this summer and thought I should dedicate an entry to the Madonna tours I've had the pleasure to already experience and worship with my own eyes, ears and soul. While I'm at it, I'll also have to say a few words about the tours that I haven't actually seen live but that have nevertheless provided me with everlasting memories.

Now, if you read my previous entry on how I became a fan, you'll guess that my favourite Madonna tour of all time is Blond Ambition. It's the tour that I grew up watching, and for many years before I'd actually seen Madonna live, I'd go around saying that the greatest tragedy of my life was not being old enough to go and see Blond Ambition live. In 1990, I was just 8 years old and no one would ever have taken me to another country to see Madonna - that's simply not how things worked back then, plus I wasn't even a fan yet back in 1990. I still wish I'd been able to experience Blond Ambition because for me, it's the best a live show can possibly get, ever. The themes of the show are perfect, as are all the song choices and costumes; you've got Donna and Niki still touring with Madonna, and Madonna looks and is gorgeous in every way. I'm sorry but my words just aren't enough. Blond Ambition is perfect.

And then there was The Girlie Show in 1993. I was 11 and wanted to go. I saw an ad in the newspaper about a trip that some travel agency was organising - they'd take you to Germany to see a show and I obviously wanted to go. My mum wouldn't agree, and I had to give up on the idea. I was longing to go so badly but there was nothing I could do about it. The show in Germany was cancelled in the end anyway so I'd still have missed out even if I'd managed to convince my mum to book the trip. But! The good news was that they were at least going to broadcast the show live from Sydney, and my mum's boyfriend at the time had the channel where they were going to show it, so I made him tape it for me. Oh happy day! Except that that show was cancelled, too. I was so impatient and so worried about not getting my tape after all. But, they re-scheduled the show, or apparently actually showed the filmed version of the previous night's concert, and I did get to see it in the end! The concert was eventually shown over here at a time that I couldn't actually be by the TV, but, the following day, I went over to my mum's boyfriend's to collect the tape. I insisted we watch a couple of songs there and then...a choice I still regret to this very day :D! As the fans amongst you know, the show, accordingly to its title, starts with topless female strippers descending from the ceiling on poles....need I tell you more? I was not shocked, but I most definitely was very embarrassed since my mum and her boyfriend were there :D! I quickly demanded the video be stopped and given to me instead :D. I do love The Girlie Show, too - not as much as I love Blond Ambition, but a lot nevertheless. What's my favourite song? Why's It So Hard.

We had to wait for the next tour for a long, long time - 8 years, to be exact. When in 2001 it was announced that Madonna would go on tour, I was way too excited because I was finally 18 years old and could travel anywhere I wanted to. I'd even have money later on because after my matriculation exam, I'd start working as a telephone interviewer, and I'd also get a lot of money for graduating high school. So, I was all set. Except that I didn't have a credit card, and neither did anyone I knew. So, I just didn't have a way of getting a ticket since Madonna wasn't coming to Finland (Madonna in Finland? Please, it was never going to happen! Who would ever want to perform in Finland anyway?!?) and I'd need a credit card to be able to buy a ticket to a show in another country. But, one day when I came home from school, there was a note there, saying I had a registered letter waiting for me at the Post Office. I had no idea what it could be but I was too curious to not find out straight away, so off to the Post Office I went. They handed me a letter from my penpal in Madrid, Spain, and inside there were two tickets to see Madonna at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona on June 9th 2001!!! I could not believe my eyes when I was holding the tickets in my hands!! I was going to Barcelona!! Again, I have no words for my happiness and excitement!! In the end, I went with my best friend and my Madonna fan penpal from Finland. There were two tickets in the envelope so only two of us would be going to the show, but when we arrived in Barcelona, we quickly noticed there were people on La Rambla selling tickets to the second show in Barcelona, too...We decided to put our pennies together and to not eat anymore during our trip and were able to afford three tickets to the show on June 10th as well. TOO EXCITING!!!!

I went to the first show with my penpal Johanna. The seats were crappy, way up high where you couldn't see anything at all, and the sound wasn't too good, either, but we were still extremely excited since it was our first Madonna experience ever. I was in ecstacy and basically shaking when the show started with Drowned World/Substitute For Love...I honestly don't remember much at all about my very first Madonna show. I remember the start and I remember Sky Fits Heaven because it was so impressive visually. See for yourself:

I'm really bad at describing my Madonna experiences because I'm in such a euphoric state of mind that it's all feelings that don't leave any space for words in my mind. But it was incredible, even from a nose-bleed distance. I remember calling my mum after the show and describing how amazing everything was to her in great detail, so I must have had something to say at one point :D.

The following day, I was even more excited because the seats were so much better! Okay, so we still couldn't see Madonna's face but we could see the whole show really well and were significantly closer to the stage than we were the previous night. Incredible! Madonna was there, in the same room with me, and I could see her dancing and singing there!! There is an audio recording of the second show where during Beautiful Stranger, you can actually hear me scream "MADONNNNAAAAAAAAA!!!" at the top of my lungs, heh :D. My favourites were Drowned World/Substitute For Love, Sky Fits Heaven, and Holiday - my first two times seeing Madonna, and she gave me Holiday, my most important live song that changed my life forever. I was so, so, so happy! You've guessed it - no words. I was singing and dancing the whole time and had the time of my life! When the show ended, the three of us walked down from Montjuïc and Palau Sant Jordi, singing Madonna songs in harmony and people cheered us and would open their car windows to sing along - magical!! I'll never forget that experience - the second time I saw Madonna was incredible!

One more thing: My Blond Ambition tape is her show from the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona - that's right next to Palau Sant Jordi. I think it's amazing I got to see Madonna for the first time so close to where the show I originally worshipped was filmed!

And here are some pictures! The first two are of me in 2001 before and after the shows, and the rest are from 2009 when I returned to Barcelona and re-visited Palau Sant Jordi and the Olympic Stadium to worship Blond Ambition.