DROWNED WORLD TOUR - DIARY US Philadelphia - NYC - New Jersey - Boston - Washington - Miami Atlanta - Detroit - Chicago - Las Vegas - Oakland - LA European tour diary

Sunday, August 19th 2001 Seems like Madonna's haircut grows wilder with every show! After a well-deserved holiday to celebrate her birthday, she hosts another great night, this time in Atlanta, Georgia. As usual, she doesn't adress the public until the cowgirl-part of the show. "Well, what do you know, here we are in Atlanta!", she says in a corny, country voice, "I've had myself some good ol' times in Atlanta... You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Could she be referring to the Atlanta stripclub where she allegedly picked up a female stripper named Baby (according to what the club owner told Court in a case of fraud against him) ? :) Introducing Secret, she talks about writing and recording the song in Atlanta. After Secret she performs You'll See. Saturday, August 25th 2001 Madonna has been rehearsing a lot the past few days, probably to be in top condition for the HBO concert. Tonights show in Detroit is like the big rehearsal before the broadcast. Madonna is in good shape and gives a great performance. She sings Gone instead of You'll See. HBO is taping parts of the show to include into tomorrows documentary. Sunday, August 26th 2001 All the American fans who didn't get the chance to see Madonna live on tour, are tuned into HBO tonight, which broadcasts the entire show. At 8.45 pm HBO shows Madonna behind the scenes, practising Secret on the guitar. At 9 pm sharp Madonna kicks off the show, which will turn out to be another topper. Although some expected her to do something special on the HBO show, the setlist didn't change and includes Gone instead of You'll See. Before singing Oh Dear Daddy she pays tribute to her family and her birthtown. With her southern Dolly Parton accent she goes: "My dad's watching the show tonight. I don't know where you are dad but I hope you're having a good time. I guess you all know by now that I was born and raised in Michigan. Damn proud of it. You know, no matter what happens to me, no matter where I go, no matter what I do, I'll never forget where i came from. To show my appreciation to you folks in Michigan, that kinda shaped me, kinda turned me into the person I am today, I wanna give something back to you: a brand new song, probably never been heard before!" The crowd eats it like cake, right out of her hand and gives her the cheers required for her to sing the song. Loyal as she is, Madonna adds at the end of the song: "I wanna make one thing clear. That song is not about my dad. And while we're on the subject of dads, I just wanna say, dad you are one cool dude. Thank you for everything". Aaw, isn't she sweet! The whole show goes smoothly, without any major technical difficulties. Tuesday, August 28th 2001 Madonna continues her tour in the Mid-West, playing for 20 000 fans in Chicago's United Center. She is nearly 50 minutes late when she gets on stage a little before 9pm, but the crowd gives her a warm welcome. "Are ya'll havin' a good time?" she asks as if the opposite would the possible at her show. "I don't want any sticks in the mud. If you're gonna stand up front, you've got to give me some love." Chicago gives love and gets a fantastic show in return. Before Oh Dear Daddy she asks the audience "Do you like my southern accent? If not, you can go fuck yourselves!" Just like in Detroit she performs Gone again. Saturday, September 2nd 2001 Madonna has moved west and takes over Las Vegas for a second night. She's wearing the striped top that she wore only once in New York City. "Well I knew I'd end up here some day, so welcome to my Vegas show. I'm in good company I guess, with Sinatra and James Dean who used to play here". She is in a very talkative and playful mood. Before Oh Dear Daddy she adresses the people in front row: "If you got to sit, then so do I" and she takes a seat at the edge of the stage until everybody's on his feet. Then she points to a man in front row, "Oh you're a drama queen, that's cute!", referring to the guy's shirt (which says 'Drama queen' of course). She seems to be having fun. Even when she cuts in at the wrong spot during the song, she laughs it away asking Niki how the song really goes. She ends the cowgirl segment with Gone. The show is attended by Britney Spears. Wednesday, September 5th 2001 Moving to the last state on her tour, Madonna heats up Oakland, California. She comes on stage with yet a different outfit, which hasn't been seen before: a black, sleeveless shirt with shoulder straps and zippers all over it. Like most of her latest shows she's got a different and wild haircut again. "Hello Oakland, San Francisco, Bay area crowd. Well, this is California, right?". As usual she gets the crowd going again. Again, she sticks with Gone. Thursday, September 6th 2001 "I love what I do because I get to see all those smiling faces." A more relaxed Madonna than yesterday rounds up her double-date with Oakland. During Oh Dear Daddy she refers to Joe Selvin, the guy from SF chronicles who said that her guitar playing was like miming: "When I want to hear from an asshole, I'll fart it!". You go Maddy! Sunday, September 9th 2001 The tour is coming to its end, and Madonna got to her last tour stop: Los Angeles. The Staples Center is sold out for each of the four shows. Tonight Madonna's wearing the same outfit as in Oakland. Though the show goes smoothly, the crowd seems a little reserved, to which Madonna reacts that the LA audience is known for 'not giving it up'. She dedicates Secret to Kevin Costner, who is sitting in front row. Would this be some kind of apology for her rude remarks on 'Truth or Dare'? When Costner saw the Blond Ambition Tour he said it was 'neat', to which Madonna snapped that everyone who described her show as neat, had to go. Madonna continues the show with Gone. The show is attended by Tom Cruise and Penelope Cruz, Tom Hanks and his family, Christina Aguilera, Eddy Murphy, and rumour has it that Whitney Houston is there too. Friend's actor David Schwimmer reportedly is booted from the pit for taking too many pictures! Tuesday, September 11th 2001 As a result of the terroristic acts that have hit the United States and the resulting tragedy, Madonna has postponed tonights show in LA. Thursday, September 13th 2001 Everybody expected Madonna would at least say something about the US tragedy on her LA show. But Madonna does more than that. Proving she is a strong US rolemodel she changes whole parts in her show as a tribute to the victims. She comes on stage wearing a kilt in the colors of the American flag, much like the one she wore in London with the British flag on it. The crowd - with also a lot of waving American flags - welcomes this tribute with a huge applause. The show starts off as usual with the punk-rock part. At the end of the Geisha part she takes her gun and points it at the dancer. Then she hesitates. She puts down the gun, walks over to the guy and puts her arm around his shoulder. Together they leave the stage. Her message is clear. It's a very touching moment for the US fans. Also the cowgirl segment has changed. She ends I Deserve It by saying 'God bless America'. When she takes off her leather jacket to show her American flag shirt in Human Nature the audience gives her an extra loud applause again. She doesn't continue with Oh Dear Daddy, the song is indeed not really fitting now. Instead she gathers the dancers and band on stage and gives a short speech. "Any of you who purchased a ticket to the show tonight will be contributing to a fund that will be for children orphaned by this tragedy, so thank you all. Now on a personal note I think that each and every one of us should look inside our own hearts and examine our own personal acts of terrorism, hatred, intolerance, negativity, the list goes on and on, we're all responsible. If you are homophobic or racist or hate, you contributed to this disaster. It's not just Bin Laden, it's all of us, we've all contributed to hatred in the world today. And I would like to have one minute of silence to say a prayer for those who have died; to say a prayer for the friends and families of those who have died; to say a prayer for the rescuers who have worked night and day to rescue people from the rubble. And most of all say a prayer for anyone who thinks that it is right to kill in the name of God. Where there is violence, there is no God. Let's have a moment of silence. Hold hands with those around you. Or stay still and reflect." As she keeps a moment of silence there are still some fans screaming "Madonna I love you" to which she shouts "shut up!", obviously choked up. And then there is an arena full of silent fans. Many people are crying, holding each other. Madonna wipes away some tears too, while Niki is holding her. She then climbs the stairs to sing Secret, but first says "And one more thing: If you want to change the world, you must first start with yourself!" While everyone reflects on her words, she sings a beautiful and fitting Secret and Gone. ~ This was probably one of her most touching shows on the tour. In the most respectful way she paid tribute to the victims and gave strength to the people to overcome this nightmare. More than ever, Madonna has earned my respect. Friday, September 14th 2001 Also the third show in LA is influenced by the terroristic attacks earlier this week. Lust like yesterday she is wearing an American flag as kilt. Again she doesn't shoot the dancer after Mer Girl. And she keeps another speech instead of Oh Dear Daddy, which calls for peace and understanding. As you can read in the transcript beneath, Madonna urges president Bush not to react to the attacks with more violence. The speech goes something like this: "Howdy, Los Angeles! Having a good time? It's kind of confusing trying to have a good time this week as you all know, and I want you all to know how priviliged I feel to be in the position that I am in today. We don't... we're not doing the show because we want people to forget, we're doing the show because we want to remind people of how precious life is. And how full of joy it should be. The tragedy that occurred this week is unthinkable but i want to think of it as a big fucking wakeup call. OK? But now that we're all awake, we should stay awake. I like to remind each and every one of you that acts of terrorism are going on in this country on a regular basis, ok? In England, in Ireland, in Israel, in Palastine, in India, in Tibet, and Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in Africa and Bosnia and Afghanistan. I could go on and on. OK? Last night, last night we said a prayer for in a moment of silence, ok, 18000 people shut up. Hard to believe but it's true. We had a moment of silence where we said a prayer for everyone who died Tuesday morning, for all the family and friends of those who died. Tonight, I'd like everyone to say a prayer for peace. I'd like everyone to say a prayer that President Bush practices restraint in his decision making, and he does not retaliate this act of violence with another act of violence, ok. Because violence only begets violence. So please everyone, for a minute, can we just keep quiet, bow our heads, grab the person next to you, I don't care, but please, say a prayer. Repeat, because I don't know about you but I want to live a long and happy life, I want my kids to live a long and happy life, ok. [Long silence followed by chants of "USA! USA! USA!" from the audience.] All right, all right, I knew it wouldn't go on for a minute. OK, USA, yeah, but the whole world OK. Start thinking in a global way. Please! Thank you very much. Thank you. I said it last night and I'm going to say it again, if you want the world to change, change yourself!" Saturday, September 15th 2001 Tonight Madonna plays the rescheduled gig that originally was supposed to happen on tuesday. It's her last show of the tour, which is also attended by Jack Nicholson and Lara Flynn Boyle. And many small changes mark her 47th and final concert. For a start, the show doesn't start off right away with the Drowned World intro, but with the intro that was used on the Girlie Show; a circus song that preluded Erotica. Then Drowned World kicks off and Madonna comes on stage with the US kilt. At the end of Candy Perfume Girl, Madonna rips off her guitar and slams it to the ground. Then when Niki and Donna get the Beautiful Stranger on stage, this is none other than Guy Ritchie. Madonna fights against the girls and throws them on the ground so she can have her Guy all for herself backstage. During Nobody's Perfect, the samourai master shows some mercy on her when he reaches down and gives her a quick peck on the cheek. She begins the cowgirl part on the left side of the stage this time. After Human Nature she holds a short speech again, but this time not about the attacks. "It's been a week of sadness, but tonight I'm going to be a little selfish.". She then reflects on the tour and thanks everyone: the dancers, musicians, Niki and Donna, the guys that work under the stage and backstage, the makeup, hair, security, stage hands, grips, and Mike who's in charge backstage. She brought him out to the stage and he got a huge applause. She thanks everybody, including Los Angeles. She climbs the stairs to sing Secret, but she is obviously choked up and on screen we see her wipe away some tears. While singing Gone, she lays back on stage, as if she's saying 'It's over and I'm so exhausted'. As she's going into the last two songs, the crowd goes mad. This is really the end. During Holiday there are not just Madonna, Niki and Donna dancing on stage, but all the dancers gather and finish that fantastic dance classic together. Finally they go into Music. At the point where they are doing the deep-knee bends, the dancers stop and gather around Madonna who continues alone. Then the three final beats of the show. And of the Drowned World Tour. "Thank you and goodnight!". 47 shows in 17 cities. A few hundreds of thousand fans have seen Madonna play live. A few millions have watched it on HBO or some other TV channel. The Drowned World Tour has been a huge success. Myself, I'll never forget the wonderful experience of seeing Madonna four times. I hope all of you have enjoyed it as much as I did. Greetz,