Madonna Knocks 'Em Dead in NYC  | Music Review | Advocate.com

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Madonna Knocks 'Em Dead in NYC
The queen's show at the Roseland Ballroom was choreographed to the nines and, as expected, went off without a hitch
By Mike Diamond
An Advocate.com exclusive posted May 1, 2008
Madonna Knocks 'Em Dead in NYC

Gay boys, rejoice: The Material Girl a.k.a. Madge a.k.a. M-Dolla, (as she is currently known) has returned to save us from the Miley Cyruses of the world. The diva’s latest album, Hard Candy (her last for Warner Records), dropped April 29 to rabid fan anticipation and generally positive reviews. In many ways Candy is a continuation of Madonna’s last album, Confessions on a Dance Floor, albeit a starker, more minimalist collection of rump-shaking tunes. Ever the shrewd one, Madonna enlisted some of the top names in the music business to create her latest project, including Pharell Williams, Timbaland, the Neptunes, and Justin Timberlake. On April 30 the queen of pop staged a one-night-only concert to promote the album, at New York City’s famed Roseland Ballroom.

Tickets to the show were in very limited supply; a handful were available to customers of Verizon Wireless (the show's sponsor), 200 through the Madonna Fan Club, and 1,000 more were distributed through radio station contests. The truly hard-core wannabes staked out a spot on the curb outside the club for their shot at an audience with Her Royal Blondness. Jamie King of Long Island arrived at 5 a.m. to get one of the coveted wristbands. He first saw Madonna perform on her "Blonde Ambition" tour when he was in sixth grade and has been hooked ever since. "I never miss any of her shows," said King. "I’m always afraid it will be her last one." That’s not likely anytime soon. Madonna has always been an unabashed attention junkie, and she knows just how to keep her fan base under her spell.

That fan base has always been a devoted bunch. Inside the club (after suffering through the most disorganized, abusive door scene ever) the crowd was palpably jacked up to see their queen. Amid the cute young gay boys and funky nightclub types were throngs of bridge-and-tunnel radio listeners so drunk and so amped up to see the living legend that they cheered uncontrollably when someone merely held up a license plate that read MADONNA. Some in attendance were seen sporting Hard Candy T-shirts and hoodies, available for purchase in the club’s lobby ($35 and $60, respectively).

The show could be seen live on MSN Music and would also serve as the first global, live Verizon "V Cast." At 10 p.m. precisely, the house lights dropped, the crowd roared, and the magic began. Madonna appeared to ear-splitting screams and cheering. Blond, sexy, and impossibly youthful-looking, she was perched high up on the stage on an M-shaped throne, her legs spread wide in a defiant, sensual pose. Launching into "Candy Shop," she immediately gave the crowd what they came for, strutting and dancing in a tightly choreographed routine, joined by a half-dozen energetic backup dancers. The track was perfectly emblematic of the album as a whole: a percolating pop confection with lyrics that are meant to get the listener moving, not thinking (“Get up out of your seat / Come on up to the dance floor / I’ve got something so sweet / Come on up to the front door”). Video screens displayed psychedelic imagery of candy corn and peppermints behind the frenzied dance routine, while some members of the crowd paid homage to the night’s theme by raising their own oversize, swirly lollipops in the air.

Diamond is a regular contributor to Advocate.com.

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