November 13, 2008 11:58 AM

Rocky pop music critic Mark Brown on Madonna's first Denver concert

Mark_Wolf Is there a disturbance in The Force? You haven't had much good to say about Madonna over the years (a D grade on her Maverick CD) but you gave her latest CD a B and last night's concert an A-.
Mark_Brown It's no secret that I'm not a huge Madonna fan -- far from it. The perception is that a lot of these sort-of prefabricated entertainers don't do very much, and Britney Spears does nothing to kill that notion. Madonna, however, has gone from sort of a bystander in her early tours to a real force in the new show. Very athletic, very complicated, very entertaining. You can't go to Madonna and expect Lou Reed.

Mark_Wolf Why is Madonna only now making her concert debut in Denver?
Mark_Brown People had a hard time believing she has never been here, and even some promoters were researching to see if she'd done some sort of early club show here. She came up at a time when you could still make a career off of CD sales and limited touring. She'd often do a week in New York, a week in Tokyo, a week in London and that would work for her. With her new deal with Live Nation she has to bring in $$$ to justify the reported $110 million contract. That means playing full, serious tours and hitting markets where she has never played, thus upping the demand for her.

Mark_Wolf You mentioned in your review it seemed odd that someone with so many big hits stayed away from many of her biggest, best songs. Why do you think she didn't do "Like a Virgin" for example?

Mark_Brown "Like a Virgin" is probably the song closest to an icon for her -- her "Stairway to Heaven" or "Layla." In reviewing the set lists from all her tours there are very few of her hits that consistently turn up -- again, her show is all about the spectacle rather than someone specifically turning up to hear a certain hit. She has enough that she can put a smattering of radio hits throughout the set and please people, but even the completely unknown songs are given over-the-top presentations. The crowd ate it up.

Mark_Wolf How does this show compare to some of her previous tours?
Mark_Brown Less controversy, that's for sure. But this is the first time I've seen a Madonna concert as well. I saw her tape an Arsenio Hall show out at the Hollywood Bowl back in the early '90s but that was just one or two songs, not the full-blown presentation. The DVDs of her tours certainly show a progression, with her first tour in '85 being very pedestrian (and hit-driven) compared to the extravaganzas she puts on these days.

Mark_Wolf What do you make of her selling out with very high ticket prices? Although there are some tickets left for tonight's show?
Mark_Brown Last night wasn't quite sold out as some seats were released last week, and tonight's show has plenty of tickets left (I just checked and pulled up third row). The thing is, these shows went on sale back in May, when the economy wasn't like it is at the moment. And $350 tickets aren't the kind of thing you make a snap decision to buy these days. Tonight's show sold well, but like I said, plenty of tickets left.
bigrich joined.

Mark_Wolf You had some kind words (and a grade of B) for her latest CD. Is she just wearing you down?
Mark_Brown Her live show is impressive -- readers gave me trouble when I gave Britney Spears' show a good grade for being entertaining. But I still think of her as someone very skilled at manipulating the public (and using other musicians and others' ideas to do so) than an artist herself. There are really only about 10 songs in her entire body of work that I find interesting -- Ray of Light among them.

Mark_Wolf How much "vocal enhancement" was apparent last night?
Mark_Brown Her people seated the press really close so that we could see the athleticism and intricacy in her dancing and performance. It was also close enough, however, to see the microphone leave her lips while the vocal still went on.

Mark_Wolf From Michael via the Web: · How long until she is doing Vegas shows and wearing Bob Mackie gowns and feather boas?

Mark_Brown I'm sure feather boas have been on previous tours, and Vegas will be a good fit for her in a few years like it was for Celine Dion and Elton John. Vegas doens't have the stigma it once did. People will travel there, be it for Elton or the Beatles' Love.

drock24 %%%% she's old as dirt then
Mark_Brown Madonna's "only" 50 and has more legacy left to write. There's no middle ground on her. Either you're a fanatic like most of the people there last night or you're like me and other rock fans who can acknowledge she has done some interesting things but just don't get the fawning fandom. I remember in '85 thinking "Man, I can't wait till this Madonna fad passes." D'oh!!!

krinks7 Mark, I'm not sure if you've mentioned this already today but do you know her complete setlist from last night?
kidrock24 only 50 isnt that considered a senior citizen in some countries?
krinks7 I know most of the list, but have a few holes
Mark_Brown Her people gave us a printed setlist last night which was very close if not identical to the one here. I left my copy in the car.
Mark_Brown oops - link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sticky_%26_Sweet_Tour
Mark_Wolf Try looking here"http://madonnatour2008.blogspot.com/2008/11/madonna-tour-2008-setlist-and-reviews_11.html
krinks7 perfect, thanks

Mark_Wolf You were up close and since appearance is a crucial element of show business, so how did she look?
krinks7 I thought she looked great
Mark_Brown Creepy in some ways. Even 30 Rock made a joke about Madonna's arms last week. She is incredibly fit and toned, a pure athlete. In person her face didn't look as worked-on as it has in some tabloid pictures. With cameras today I think they can make anyone look bad. There were people in the audience with much more work, obviously by less-skilled hands.

Mark_Wolf What do you make of the love her/hate her response to her?
Mark_Brown As I alluded to above, fans either identify or don't get it. I'm on the don't-get-it side of the aisle. Krinks7, what's your take on that?
Mark_Wolf And Madgerocks, what's her appeal for you?
Mark_Brown That "get it or don't get it" thing applies far outside the realm of Madonna. I feel the same way about Bon Jovi and Garth Brooks. Generic music that doesn't hold my interest for a second, yet there are rabid fans out there.

Mark_Wolf Welcome records. What's on your mind?
records I thought she looked like skin and bones last night. Also the sound was terrible--I saw the Eagles at the Pepsi Center a couple of years ago and the sound was awesome--I think it just takes more attention to detail to get it right.
BroncoRick69 She was really hot at one time, and her music is actually very good. She crossed the socially and politically correct lines of "slutdom" and thats why people say they hate her. I am sure 75% of those people listen to her when they are alone on Friday nights.
krinks7 Well, I didn't purchase the tickets as we had friends out of state who couldn't get rid of them so I wouldn't have gone anyway. However, now that I've seen her, I get it. I was raised in the MTV 80s so I know all her hits from that era and enjoy them. I'm more of a Raconteurs, Kings of Leon-type of

BroncoRick69 ....and by the way, the Eagles were not at the pepsi center 2 years ago.
Mark_Brown You may have a point, Rick. The Sex book in the early '90s is something I don't think she entirely recovered from. Dennis Rodman is one thing, but Vanilla Ice?
krinks7 Speaking of the Raconteurs, Mark, why didn' t you cover that show, and instead Wetzel did?

BroncoRick69 I like her tunes, and I am a metal head. Go figure.
records well I ws there--maybe 3 years ago--not too long ago for me to remember the show

Mark_Brown The sound did vary -- it actually sounded better in the upper-level press booth when I was writing the review than it did from my seat down low. The Pepsi Center requires a skilled sound person to get it right, and this tour has been both indoors in arenas and outdoors in stadiums, so it's tough. Part of the delay last night might have been the endless mic-checking her crew was doing.
BroncoRick69 The last time the Eagles were here was when they played invesco. 2001
madgerocks i heard the delay was because she won't go on stage until the temperature is exactly 83

Mark_Brown I'd have loved to have been at the Raconteurs show, can't remember why that didn't fit in the schedule. Things are pretty busy around newsrooms these days, with our time being stretched.
records interesting. When Fleetwood Mac played the Pepsi Center their sound was terrible, too. I had 11th row seats on the floor, right in front of the mixing board, and it was bad.

records nope--the Eagles played Pepsi, and it was a lot more recent than 2001 because I hadn't yet arrived in Denver in 2001.

Mark_Wolf Last show I saw in Pepsi Center was Bob Seger and I thought the sound was remarkably good; much better than I'd feared?

Mark_Wolf Hard for anyone to recover from Dennis Rodman. And speaking of Madonna's athletic hook-ups, don't suppose you caught a glimpse of A-Rod last night.

records if you look at her fan site she seems to always be late to start her shows--apparantly she was 2 hours late at Dodger stadium
Mark_Brown No, the Eagles did play the Pepsi Center on June 24, 2003.

Mark_Wolf Don't you have something on your Rocky Mountain Music blog about Eagles ticket prices?
Mark_Brown Yes, the Eagles are going out on tour with no Ticketmaster fees. An interesting experiment if it's real and it works. Fans hate Ticketmaster fees more than anything else in music.

krinks7 Mark, I understand as I'm in the business as well but was just hoping you would critique the Raconteurs show more so than the A&E writer. No offense to John whatsoever.

Mark_Wolf Since we've veered off Madonna a bit, have you received your review copy of the new Killers CD?
Mark_Brown Not yet. The world of music and journalism is changing with downloads as well. When we review CDs these days, it's often by listening to them through encrypted sites that the record companies allow us to access to prevent piracy. No offense, but I don't think music critics have been the forces to bring down the music industry.

Mark_Brown John W. actually works for the Post, and he has a great knowledge of music. He's a huge Costello fan, for instance.

krinks7 After I hit return I realized that.
krinks7 Sorry to confuse

krinks7 Why hasn't she visited Denver prior to this run?
Mark_Brown Denver is an extra travel day for any tour so we get left out sometimes. If you look back further in the chat you'll see the answer -- her new contract with Live Nation puts her in the position of really having to work on the road as CD sales have dried up as a source of income.
krinks7 Ok, thanks

Mark_Wolf How do those deals work, in general?
Mark_Brown They're called "360 deals" where every aspect of an artist's career is turned over to Live Nation - touring, CDs, some merchandising, etc. Jay-Z has signed one, as has U2. It's an interesting experiment that will likely either save Live Nation or bankrupt it.
krinks7 Mark, one last thing....what are the chances Phish will make a stop in Colorado?
Mark_Brown Huge. I would bet on a gig at the Mile High Music Festival this year, or something similar.

krinks7 No chance of Phish playing Red Rocks in the future?
Mark_Brown possible!

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