“Finally, my review and pics of the Las Vegas show. Better late than never” – M-Tribe member Lance writes. “The bad part about writing a review of a concert after several groups have seen it is you don’t want to keep repeating the same things over and over. Hopefully, I’ll be able to give some info. that others will find helpful.”

“I won’t critique every song because for those of you that “cave in” to spoilers (like me), you already know the concert by heart…whether you’ve seen it or not. So here we go…”

I travelled to Las Vegas from Ohio alone. Noone was willing to pay the money, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me. I feel that I am responsible for contributing to Lola and Rocco’s college fund, so I’ve done my part. ;o)

The Triber’s pre-party did not really go as well as I had hoped. I went to the “meeting places”, but I really didn’t know what anyone looked like. I saw several people wandering around like they were looking for someone, but I embarrassed myself too many times by asking strangers if they were “tribers”…

I couldn’t keep doing that.

So advice #1, make sure you set up a definite, exact, small location to meet. To say you’re meeting at a club when noone really knows what eachother looks like……..not a good idea. I did meet up with Josh and Nathan and we had a nice little time at Centrifuge. Then, on to the concert…

I went both nights and after buying my “goodies” I went to find my seat. The first night I was off to the side (section L10) which was great because I was able to get a full-view of everything.

The second night I was on the floor. Seating… there’s alot of confusion about the seats and how they are numbered, here’s how it was in Las Vegas. When you are on the floor, looking at the stage, you have section B on the left side and section A on the right with the catwalk going down the middle, seperating the 2 sections. Facing the stage, if you are on the left side of the catwalk (in this case section B), the lowest numbers start closest to the catwalk, so seat #1 is directly next to it. If you are on the right side of the catwalk (section A), the higher numbers are close to the catwalk and seat #1 would be all the way at the end of the aisle. This is how it was in Vegas and some guys I talked to had seen the other shows and said it was like that where they went as well. I hope this helps. I was in Section B, row Y, seat 5 and let me tell you, I was CLOSE. When she made her grand entrance, I kept praying that the wonderful disco ball was well secured, but think about it guys, what a way to go. Man killed in Vegas by Madonna’s 2 million dollar disco ball!! Anyway… let’s get some more info. out of the way.

Cameras… should I or shouldn’t I??? The first night in Vegas I didn’t take a camera because I wanted to check things out and see how strict they were. I had to go through a metal detector, so this was not a good thing. The next night, I took a plastic disposable camera and had no problem getting it in. When I went to my seat, I talked to a really nice usher and asked her what the deal was with cameras. I told her there were more people with cameras than without last night. Here’s what she said……”Cameras are allowed… as long as they are not professional cameras with super zooms.”
Your basic digital cameras were not a problem in Vegas and it almost looked like at times, Madonna was posing for pics on stage, like she expected it. It might be a good idea to check other venues, but that was my experience.

The concert itself was nothing short of amazing! For those people that haven’t seen it and you hate it already, I honestly don’t understand. Her voice has never sounded better. Her energy leaves you breathless. The entire experience is one I will never forget.

As we all know, our girl likes to make grand entrances and this tour was no exception, in fact it’s probably my favorite part. The video is superb (I know wobble is excited about seeing this). I am still going with RIT’s video as my favorite… I love Madonna in that red dress and those “jerking” motions took my breath away… then with The Beast Within… too much. This video is beautiful and is a definite close second. You actually miss alot of the video when you realize the disco ball is coming down and you begin to focus on that. When she emerges from the ball… Hello Dita!

This is the point where I add my one “itsy-bitsy” criticism… “Future Lovers/I Feel Love” opens the show incredibally and really grabs you by the balls… or whatever you have down there, but then we go into “Get Together” and I felt like it lost a little of it’s naughtiness. In my opinion, Erotica (the album version or a mix of this version) should have come next, along with “Like a Virgin” and even “Justify My Love” ending the segment with “Bad Girl“… then go into the religious segment. “Erotica“, no matter what version it is, should never be done with disco balls and disco dancing. I’m a huge fan of this song, but did not care for the tour version and the way it was done. I kept wanting to hear… “My name is Dita, I’ll be your mistress tonight“, while she rode her dancers like little horses… oh well, that’s just me.

I was really blown away by this concert and it would be hard for me to pick my favorite song that is performed. The Las Vegas crowd was hot… Paris was even there. There is no truth in what people have said about it being a horrible crowd. I was there both nights and it was electric. The “cross controversy” is ridiculous. She sings the song beautifully and you are just mesmerized by the entire performance.

At the beginning of “Let It Will Be” before she put her hand down her pants she said… “You don’t mind if I make myself comfortable do you?” Then she pulled her hand out and stuck her finger in her mouth….. I’ve started doing that.. .I like it.:o)

People have complained about no encores. As much as she gives during the show, you can forgive her for not doing an encore…trust me. If you haven’t seen this concert yet, but you have tickets… Don’t let the negative posts worry you in the least. It’s worth every penny and you will leave the arena wanting to see it again and again.

After the second night, I waited outside the main doors to see if Paris Hilton was coming out (this part is sad, but I like all of you well enough to share it with you.)

Anyway, she didn’t so I was checking everyone out and I heard a commotion coming from the escalator. I looked over and Cloud and Tamara were going up, so I rushed up the stairs so I could beat the escalator. Noone really seemed that interested other than me and a couple of other people. They are soooooooo friendly and I got hugs from each of them. Thank goodness I saved a couple of pics on my camera or I would have beaten myself up for the rest of the trip.

The rest of the evening I was on “Cloud’s nine”… I mean cloud nine.

I had my pics developed in Las Vegas because I was afraid the x-ray machine at the airport would ruin them. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I took them out of the package and looked at them… even the women in the photo dept. at Walgreens were impressed! Back to them… the nicest people you’d ever want to meet. I asked Tamara if I could have a pic and she said, “Only if you’re in it with me.” Cloud introduced himself to me (like I didn’t know)… very gracious and humble.

When he was posing for a couple of other pics, he didn’t know where to look because I kept snapping pics… even though I have no idea who these people are. I was having a high point in my life and I kept thinking…finally, I’ll have something to share with the Tribers when I get back home… see, I think of you guys.

When they were getting ready to walk off, I asked if I could have one more pic with just them. That’s when Tamara grabbed him and planted a big kiss on his cheek…priceless.

OK, If you’ve made it this far, thank you for your time and giving me a chance to ramble on.

I hope you’ve enjoyed it, at least parts of it. Thanks for letting me “express myself“.

Love and Light,
Lance

Thanks to Lance. If you want to send in your pictures, magazine scans, memorabilia, and everything you would like to see featured on MadonnaTribe.com please use our usual contact email, share@madonnatribe.com. Thank you!