DROWNED WORLD TOUR - DIARY EUROPE Camping in Barcelona - Barcelona shows - Milan - Berlin - Paris - London US tour diary
It was on August 4th 1993 that i got The Immaculate Collection for my 15th birthday. A fantastic album that would slowly turn me into the mad fan I am now. But little did I know about Madonna back then. I didn't even have a clue that she was touring that summer. Something I would regret later, when I found out it was her last tour for many years. As my interest turned into obsession, especially in the Ray Of Light years, I yearned for a tour, as many other fans. Time after time tour plans got cancelled... until this summer. After getting "her feet wet on stage again" in the Roseland Ballroom and Brixton Academy, she launched her Drowned World Tour. And despite the difficulties with the ticket frenzy, I was part of it! :) This is my story... Monday, June 4th 2001 It's 10.40 am when we can board the airplane. I'm leaving for Barcelona. Two weeks holiday, backpacking. But nothing can get my mind off the first weekend, which without any doubt will be the highlight of my trip. My lovely cybersis Emmadonna has bought me tickets for both shows. The tour will premier in Barcelona and we will be there! I get into the plane smiling and once I find my seat I realize which song is playing. 'Rain, feel it on my fingertips, hear it on the windowpane' As if they want to remind me who's waiting for me in Barcelona! The plane takes off and I'm smiling more than ever. Tuesday, June 5th 2001 Following my example Madonna flies into Barcelona. Rumours about where she's staying circulate like hell, but nobody really seems to know. Thursday, June 7th 2001 After three days playing the typical tourist in this beautiful city, I find myself waiting at Cafe Zurich on Plaza Catalunya. After a whole year close cyberfriendship, I finally get to meet Emmadonna! As we're having a cool sangria, we are joined by Gareth and Frank. Emma is the one with our gold. Out of her pocket appear two envelopes, one with my tickets, one with Gareth's. Our key to the fantastic weekend that's waiting for us. Friday, June 8th 2001 After a last night of long comfortable hours of sleep at Emma's house (thanx for that sis!), we head to the Palau Sant Jordi. An early news report shows fans camping outside the stadium. Hurry! But once there, it's a little overblown. There are about 40 people there (in fact, I was no. 40 to arrive!) and as many reporters. The atmosphere is very relaxed and everyone's relaxing in the shadow of the trees down at the gates of the square. We meet up with Gareth and Frank and get to know Daniel, Floris and Caroline. The 7 of us would stick together throughout the whole weekend. Soon we get to know the other fans waiting out there. Some of them have been camping out since tuesday morning! They started a list of fans, to make the queuing go fair. That's how I end up as no. 40. Out of the 18.000 fans that gathered at the stadium on saturday evening, that's very reasonable. I think I can now officially call myself a die-hard fan! :) And the waiting has begun. Every once in a while there's a Spanish radio reporter or German TV-crew asking for an interview, trying to paraphrase the same questions in an original way. 'Why are you here?', 'What's so special about Madonna?' Duh! The cameramen love Lucas, the fan who seems to know every Madonna dance, from Vogue to Don't Tell Me. He's quite entertaining, which makes up for the long waiting. All of a sudden, in the early afternoon, loud bass sounds come from inside the stadium. Fans run to the gate. No way we can see anything, but we can clearly hear Madonna rehearsing. It's only afterwards that we get to know that it's yesterday's rehearsal tapes. Emma and I are sitting underneath a try near the Palau, listening to Gone and Holiday. If this feels so fantastic already, then what's the concert gonna be like?! In the late afternoon we hear Madonna singing live. This time she's really inside the stadium. She sings I Deserve It. Caroline suggests she's singing it in front of her family, as Guy and the kids are present too. Afterwards we run to the back entrance, waiting for her limo. But no luck, the lady stays inside. Later she rehearses the whole show. Although by now I've found out the complete setlist, I want to keep it as some surprise, so after hearing the fantastic Drowned World and Impressive Instant, Emma, Daniel and I leave for some groceries. When we return we find out the rehearsal is over and Mo has left the building. Night's falling. At 10 pm the gates around the square get closed. Pretty much following the famous list (La lista!), we all settle for a sleeping spot in front of the gate. Don't know how many fans are camping out, but in the morning the list would contain over 170 names. It's one big cosy chaos, everyone lying around on blankets with food and drinks around. Some are trying to get some sleep, some prefer challenging their energy to stay awake all night. Lucas still seems full of energy, as he keeps on dancing, now to Fever and Hanky Panky. As the clock ticks past 1 am everyone seems to calm down a bit. The crowd goes completely silent as two girls with beautiful high voices start singing. This is like summer camp, one big group that grew from strangers to close friends in 24 hours, lying around, singing, dreaming... Saturday, June 9th 2001 Unfortunately, little is left from the relaxing friendly atmosphere when the gates are about to be opened. At 9.30 a whole group of fans rushes their way to the front. Nervous fans try to get hold of a good spot, loosing their stuff in the rush. Fortunately someone is smart enough to inform security about 'the list'. As the security guy starts shouting in Spanish, Emma translates. If we can get organised in half an hour, he'll open this gate first. If not than the fans on the other end of the square get lucky. Now we have to cooperate in a group again. And it works! As Lucas reads down the list, we queu up in front of the gate. Then the gates open, we put our mind on ONE thing: RUN!! Gareth, Floris and I are blessed with long legs and we cross the square towards the second gate, at the furthest end. We made it to the front at the gates of the Palau!! As everyone finds a spot in the queu, we all settled down again. Another day of waiting, this time in the full sun! Too hot to eat. Every once in a while someone goes out for drinks. Other than that there's nothing to do but wait... By 7 pm everyone starts to get nervous. At the other gate everyone's standing for a while already. At our side everyone seems a little more relaxed, or should I say a little less tensed. That changes when security people come out to open the gates. Hysteria breaks out when the other gate is opened first. After two minutes shouting and cursing they open our gate too. No time for checking, we rush past the guards, into the stadium, down the stairs and then run to the stage. We make it to front row, right in the middle! So the camping and the waiting was all worth it. Only two hours left! The concert
	9.40 pm, only ten minutes late, the lights go out. Undefinable, anticipating music comes out of the speakers. "Do you like my acid rock" is heard. And "Express yourself, don't repress yourself". Everyone cheers as Niki and Donna rise from underneath the stage, sporting a punk-outfit. Everyone stares at the ceiling, as it was reported Madonna might fly on stage. But then there's a spotlight directed to the middle of the stage, right in front of us. Our queen comes out of the smoke; on a sliding path she comes closer (see picture on the left). The crowd goes hysteric as she sings "I traded fame for love without a second thought". She's wearing a red Scottish kilt, with underneath a black pants and leather boots. On top she has a black shirt with zippers across, a see-through sleeve on her left arm and a bandage on her right arm. Later we hear that it's not because of an accident, but to avoid irritation from playing the guitar. And she's small! But she has this powerful look. This is really Madonna! 18.000 fans sing along with Drowned World. Many are crying of happiness. It's so unreal to see her in the flesh, after all those years. As she's singing the last 'substitute for love', the beat kicks in and the crowd starts dancing on Impressive Instant. Several male dancers join Madonna on stage, wearing strange masks covered with lights. Standing on a lifted stage, she falls back for a bodysurf on the hands of the dancers. As she gets down, they surround her like some kind of huge insects bugging her. She kicks them aside, pushes them back. She comes to the front of the stage; only a meter away from us, crawling on the floor on her back (pictures on the right). We're only two songs into the show and Madonna has already proven what every fan knows: there's only one big entertainer ruling this world! A heavy rock beat introduces Candy Perfume Girl. Nobody else but the lady herself is playing the electric guitar! Boy, has she improved since the Letterman performance! As a professional guitarist she's rocking on stage. Once again the crowd goes wild. Seductively she sticks her finger in her mouth (picture left). Those who paid attention could read her guitar strap 'FUCK OFF'. Some kind of warning, cause at the end of the song she screams 'fuck off motherfuckers!!'. The lady can say what she wants, the fans will cheer anyway! "We love you too honey!" was my answer. :) Austin Powers appears on the big screen "Shall we shag now or shall we shag later?". "And you can fuck off too!" blurts Madge, before jumping around on the rhythm of Beautiful Stranger. Maddy, Niki and Donna run to all corners of the stage, tadadada tata ta. Then the ladies pull the shy 'cameraman' on stage, seducing the *poor* boy (picture right). Hey Mo, I'll be your cameraman any time! ;-) The last song of the 'punk-rock' part of the show is Ray Of Light. As for most songs throughout the show we see an extended video on the big screen, made by Dan-o-rama. As expected this song is one of the highlights of the concert. No matter how little space we have, we just have to dance on this one. Which means one big heaving crowd. Madonna jumps and dances as if her life's depending on it. She's clearly having as much fun as we are. "And I feeeeeeeeeeeeeel!!" Then it gently slows down, dancers disappear in the dark and Madonna's left alone in the spotlight. "And now, I find I've changed my mind... This is my religion". By this she finishes the first part of the show. As Madonna goes backstage for a costume change, the stage is left empty except for a jungle-like decor and four white cocoons on the ceiling. With the first tones of Paradise (Not For Me) the sheets fall off and we see four butt-naked (except for that string) male dancers, hanging upside down. The screen shows a mantra-movie starring Madonna, resembling the Geisha-look from the Nothing Really Matters-video (picture left). As the song continues the dancers slowly crawl up. Boy, are they supple or what ?! They come back on the ground, slowly moving towards the front. As Mo sings 'there is a light' they slowly open their mouth and uncover a reddish glow. The tone is set for a more mysterious and theatrical part of the show. Madonna is back, (re)introducing her Geisha-look with a black wig and wearing a black-and-red dress by Adrienne Phillips with 26ft long sleeves, covering the entire width of the stage (pictures right). Two dancers pull off the sleeves as if it were two giant flags. Madonna gives a beautiful performance of the haunting Frozen. The choreography of the fantasticly dressed dancers seems to be perfectly timed. With the asian style the tones are difficult to define, but real fans recognize the intro from Open Your Heart. Not yet time for a flashback though; it is actually Nobody's Perfect that starts. This song is without any doubt the most theatrical. Madonna's on stage with a samourai dancer. She asks him for forgiveness, as 'nobody's perfect'. Running after him, resting her head on his shoulder. As he doesn't want to give in she finally kneels and he cuts off her talisman (picture right). A few violins seem to cry because of her defeat. The silence is broken by the ringing sound which we know from Mer Girl. I really didn't expect this song on tour, as it's so personal and emotional. But it perfectly fits the mysterious, haunting sphere that the show is in now. Madonna slowly walks up the stage on the jungle-like decor... 'I ran and I ran, I was looking for me...' Then the beat kicks in again! Sky Fits Heaven! The crowd goes hysterical as Madonna jumps of the levelled stage. Wearing a cord on her back (which can be pulled up by dancers at the side of the stage), she seems to be flying with every step she takes. This performance is the most spectacular, no doubt THE highlight of the evening. Madonna continues her fight against the dancers, the 'evil spirits', kicking them in a true kungfu-style, flying and jumping! (picture left) Now it's her turn for victory. Things calm down again and Mo's left on stage. Now she can finish what she started. "And the ground gave way beneath my feet" she sings while the ground literally opens up and a red glow comes out from the depth. With only some simple percussion in the background, Madonna finishes Mer Girl and at the same time the Geisha-part of the show. But before leaving she takes a gun and shoots the last 'evil spirit' dancer. (picture right) Time for a new costume change, while a heavy dance remix of What It Feels Like For A Girl is playing. Dancers entertain us on stage, while on the big screen there's an animated movie, again by Dan-o-rama. Then Madonna rises from underneath the stage, sitting on bales of hay. While playing the acoustic guitar she hits the first notes of I Deserve It. She's wearing a cowboy outfit of black leather. It's a quiet song, and everyone silently enjoys it. But the cheering at the end is loud. 'Did you like that? Do you wanna hear some more?" What else than a big 'YEAH'! 'Don't Tell Me to stop' she asks. We never would Maddy! Second time the chorus gets around she points the microphone towards the public. As one the crowd sings the already classic lyrics. 'WOOOOW' laughs Madge and she jumps to the middle of the stage for that fantastic line dance with the cowboy dancers. The performance resembles a lot what we've seen on other shows already, but live it's all so much better. The rhythm slows down and Madonna's left in the spotlight as she vulnerably sings 'please don't... please don't... please don't tell me to stop...' But she's far from vulnerable as she starts Human Nature. Another surprise on the show, as she's doing so few pre-Ray Of Light songs. But what a fantastic experience to hear her sing it after 7 years! She takes off her leather jacket. Underneath she's wearing a shirt with a US flag motive. Together with the dancers she wraps herself up in ropes, resembling the video. Then she heads for the mechanical bull that has appeared on the right corner of the stage. "Oops I didn't know we couldn't talk about seeeeeeeeex" she blurts as she's riding it. Simply fantastic! During this cowboy part of the show Madonna starts talking to the audience more than earlier in the show. She seems to feel more comfortable to interact, and she takes advantage of that as she introduces the next song that's "brand new" and "very personal, because it's about a person". She tries her best to talk with a southern cowboy-accent to Niki and Donna as she sings this funny country song 'Oh Dear Daddy'. It's a stupid, simple song, but when Mo brings it, she of course gives it a new dimension. Well... not really, she's just having fun actually. And the crowd appreciates it. The next song she dedicates to all the people that have been an inspiration in her life. It's Secret. While she plays the guitar on the lifted stage, the middle screen shows an extended version of the video with images of people throughout life, from baptism to death, rather religiously influenced. The show gets even more emotional, as Madonna heads for the left corner of the stage to sing Gone. No flashy lights, no dancers, just Madonna in the spotlight (picture right). In the stadium you see hands waving along, people get out their lighters. I never cared that much for this song before, but this performance is so emotional, so vulnerable, so perfect. We just hold each others hands and enjoy this fantastic song, which closes the third part of the show. Time for the last part already, which can be seen as the spanish-latin part of the show. First Don't Cry For Me Argentina but just an instrumental version. Lots of candles rise at the sides of the stage, creating a special atmosphere in which the dancers perform a partner dance. Meanwhile a black box rises from the stage. As it opens we see Maddy in a beautiful black Gaultier dress (picture left). Especially the Spanish fans sing along with Lo Que Siente La Mujer. By now, I know most of the lyrics too. The percussion makes this song better than the version which we find on the maxi single. Following the style of the song, Madonna's on stage with four female dancers, who ask her for a dance one by one. Monty the guitarist makes a great transition to La Isla Bonita. "This song is for Barcelona!" Madonna picks up her acoustic guitar and plays as she's standing in between the dancers and musicians. They form a circle around the flamenco dancer while the fans shout 'olé!'. Maddy encourages the crowd, slapping on her guitar. Again, she looks like having a lot of fun! The crowd has been going wild all the show, certainly the front row where I was standing. But everyone gets out all the energy left in his body when the classic tones of Holiday come out of the speakers. Madonna, Niki and Donna come out on stage. Madonna's wearing a black shirt saying 'mother' in the front and 'f*ckers' on the back. Donna hands her a white fur coat. They also got these funny little hats which they later throw into the crowd. They dance and jump around on stage, from left to right corner. It makes me even think of Blond Ambition; it's so super energetic! It's just amazing how an 18-year old song (people, this was only her third single!) can get 18000 people go completely MAD! Of course the lyrics are so well-known that everyone's singing and shouting along! If there's one party song, it's definitely this one! It doesn't take too long after Holiday or we hear "Do you like to... boogie woogie". Music, the perfect way to end a perfect show. All dancers on stage; Madonna gives her best for the last time. On the screen we see the perfectly timed video collection, ranging from the Burning Up video to What It Feels Like For A Girl. Nobody wants to think about this being the end of the show; everyone just dances, sings and enjoys the last minutes of this huge spectacle, under a rain of gold glitters... But then it's over. The three final beats of Music, Maddy's fist in the air and the car crash from the WIFLFAG video. The crowd keeps on cheering. Then Ali G appears on screen: "Go home, she ain't coming back. They've got the Backstreet Boys in this venue tomorrow and let's face it, you don't wanna be around for that!" Read about the other shows >>
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