[whiteperil] Sean: This is not a coincidence

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Posted by Sean:
This is not a coincidence
http://whiteperil.com/posts/1158897984.shtml


   James McGreevey isn't the only controversial public figure offering
   "[1]confessions" of dubitable religious sincerity this week.
   If you live in a major Asian city and have spent the last few days
   wondering where all the fags got to, I have your answer.
   It's still warm enough to sit outside at night, so a few buddies and I
   were having a drink when one of us noticed all the men around speaking
   Chinese. Gucci trainees off the chain after a day of workshops?
   Traveling dance or drama company? Nope. "We're here for [2]Madonna!"
   Of course. You could see gaggles of them in Shibuya Wednesday and
   yesterday, too. And at the last show last night (a friend and I went).
   I wasn't sure how I'd like the show, but I loved it to pieces. The
   political and religious [ahem] commentary was predictably witless...or
   I guess "directionless" is a better way to put it. The mirror-tiled
   crucifix from which she sang "Live to Tell" has become the most
   notorious part of the show, but it was way less thrilling than the big
   mirrorball that was lowered to the stage and opened like a flower from
   outer space to disgorge her and her dancers at the start of the show.
   And while it was clear that Madge was repeatedly addressing us as
   "motherf*@ers!" as a gesture of inclusiveness--we in the audience were
   part of her in-group of fearless, super-transgressive free spirits,
   you know?--the effect was lame compared with the pleasurably shocked
   sense she could produce so reliably twenty years ago.
   Madonna's a better live singer than you'd expect. I know she has
   plenty of gizmos to help her with power and pitch; but there were
   enough blue notes and cracks to convince you that she was mostly going
   au naturel, and she projected lots of personality and charm. And
   there's no faking that amount of energy. Toward the end, she was
   obviously kind of tired from having been flinging her limbs around for
   two hours, but it didn't come off as the Tired of someone frantically
   pushing herself beyond the physical limitations of age. Though I think
   she'd look sexier if she settled into having just a little body fat,
   it's hard to deny that her healthfulness obsession is paying dividends
   in the long term. (The party of hopped-up dykes in the row in front of
   us paid frequent and voluble notice.)
   And my two favorite songs from the latest album ("Jump" and "Forbidden
   Love") were spectacular--high points even in a show full of
   crowd-pleasers. A good time all around.

References

   1. http://whiteperil.com/posts/1158565599.shtml
   2. http://www.madonna.com/tour/archives/confessions/