London, 22-08-2004

Wembley was even better! I had a VIP platinum ticket for the first show in Wembley Arena and I was one of the lucky ones to actually get a good seat (Block A4, row 6!!).
The VIP reception really wasn’t anything special, but I did get another tourbook (but this time the one with the ‘lazy eye’ picture).

When I was escorted to my seat I couldn’t believe how close I was. My boyfriend Simon got lucky and got into the pit for free (together with my other Dutch friend Martijn) thanks to Alison.

The show was simply amazing, being so close just gave it a whole new meaning, Madonna was at her best this evening. I sang along to each and every song and even though security was extremely strict, managed to take some pics.
It was amazing to have so much eye contact with Madonna and see her smile.

Next to me was an Indian man who seemed rather bored and sat through the whole show, then suddenly he said to me “You know all the songs”, so I told him “DUH, I’m a fan!”.

London, 23-08-2004

Next night for me at Wembley (23d) was the best way to end my London trip. Before the show we met up with Eddy Zoey (Dutch celebrity) who was there with his girlfriend to watch the show as well.

For some reason I just didn’t want to get to my seat, the show was going to start in just 15 minutes and I refused to go to my seat, I really didn’t know why.

Suddenly Chris Lamb walked by (the infamous cowboy) and my boyfriend approached him (we talked to him briefly before at Earls Court) telling him we had bad seats and asking if he could do anything for us. He told us to wait and went away, after five or seven minutes he came back and put a pink wristband on our wrists “you’re in the pit”, we couldn’t believe it!

He escorted us to the pit just minutes before the show started and there we were reunited with our friends Sharon and James in pit right.
What a surreal experience this evening was, especially sharing it with such good friends!
Also I got interviewed by the tour documentary crew because of my story (which I won’t share right now).

I was contacted by them just before the tour took off as Caresse Henry gave them my details, hopefully it came off well and will be included in the documentary!
Then it was off to Paris!!

Paris, 01-09-2004

With the Thalys we went to Paris to experience all four shows.
For the first show we queued outside since the night before but next day there was a rush in the morning, which led to my bag with my tickets for tonight’s and Saturday’s show getting lost.
We left the queue as the pressure was unbearable and went to the police station to report the dangerous situation.

So we did (police station at Gare de Lyon) there they made up a statement and told us they would send police out to check up on the situation.

Next we took the police statement to Bercy and Tony (guy in charge of the lights during the show) helped us out.

Within minutes Alison walked out with our police statement. She told us she wanted to help us out as our tickets got lost, she
couldn’t give us new tickets as the shows were sold out.

She could however place us in the pit for the second and third show in Paris.
We couldn’t get into the pit that night as it was overbooked (too many tickets were given out or something).
We couldn’t believe it and were extremely happy. So we bought ourselves a ticket off a scalper that night and enjoyed the very first show in Paris.

We went in at 20:00 and still managed to get third row on the right of the stage. It was clear Madonna was very happy to be back in Paris, smiling throughout the show and being very playful.

Paris, 02-09-2004

Today we went to Madonna’s hotel George V and got filmed again by the documentary crew (this time the one with Jonas Akerlund) they were really interested in my tattoo.

At four Madonna came out and smiled and was in her car in seconds. But it was amazing seeing her like this again.

That night we met up at Porte 38 at Bercy for our pit night. llison saw us and escorted us to pit right (where M sings "Nothing Fails" and "Crazy for You").

I was unbelievably close this time. And during ‘Nobody Knows Me’ I noticed M’s black hotpants were a bit see through from behind (LOL).

But one of my dreams came true during "Imagine" , she came over and touched some hands, wanted to continue but saw me reaching out to her.
She smiled, looked me straight into my eyes and grabbed my hand. (you can see this on the bootleg recording, I am the last hand she grabs) I was in heaven, I couldn’t believe I actually shook Madonna’s hand.
I cried my eyes out and my boyfriend as well as the security guard both comforted me, which was very nice. What an amazing night!

Paris, 03-09-2004

Today it was a no-Madonna day so we went to see Donna De Lory instead.
She was doing a gig in a yogacentre in Paris. She sang a few songs and we all listened while being seated on the floor of the centre. It was a very intimate and amazing experience and Donna really impressed me with her voice.
Afterwards we all got to meet her, buy her cd’s get them signed etc.

Paris, 04-09-2004

Today we saw Madonna both enter and leave her hotel George V. This time she actually waved and smiled (wow, I was used to her "Up for Grabs" behaviour, now this was something different) and gosh I love those huge orange alien sunglasses!
Today we met a lot of our friends (the London gang, you know who you are) and our Dutch friends (Amon, Martijn, Hans and Peter) who all came for tonight’s show.
We met up at Porte 38 again and this time Alison escorted us into the left pit. Again the show was fabulous and got to touch Madonna’s leg this time during "Deeper and Deeper" (LOL).
I had a bit of a fight with a security guard in our pit, but decided to change places with my boyfriend so I could enjoy the show. Next to me were Tamara’s parents and nephew (the dancer Tamara) they were really nice.

After the show we met up with Sharon, Tony, Tas & co and had a drink.

Paris, 05-09-2004

We decided that today we were not trying to get to the front and just enjoy the last show without any troubles. We saw Madonna enter Bercy today, we didn’t want to wait at her hotel as it was just too hot! We were all the way in the back during the last show but enjoyed it to the fullest. And Madonna’s comments during Imagine were very touching. We managed to film just a few seconds of the show. After the show we met up with the tour documentary crew again and they told me they wanted to film me in Lisbon as well.

Paris to Amsterdam, 06-09-2004

Today we went back to Amsterdam with the Thalys, when at Gare du Nord this girl approached me asking me if she could film my tattoo. I was kinda annoyed as I was tired and I had been already photographed and filmed so many times, but I posed anyway.
We talked about the tour with her and when she said she was going to all the shows because she was a dancer, we were like “What the…….!!!”. She turned out to be Dawn and she was with Jason (another dancer). Then we finally recognized them.

They were very friendly and turned out to be on the same Thalys as us. In the Thalys we met up with all the dancers, the band, and backup singers! Some of them were extremely tired and were sleeping, so we left them alone.

When we arrived in Amsterdam we chatted to
Monte and his fiancé while filming them. Monte turned out to be the friendliest of them all and so down to earth.

Donna De Lory walked by looking extremely tired, holding her heavy suitcase and her daughter at the same time.
No one helped her, no one walked with her. I felt sorry for her but didn’t want to bother her. After the nice chats and telling them to look for us at Arnhem, we went home.

Arnhem, 08-09-2004

After trying to queue the day before, we were back at Gelredome once again early in the morning with our friends Caroline, Hans, Rene and Sandra.

We were told to go away the day before otherwise they would come and make us go away with their dogs (that’s what the security told us anyway).
We queued out all day in the burning hot sun, but were surprised and angry to find out we could not leave our queue as we would not be let back in.

So we all had to do our thing in just one toilet, which led to the fact that you had to wait for about 90 minutes till you could pee.

Also we couldn’t go out to buy anything to eat, so people outside the gates had to do that for us.

This was truly the most unorganized event I had ever experienced! Also the burning hot
sun didn’t help and the fact that Madonna started her soundcheck very late didn’t help either. We got in very late and managed to find a spot front row on the right side of the stage.

Right before the show we saw Monte standing next to pit left and we called him. When he saw it was us he grabbed his camera and filmed us while walking to us (since we filmed him he thought it was fair he could film us, LOL).
We had a nice chat with him again and told him to have a good show. Then he filmed our tattoos and I asked him if he could show it to Madonna, he told us he would.

When the show started immediately we noticed things were going not as planned. Screens didn’t work properly, the sound wasn’t good, the audience wasn’t good and Madonna was pissed off.

Arnhem, 09-09-2004

Tonight we had seating tickets with restricted view as we didn’t want to queue out all day again.
My mother came to watch the show as well tonight so that was great. We did try out for the pit again. My friend Hans got picked to go in and I was as well, until Alison took a better look at me and recognized me from Paris.

She then told me she couldn’t put me in the pit that night as she could only place people in there who hadn’t been in there before.
I understood and left but I know that people have been in the pit over 16 times, so that was a bit unfair.
I then went up to my restricted view seats with Simon and just enjoyed the last show in Holland.

I got a bit annoyed again seeing people go to the bathroom getting drinks and all throughout the show.
What’s the point in paying quite a lot of money for your ticket, if you’re not going to see the whole thing??

Madonna was in a great mood this night and we were really surprised by the many ‘jokes’ this evening. After the show my friend Hans was extremely happy, Madonna touched his hand during "Imagine" as well!
Arnhem all over, next stop Lisbon!

Lisbon, 13-09-2004

At first I didn’t want to go to Lisbon, too far away and I am terrified of flying.
But when I learned the shows were going to be filmed I just couldn’t miss out!
My friend Hans and me had VIP standing tickets for the first night. Before the show we met some of the dancers and Alison again at the back entrance.
It was also funny to see that Ingrid (madonna’s friend) was refused entrance because she hadn’t had her pass with her, she had to wait till someone came to pick her up, it was quite funny.

We went into the venue at 20:00 and much to our surprise the VIP standing section was everything but full. Without any trouble we could walk up to the second row of the left side of the stage. People in Lisbon were extremely relaxed and gave you enough space to stand and breathe.

The tour documentary crew called me before the show to ask where I was.
They then came up to me and filmed and interviewed me again, they said they would come back during the show to film me.

Then Aries (dancer) came up to me and wanted to take a pic of my tattoo with his cell phone, he was very friendly and flirty.

Finally at 22:00 the show started.
It was clear from the very beginning that this was Madonna’s very best show so far, she was simply amazing! She was glowing, smiling, doing everything to perfection and just having a brilliant time!

Thanks to the relaxed people around me I had so much space I could boogie my ass off. During "Nothing Fails" the crew came over to film me again. So I just continued singing along and going crazy, after a minute they were done filming and walked away.
During "Crazy For You" I was shouting and pointing to my tattoo then suddenly she looked at me and sang her very last line "‘Crazy For You" to me while pointing at me, I was in heaven!
The show truly was the very very very best and boy was I glad I had gone to Lisbon!