Above photo of the admission ticket is courtesy of
MaDiva
REVIEW OF MADONNA'S PERFORMANCE
AT THE ROXY - February 14, 1998
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- For everyone who is interested in details
on Madonna's live appearance at The Roxy on 18th St. between
10th & 11th Avenues in New York City, Saturday 2/14/98:
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- We approached the building at 9:00 and had
to show tickets in order to get past a police blockade at the
start of the street. The line had about 50 people in it by then,
and it was *obvious* that most were massive Madonna fans, not
just passive Madonna admirers or the usual Roxy club members.
:)
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- There was this tall, good-looking, button-down
guy trying to bribe his way into get one of the last tix on sale--I
heard (can't confirm) that they sold another 30 or so tix at
the door. He got one. Typical.
-
- Anyway, we were amazed to be allowed in early!
Way before 10 pm, which had been the announced time. They were
so well organized, letting in early birds to keep things sane.
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- Inside there was a metal detector and bags
were searched, though I know some cameras made it in. The stage
was set up in the middle against the far wall, and we made a
beeline to it and I stodd with my boyfriend (and also with Julio
& Nick of ALL ACCESS, Greg Gostanian aka Queerdonna, and
a fantastic Madonna drag named Chris who was in "Vogue"
MTV '90 mode.
-
- This tight cluster had to hold its ground
despite relentless and pointless pushing (these two asshole guys
in white T-shirts kept shoving, as if they felt they'd somehow
make it to the very front--keep in mind, they were already only
3 people back!). I was *exhausted* immediately and spent way
too much time looking at the very simple set--this was like junior
high prom, with metallic red strips dangling at the entrance,
pale blue and green globes overhead, and that's it. It was a
refreshingly simple take.
-
- I am not kidding when I say that she did
not come on until 1:45 a.m.!!! So that meant we were damned to
stand there (I had to lean straight back just to maintain) close
to 5 hours. It was dismal, with Madonna fans mostly behaving
but with notable exceptions (the T-shirt guys; but don't worry,
I elbowed the worse of the two and totally excluded him from
his goal of advancing).
-
- Finally, finally, finally, Madonna came out
in a black gown (verrrrry similar to the one in the vid and the
Balenciaga she wore to the Golden Globes) with a black hood over
her head. It was a brilliant stage entrance, because she slowly
unveiled her face--this was on par with the entrance she made
on WTG Tour, in silhouette, in terms of sheer anticipation.
-
- Madonna looked great. She was still very
much in her Sarah Jessica Addams mode, all in black, the stringy
reddish hair (no braids), orange eyeshadow but no strong makeup.
She did not look "pretty," but she looked so fucking
cool, very similar to in "Frozen" video, very austere
and stylized.
-
- I would not have known the first song; I've
not heard the CD yet, nor did I hear much of her singing--the
shouting was phenomenal. But the first song turned out to be
"Sky Fits Heaven." All 3 songs she did were very fast
and clubby and both the second ("Shanti") and the third
(the very excellent and single-ready "Ray of Light")
were memorable and catchy. I can't be sure of all the song details--it
was so hard to hear and the songs were long remixes.
-
- The sound is very club techno, even more
than electronica. Guitar sounds, too. In fact, the highpoint
was when during a guitar lick (all synth, only one synth player
onstage with her) came on, she said something like, 'oh, yeah,
this is a guitar song,' then got on her knees and--I swear--she
did a total WAYNE'S WORLD air guitar!!! It was hysterical.
-
- This is a good idea of how she was overall,
very loose and unchoreographed and playful and confident. She
skipped a lot, did jumping jacks, and swung her hair back and
forth with abandon. She did a lot of her trademarked hand gestures
(like itsy bitsy spider) and seems to be doing a lot of Martha
Graham moves, covering her head and slow-mo posing. One of the
coolest moves she did was to turn her back on the audience and
lift her costume to expose her back, which was covered in a sheer
black nylon. She held the pose and just seeing her back through
the nylon was so arresting. I half-expected her to fall and turn
into a flock of crows (which happens in the video to "Frozen").
-
- She kept looking out at the audience and
making an indulgent diva face, and then would smile and sing
her heart out. She wished us happy V-day and did the time-honored
'I wanna see you dance, NEW YORK!' type line.
-
- Her voice was extremely high and straining
to be heard. I really couldn't hear the first song, and Madonna
said, 'I'm glad you're screaming and all but I don't know about
you but I can't hear shit!' She also said at one point how she
hadn't performed live or live in New York in ages and "it
feels fucking good!"
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- Madonna touched the hands of several on the
sides of the stage.
-
- This was such a blast! Madonna totally sold
herself and her songs and it is clear that RAY
OF LIGHT is no experiement or chic, like perhaps BEDTIME
STORIES was, but that this is a form that suits her perfectly.
Madonna was really rocking out and free and charismatic.
-
- After the 3 songs, she intro'd her "partner
in crime" and said 'thanks for coming to my coming out party!
And if you're not out, you need to come out!" She said thanks
and left very unceremoniously and modestly, to the point where
everyone was convinced there'd be an encore. Instead, a bunch
of tired old drag queens came out and strutted to no great effect,
though the bonus was that their theme music was a brilliant,
brilliant club remix of "Frozen" (which, unless it
was REALLY loud in that place, she did not perform).
-
- I haven't been so high on a new Madonna project
in a long time. RAY OF LIGHT is really
coming together for her artistically, and this "surprise"
club appearance was mesmerizing.
You know I'll take you there........
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