DROWNED WORLD TOUR - DIARY EUROPE Camping in Barcelona - Barcelona shows - Milan - Berlin - Paris - London US tour diary
Sunday, June 10th 2001 Emma and I have slept a few hours only. After having breakfast in downtown Barcelona, we head back to the Palau Sant Jordi. There's only a dozen of fans waiting outside the stadium. It's cloudy and rainy today. Slowly more people are showing up. We can see people cleaning the square in front of the venue. Rumour has it that Madonna ordered that everything had to be clean by noon. If not, she would not perform. By 2 pm the cleaning still wasn't finished... The gates open in the afternoon and again we have to run to get a spot in the queu. But again we manage to get in front! :) When the doors open at 7 pm we run up to the stage. We're experienced now and get to front row without any problems. We settled for the right corner, where madonna plays I Deserve It and where she rides the mechanical bull during Human Nature. When the lights go out, the excitement is as big as the day before! Although we know what's going to happen, it still fills me with warmth and energy. Madonna's in good condition. She seems more confident tonight. Yesterday was the very first show of the tour and now that it went so perfectly, she is more relaxed and seems to be enjoying herself much more. Which makes the show even better than yesterday's. Our spots are also much better. Standing in the middle is so very tiring, with people pushing from all sides, and so so hot! At the corner we still got a great view and it's less hot. But the best thing of course is that Maddy comes close to us many times! It's first with Beautiful Stranger that she, Niki and Donna come and dance in our corner. With Frozen she's also very close. Especially during the cowboy part of the show she's around us all the time! She rises from the stage, sitting on those bales of hay, right in front of us! When I take a picture, for sure she's looking right in my camera! Then she gets up for Don't Tell Me and points the microphone to us. She definitely spotted us, as Gareth, Floris and I are much taller than the Spanish and Italians fans around us. As we're dancing and having fun, she smiles at us! And what we hoped for, happens a little later. She reaches out her hand to us! Gareth and Floris go wild as she touches their fingers. I missed her by 5 centimeters... Tuesday, June 12th 2001 While i'm enjoying a relaxing holiday in Barcelona, mostly thinking about the fantastic weekend I've had, Madonna's already in Milan. She and Guy are spotted while shopping in famous boutiques, like Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Alberta Ferretti and Versace. She also visits Italian fashion designer and good friend Donatella Versace at Versace's Villa Fontanelle. Wednesday, June 13th 2001 Tonight Mo plays her first out of three shows in Milan, Italy. Fans report that the show is the same as in Barcelona. Although many thought that only Barcelona would get the Spanish version of What It Feels Like For A Girl, the setlist appears to be the same. Lo Que Siente is part of the Spanish part of the show, so it's played everywhere. Something that did change is the end of the show. In Barcelona Music was played right after Holiday and the show was ending with Ali G telling the fans to go home. Many were disappointed that there was no encore. In Milan, there is no Ali G, but Music is played after a few minutes break, so it looks like an encore. Smart move Maddy! Sunday, June 17th 2001 While being in Berlin, Madonna and galpal Gwyneth Paltrow made a silent visit to former nazi concentration camp Sachsenhausen. German tabloid Bild publishes a picture of the stars in front of the iron gate, pointing at the infamous slogan 'Arbeit macht frei' (Work sets you free). Bild said that while Madonna and Paltrow were worldwide stars, "not here (in Sachsenhausen). Here they are both simply women made speechless by the agonizing deaths of tens of thousands." Tuesday, June 19th 2001 Madonna kicks off her first German show tonight. She apologizes to the public for the cancellation of the concerts in Cologne, "but you can't serve something when it's not hot enough". When Austin appears on the screen, right before Beautiful Stranger, she doesn't shout 'You can fuck off too', like she did in Barcelona, but she says 'Oberaffentittengeil' with an incredibly funny voice! Wednesday, June 20th 2001 The tour is asking its first toll. Madonna's having a cold and is seen wearing a scarf around her neck to decrease the inflamation of her vocal chords. During the second show, she apologizes for a weaker voice. Some fans report the show isn't as good as the previous ones. Afterwards she doesn't show up at the afterparty but instead calls an emergency doctor to free her from her scratchy throat and husky voice. However the prescribed medication gave her stomach problems. It's even that bad that she considers cancelling the other concerts. Thursday, June 21st 2001 On her day off, Madonna and friends Ingrid Casarez and Gwyneth Paltrow are spotted in Berlin, visiting the Berlin National Gallery. Guy's not in Berlin, as he's on location shooting his new movie. The scarf has disappeared and Madonna seems to be feeling better. Fortunately for the fans, no word about any cancellation! Friday, June 22nd 2001 Fans report that Maddy gave an estonishing performance tonight. Seems like the lady's feeling better! :) The Max Schmeling-Halle are filled once again with 11.000 wildly enthusiatic fans. Sunday, June 24th 2001 In the afternoon Madonna arrives at Hotel Crillon in Paris, holding Rocco in her arms and with daughter Lourdes walking behind her. She is also accompanied by Gwyneth again. Tuesday, June 26th 2001 About 17.000 fans fill the Palais Omnisports de Bercy for Madonna's first gig in Paris. Those who've seen previous shows agree that this is one of the best shows so far. Wednesday, June 27th 2001 Quite some celebs attending the second show in Paris: Mirwais, Jean-Paul Gaultier and Jean-Baptiste Mondino, who all get a warm applause from Madonna and the audience. During Don't Tell Me Madonna asks Mirwais on stage to play the guitar. Allesandro and Barbara, the Italians we met in Barcelona, are in front row again. When they shout "Te amo!" Madonna answers "Te amo? Is that Spanish? Where are we? I love you too! I'm gonna dedicate this next song to YOU!" after which she sings Secret. Lucky guys! Friday, June 29th 2001 Finally! At 6.47 am me and my best mate Krissy take the Thalys from Brussels to Paris. We got tickets for Saturdays show. Gareth also promised me a ticket for tonights show. So with a little luck we find one more on the black market! Nervously we arrive at Bercy at 8.30, expecting a whole crowd waiting there. Quite a relief when there are only about 70 people. Gareth, Frank, Floris and Caroline are pretty much in front. Among the other fans in the queu, there are a lot of Belgian fans, but also fans from Italy, Switserland, Holland and yes, some from France! ;-) I already know the procedure now. Waiting all day in the queu in the hot sun... Difference with Barcelona is that we have to queu in between barriers with not much space. Especially when a few stupid fans rush in and make everyone rush with them, so everyone's standing with hardly any space. Krissy and me queu in turns to hold on till 7pm. Fortunate thing is that we find our second ticket at 11am already, at a very decent price! Everyone seems to have chosen Paris as meeting place! It's great to meet a lot of people that were in Barcelona too, like the Italian gang. We meet some more Belgian fans too. All of a sudden a guy walks up to me asking if I'm Bart. "Yup, that's me". It turns out to be Marcin, my Polish penfriend for over a year! Madonna was so right; Music makes the people come together! At 4.30pm there's another rush forward. We are now pretty much in front, but really PACKED! That means we have to stand still for another 2,5 hours! Fortunately I just came back with two extra bottles of water. Kris already has a sunburn... We get in at 6.50pm. Contrary to Barcelona, security is very tight! Like a bunch of wild animals they lead us through barriers and they manage to check us and our tickets. Once through, Kris and I run of the stairs. Inside there are guards everywhere, so you can't really run. The waiting was worth it again; Kris and I get to second row, pretty much in the centre. There's only a small girl in front of us, so we have a perfect view! At 9pm lights go out! Even after having seen this twice already, this moment gets me so excited! The beginning of Drowned World is so exciting, so anticipating! First the whole stage lighting that rises up, with all the screens blinking. Just like in Barcelona the crowd cheers when the dancers rise on stage. And everyone goes ecstatic as Madonna appears from the back of the stage. We scream like hell, then join her singing that beautiful song. As the song grows more powerful, she rises on the middle stage. It's really true, the Paris shows are the best ones! Mo is in top condition and the rock part of the show is groovy! Funny detail is that her microphone didn't work when she wanted to shout her 'F*ck off motherf*ckers' as I can perfectly see her lips moving without any sound. Calmly she keeps on playing the guitar as she steps up to another mic and finishes the line. Apart from that, there aren't any mistakes or technical difficulties today; it's really perfect! Watching the show for the third time gives me the opportunity to pay more attention to details. While Madonna's flying through the sky on Sky Fits Heaven, I finally see how she's doing it: at the other end of the cord she's attached to, is a dancer - almost invisible in the dark - that jumps off a small construction, pulling Madonna up in the sky. You can see Madonna concentrate each time she has to jump up. The timing HAS to be perfect! During Mer Girl, I'm watching the video screen more. It's pretty cruel, all those images of that abused woman. I'm not even sure if it's played by Madonna or not. Seems like the Geisha part is completely built on the theme of What It Feels Like For A Girl. Madonna as the girl that cries for her lost love whose heart is Frozen. Madonna who is defeated by the samourai dancer. Madonna who cries for the loss of her mother in Mer Girl. And then finally she's on the way of revench, defeating the evil spirits and finally the samourai dancer during Sky Fits Heaven. And at the end of Mer Girl she shoots the last bad guy in the head. The animated video that is shown during the remix of What It Feels Like For A Girl builds on the same theme again. In Barcelona it only seemed like a bunch of images of a running girl. Now I got a perfect view and I see things I hadn't seen before. In flashes we see parts of a girls life, first as a child safe in her world, then growing up and getting to know 'what it feels like for a girl'. The movie gets more violent and erotic to the end, as the music starts pumping. Then a scream and a film producer shouting "everyone remove the cameras!" Was it all a movie the girl was starring in? No, it isn't, as the girl wakes up in her bed... But don't think I was standing there analyzing! I was just jumping, dancing, singing, shouting along! Everyone's having a great time! Including Maddy who gives us a smile once in a while. Before we know it Niki, Donna and Mo are doing their ghetto dance on Holiday. "When I say 'pimp' you say 'ho'!" PIMP! HO! PIMP! HO! "Here we go!" The lady is incredible! After Holiday, it stays quiet for a while. Except of course for 17.000 crazy fans wanting more. Music starts as an encore, as the ultimate dance topper of the show. Knowing it will be over (too) soon, we dance and sing our ass off. But after 7 minutes of boogie-woogie, it's really over. 'Thank you and goodnight!' she says for the first time. Again there's no Ali G. Saturday, June 30th 2001 Boy, what a fantastic show! Krissy and I are completely exhausted. Originally we wanted to trade our seat tickets for standing and start queuing again on saturday morning. But after the friday concert we are so exhausted that we decide to have a good night rest and a relaxing day and then use the seating tickets. We wake up at noon, remembering last nights concert as a fantastic dream. In the afternoon we pass by the queue where everyone is again waiting in that bloody hot sun. I've done it three times and I'm glad not having to go through it all again. Quite a difference to just walk up to the stadium at 8pm without any rush. Compared to the queuing, rushing and running I've expereinced before, this is very sophisticated. They even accompany us to our seats... Admitted, the people on the seats are a more older public and for a moment we hesitate to leave our seats and stand in the crowd downstairs. Then again, seeing that whole crowd from the seats, I can't believe I've stood in between yesterday. Even more, we stood in front of it! :) Fortunately, it doesn't take too long for our block to get on their feet. Ironically, when you have seats you got much more space to dance! And we get a general view, spotting things you can't see when you're standing in front row. Okay, we're probably trying to convince ourselves that we made the right decision. In the end it's all a great experience again and we have a lot of fun. One of the things I saw for the first time - invisible for front row - were the small screens showing the blinking eye during Drowned World. In fact there were a lot more screens then I thought. One big screen in the middle, repeated on two side screens on the ground, showing the video images. The two side screens in the air, showing live images, sometimes animated, like Madonna riding the mechanical bull was shown within the Music logo. And then finally there were those little TV screens. Too bad this hour-and-a-half show goes so quickly, I just can't get enough! As Madonna says 'Je suis triste...' (I feel so sad). After the show we meet up with Gareth, Floris and Frank and head for Hotel Crillon to wait for Madonna. At the hotel we also meet Caroline, Greg and many others. Although the show was over by 11pm Madonna has still not arrived by 1.30am. At least that's what we think, because minutes later the bodyguards start laughing, break up the barriers and say that Mo is already inside. By coincidence Gareth saw her enter through the other entrance. As the only fan waiting there he even spoke to her; his luck seems endless! The other fans however go home disappointed. With no metro's left, Kris and I walk back to our hotel at the other end of Paris... Sunday, July 1st 2001 Fans waiting at Hotel Crillon get lucky when Madonna leaves through the side entrance in the early afternoon. Kris and I aren't there though, as we preferred to visit Paris rather than waiting a whole day outside the hotel and maybe get disappointed again. We've had the weekend of our life anyway. We head back home, and so does Madonna. Wednesday, July 4th 2001 Tonight Madonna plays her first gig in hometown London. The 16,000 capacity Earls Court is fully booked. One couple reportedly spent £5,000 for each of their tickets! The show is attended by Guy and his parents, as well as several celebs, such as Kylie Minogue, Puff Daddy among others. Madonna comes on stage wearing a kilt in the colors of the British Union Jack. At the end of Candy Perfume Girl, Madonna replaces the 'traditional' 'F*ck off motherf*ckers' for a 'God save the queen'. Also remarkable were her words at the beginning of I Deserve It: 'Normally, I just go into this song, but I would like to dedicate it to someone special. I've waited many months but wanted to be in the city where he was born. This song is for my husband'. Later she says she has written a song especially for American Independance Day, after which she launches Oh Dear Daddy. The show ends with the Ali G-scene, something that has so far only happened in Barcelona and once in Paris. Later that night Madonna and Guy have dinner with friends Elton John and George Michael. Afterwards they head for the Berkeley Hotel in Belgravia, since their house in Westminster is being renovated. A few hours later however they leave again because the airconditioning broke down. They check into Claridge's Hotel in Mayfair for a £2,200 suite. Next morning Madonna looks very tired, as she hasn't slept much. Furtunately she doesn't have a show that night. Friday, July 6th 2001 Madonna has made a habit out of it to shop in every city she visits on tour. Hometown London is no exception, so she steps out with Lola for a fun time among girls. In the evening she plays her second gig, which is a very remarkable one! After Candy Perfume Girl, she shouts her 'F*ck off motherf*ckers' again; no more 'God save the queen'. But then she starts shouting 'Get your tits out! Get your tits out! Get your tits out for the boys!', for which the crowd of course goes hysteric. Fans who've seen her in concert during the Who's That Girl Tour in 1987 remember that UK fans started singing that to her. Coming back to the UK for the Blond Ambition Tour, she said 'Don't start singing that tit song again!'. And now, so many years later she takes revenge! This is Madonna! You go girl! Another moment of intrest is the end of the Geisha part. During Sky Fits Heaven her black wig slowly starts slipping. She sings Mer Girl (part II) with the wig hanging a little strange on her head. At the end she just rips it off, throws it on the ground and shakes her head. A now blonde Geisha shoots the dancer. Madonna seems to be in a very good mood tonight. The whole thing with the wig doesn't seem to bother her that much. She's also very talkative througout the whole show. A British fan points out that at the end of Holiday she uses a sample of Stardust's remix 'Holiday Sounds Better With You'. Listening to the MP3s of the other shows I realise I never noticed it before. Saturday, July 7th 2001 Madonna is so full of surprises! It surprised me that a perfectionist as her wasn't bothered with the falling wig (or at least she didn't show it). But I'm amazed when I hear reports of the third London gig, saying she ripped her wig off AGAIN! On purpose this time! Or does that mean it was all a set-up the first time too? Or did she just use this to her advantage and make it a humourous part of the show? One thing's for sure, she's a great entertainer AND a smart business woman! Another notable fact of the third gig was that she wore a union flag in front of her kilt during the first part of the show. She also repeated the 'Get your tits out' song before starting Beautiful Stranger. Tuesday, July 10th 2001 She seems to enjoy her new show elements, so she repeats the 'tits song' and the 'wig thing' again on her fifth gig in Earls Court. During La Isla Bonita a crazy fan manages to climb on stage, wanting to join the flamenco dancer. Once on top of the stage however, he is quickly picked up by security and taken away. Madonna just smiles and continues regardless. It's reported that celebreties who want to see the show have to pay for their own ticket. They're have been many stars watching the Drowned World tour already. In Paris, the show was attended by Mirwais, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Jean-Baptiste Mondino, Mylene Farmer and Rosanna Arquette among others. On the seats of London's Earls Court there were Elton John, George Michael, Mick Jagger, Puff Daddy, Mel C, Kylie Minogue, Angelina Jolie and Usher. While they are used to getting free tickets, Madonna insisted everyone was treated equally. With so many stars watching the show, it would be giving away a fortune. The celebs were so eager to see the show that they didn't mind the £75 anyway. As if it would hurt their multi-million wallet... Wednesday, July 11th 2001 Madonna is showing off a new image again. As the picture on the right clearly shows, Maddy goes punk now! Watch the quite extra-ordinary accessory on her belt... a pistol! She reportedly spends the day pampering herself, visiting a solarium and an aromatherapy store. Thursday, July 12th 2001 Tonight Madonna plays the last one out of 19 European shows. It's more or less the same routine as the previous gigs at Earl's Court. Again, she repeats the 'tits song'. 'I Deserve It' is dedicated to Guy 'because he's the coolest guy in the universe and he has a really big... shoe collection!'. Remember she once dedicated the True Blue album to 'my husband, the coolest guy in the universe'... which was a different husband though! Just like the last gig in Paris, she said she was sad because it was her last show in town and that she had written a special song for the occasion, being Oh Dear Daddy of course. The show is again attended by many celebs, including William Orbit, Dido, Ricky Martin, Stella McCartney, Gabrielle, Pierce Brosnan, Gwyneth Paltrow and Belinda Carlisle. That's it for Europe, folks! While we can now cherish our fantastic experiences in our memory, Madonna will be enjoying a well-deserved holiday. She'll be in Philadelphia on July 21st to conquer the States.
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