Asa cum v-am promis, revenim cu cronica concertului Madonnei, tinut Joi, 6 august, in Helsinki. Am fost si noi prezenti dar ne-am gadit ca am devenit plictisitori in scris si exprimare. Cateva poze le aveti aici.
Asa ca, multumita lui Päivi Vähäkangas, aveti cronica concertului Madonnei:
The queen of pop seemed to mobilize whole Finland when she had her first concert ever in that remote Nordic country. With 85 000 spectators, the show was not only the most populated during the Sticky & Sweet Tour, but also the biggest concert that ever took place in Finland. The scene was a former harbour which was now turned into a concert area. I must give credit to the organizers: even if that spot had never served such a purpose, everything went very smoothly. Despite the fact that there was only one route in and out since the area was surrounded by sea from three sides, entry and exit happened nearly without queuing.
Already few days before the concert mass media started to add fuel to Madonna hysteria. An important daily newspaper quoted a professor who compared Madonna as a phenomenon to Hitler and Jesus. Pop star’s every step was being reported. We know that he visited a summer house that belongs to her acquaintance from the London circles, a guy who happens to be the richest man in Finland – like attracts like – and that she did some after-hour shopping in the design store Marimekko. Most likely we’ll be soon informed in details what she purchased there.
The evening started at 8 pm sharp with DJ Paul Oakenfold who is supposed to be the best DJ in the world – or at least the most well-payed. I could tell no difference between him and any club DJ, but I don’t have any clue about the art of disc jockeying. Basically it’s just, well, playing other people’s songs.
Shortly before 10 pm, Madonna finally made her entrance at the stage sitting on a throne. Or that’s what I was told. As a short woman, I did not manage to get one single visual perception of Madonna or anything that happened on stage during the whole evening. I was totally dependent on screens which also were not very visible all the time. It shouldn’t be too difficult to build the stage a couple of meter higher, don’t you think?
But what I saw and heard convinced me about Madonna’s ability to create a wonderful show. There were cars, boxers, and numerous talented dancers to whom Madonna herself was no inferior. One can only amaze at her physical condition. Unfortunately the same thing cannot be said of her voice which tended occasionally to break down towards the end of the concert. As expected, the concert was built around songs from her latest album Hard Candy. The older material had also received a fresh touch from the dance club style, like for example Vogue that was mixed with the riff from 4 Minutes. My personal favourite was the gipsy version of La Isla Bonita, after which gipsy musicians from Balkan performed another song. For a moment the atmosphere reminded the Eurovision Song Contest. It delighted us, but the rest of the audience seemed a little confused. Another clever move was She’s Not Me, during which Madonna was singing to her clones on the stage that were dressed up according to different styles from her chameleon career. As the night fell and the full moon rose above the island Jätkäsaari, it was a time for the definite highlight: Like A Prayer finally warmed up everybody. Finns had just voted it as the best Madonna song ever. It was followed by a set of guaranteed hits: Frozen, Ray of Light and Give It 2 Me which ended the concert rather abruptly without an encore.
All in all, despite the lousy visibility Madonna proved out to be worth all the fuss.
Multumim Päivi.