Tape Recorder

I hope there´s a documentary coming! The cameras have been following Madonna throughout her Sticky and Sweet tour and here´re some clips:

Here´s the second part, it´s interesting to see the material from the rehearsals cut with the actual live show.

No Doubt is back with Gwen Stefani and going on a greatest hits tour. The band is promoting it in a very simple but creative way on their website, using what looks like Apple iChat and iPhone SMS interface. Go check it here  >>

No Doubt - Just a Girl:

Britney Spears joined Madonna on stage last night in Los Angeles. Britney really looks like a nice girl dressed in white shirt and black trousers. And according to Madonna, “She´s Not Your Bitch”.

Watch the video clip below and see Britney with Madonna on stage singing Human Nature. (There´s a rumour that Britney would be joining Madonna again in Las Vegas, because someone heard them rehearsing Gimme More together.)

Ok! Magazine has more pictures of Britney and Madonna, and Madonna with Justin Timberlake performing 4 Minutes here >>

Tape Recorder took some time off and spent quality time in NYC attending the first night of Madonna´s Sticky & Sweet concert in Madison Square Garden last Monday.

The show was the queen of pop´s professional playground or her party as she called it. It differed from the last two tours in the focus - this time the focus was clearly Madonna herself. The dancers were in much smaller roles than before and there were quite many occasions when Madonna was alone on stage. She was also much more talkative than before and made one of her now famous Sarah Palin rants (Guess, who´s not invited to my party? Sarah Fuckin’ Palin).

My favourite was Devil Wouldn´t Recognize You. Madonna sang it on top of a piano wearing an amazing gothic cape, surrounded by cylinder shaped light shower. The number started with a strange, beautiful 3D backdrop video and Here Comes the Rain Again, the classic Eurythmics track. Another favorite of mine was She´s Not Me, Madonna on the altar of narcissism where her dancers were dressed like her, wearing classic Madonna outfits. The number was very interesting, you´re not sure if she fights herself or her copycats.

I also enjoyed the rather straightforward choreography (for a Madonna show) especially in Give It 2 Me. And the mash-ups were great, Into the Groove + Toop Toop by Cassius, Like Prayer + Feels Like Home (Meck ft Dino). Overall the concert was an amazing experience, perhaps not her biggest production, but highly entertaining.

from Madonna.com :

The Get Stupid video featured as an interlude during Madonna’s Sticky & Sweet show is now available from the ‘videos’ section of the site. Madonna wanted to share the important message from this video with everyone.

Just click here to watch the video!!

The Get Stupid video is the so called controversial McCain/Obama video. McCain flashes like a split second on the screen in the bad people section and the video ends with Obama and the feeling of hope. Mostly the video is about climate crisis.

If Madonna was “Wow” yesterday, Hercules & Love Affair were “Now”. Their disco is small scale, but very modern day and right at the moment. Tape Recorder saw Hercules & Love Affair yesterday in Helsinki and found them much more interesting live than on record. The personality and all the nuances of their music came across on stage. There was no need for guest vocalist Antony Hegarty, when singers Nomi and Kim Ann Foxman took the stage and showed what disco and house looks like now.

Hercules & Love Affair are responsible for one of the best singles this year - Blind. Listen to Blind sung by Antony Hegarty below:

Yesterday Madonna took her Sticky & Sweet tour to Germany and Berlin’s Olympic Stadium. Tape Recorder sources in Berlin report that the show was a spectacle, a genuine “WOW”. There were a lot of 90s techno sounds and great remixes & mash-ups, and the back drops were once again amazing. The Britney clip and Into The Groove stood out, and Ray of Light was climax like. The German crowd loved You Must Love Me and Tape Recorder sources found Devil Wouldn´t Recognize You surprisingly outstanding. Madonna danced a great deal and took pauses playing guitar (the guitar seems to be a device for her to take breaks from dancing). Sticky & Sweet is definitely worth experiencing, but it´s not as coherent as Confessions.

Check out Madonna performing Into The Groove in Berlin:

(Clip source allaboutmadonna.com)

Check out Madonna performing Candy Shop (she´s a bit nervous!), the opening number and Beat Goes On the second number (fantastic!). This is the gangsta-pimp theme of the show, Madonna is wearing a black leotard-style outfit designed by Givenchy and black, knee-length boots.

(Source allaboutmadonna.com)

Wales Online has the first pictures from Madonna´s Sticky & Sweet show in Cardiff tonight. Check out the 30 image Madonna live gallery here.

Just two days before Madonna´s Sticky & Sweet, the biggest tour of her career, opens in Cardiff. Here´s press release from Icon (source allaboutmadonna.com):

Madonna, currently putting the finishing touches to her fabulous new Sticky & Sweet Show in Cardiff, is readying herself and the 250 travelling personnel for the opening night this Saturday at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.

Hot on the diamante shaped heels of her phenomenally successful ‘Hard Candy’ disc, ‘Sticky & Sweet’ promises two pulsating hours of non stop hits in a show that features 16 dancers, a 12 piece band, more than 8 costume changes for the lady herself and £l million of Swarovski crystals.

The audience is taken on a rock driven dancetastic journey that’s broken into four sections:

Pimp
A mashed up homage to 1920’s deco and modern day gangsta pimp. Madonna makes a grand entrance dressed by Givenchy.

Old School
Madonna tips her hat to her early 80’s downtown New York City dance roots with flashes of Keith Haring and the dance culture vibe of the time including the birth of rap.

Gypsy
A VIP trip to La Isla Bonita infused by the spirit of Romanian folk music and dance. A tour de force.

Rave
Far eastern influences emerge all sparkly and sporty.

‘Sticky & Sweet’ kicks off this Saturday August 23rd at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium. The tour hits London’s Wembley Stadium September 11th.