So, it's Sunday evening and I'm still blabbing nonstop to the Hubs about how much Madonna rocked last night's performance. Here's how it went:
6:00 - Two hours until show time (so we think), and we're waiting in line with 50,000 people to get into Levski Stadium.
6:30 - Still waiting. A little afraid we're going to get crushed in the crowd, but it's awesome how many fun-colored bra straps there are. We're discussing the lack of t-shirt hawkers but the preponderance of nut-and-seed sellers outside the stadium.
7:00 - The Bulgarian man next to me strikes up a conversation as we're moving like cattle through the entrance. He says, "It's badly organized, isn't it?" I gush, "Yes, but it's worth it, right?!" He only sort of agrees.
7:30 - We're IN! I spot another Asian in the crowd. It's a dude, but I'm still kind of excited.
8:00 - Paul Oakenfold opens and plays house music(?) - since when?! We're pretty sure he was checking his stocks behind the DJ stand. Saw him in Shanghai in 2003, and he uses the same video in the background (floating Asian woman in lingerie) as he did six years ago. Weird.
8:30 - Lots of fake boobies in the crowd, as well as 60-year-old women wearing hearing aids and house dresses.
9:00 - Paul Oakenfold leaves stage. The crowd starts doing the wave, like, 50 million times. Children are crying.
9:30 - People are chain-smoking around us. Wish I had eaten dinner/never quit smoking. The dorky couple in front of me — they're wearing matching lavender outfits — are LOVING the wave. (Remember this couple, because I will love them by the end of the concert.)
10:00 - Lights go out except for the screens on stage. A wall swivels and we see Madonna sitting on her throne!!! I black out for the next two hours. But I manage to remember such highlights as:
+ "Holiday," "Dress You Up in My Love," and "Like a Prayer."
+ There were lots of lasers. (In general, the concert was an AV Tech's wet dream.)
+ When she sang "Human Nature," in between the choruses, she added, "I can stick up for gypsies if I want to." And she has an awesome
gypsy act (The Kolpakov Trio) perform in her set.
+ She plays the guitar.
+ She also did a Michael Jackson tribute, since it was his birthday.
+ She's still into the crotch grab.
+ Also, it looks like she works out.
It's fair to say that we were the loudest fans in our section. The only people who were as excited as we were, or who at least didn't give a shit about how dorky they looked because they were so freakin' excited, were the man and woman in matching lavender in front of us. They danced and sang (with their eyes closed) the entire time, unlike the rest of our section, who just sort of stood, then sat and then smoked. I sort of wish I had been standing with the gays in the "golden circle" up near the stage, but then being that close to Madonna's muscles might have blinded me. She was unbelievable and I'm pretty sure I'm never going to see a better concert and I'm going to wear my concert t-shirt forever and ever!