One day with Madonna

So let’s be clear, you get what you paid for and for 120 Euros I expected a minimum!  I got much more than two grams of fun!

My first Madonna concert was in 2003 and I was so disappointed. I had sitting places. I had to watch the screens to see the show and I couldn’t stand up without people behind me screaming for me to sit! I said never ever.

9 years later my great friend Antonio, a real fan, beg me to come with him. This is no more a question of money but with all the greatest respect for Madonna, I still want the entertainment I paid for and I didn’t in 2003! So, I say „Sure why not, but only if we are standing directly at the stage!“ And we did, but not only this, we did the whole warming up, the cheering of the true fans bringing Martin and  Stefan breakfast at their camping spot in front of the door and later on bringing champagne at night. We got to learn all the assembly of the devoted. To learn knowing all those people from Barcelona, Prag, Milan and Paris was such a beautiful first part of the show. After so much waiting the mystery Ipad girl arrived finally but we were not chosen to the golden triangle. Tears of deception were flowing all over but this is the moment were the group became solid and got a new dynamic. We would stay together and because the early access people were looking like coming from the right side we would run to the left. It is 35 hours ago I brought croissants to Martin and at 8:25p.m I stand on the second raw of people, 50 centimeters from the stage,...and I am so much taller with my boots!

I have to admit that the waiting was then almost unbearable. One hour more still, before a fake David Guetta. Yes,  Martin Solveig is also French, has the same hair cut, has the same speeded up pop djaying way when it stops and finally put some basses and everybody should have fun and at the end is even more boring because somewhere is not as big! The „Do you really want the queen?“ shouldn’t have last an hour because then it was 45 minutes more to wait for Madame! Of course this is a part of it and everything is calculated and the exhausting waiting brings you in a state of total release when she finally arrives.

The stage which looked so small took then its all dimension. Three video panels of each 15 meters high and 10 meters wide are placed in a perspective angle behind the stage. In the front 10 different huge video cubes coming up and down with the same animations as the back create a fantastic 3D effect. And this is it, why the 3D when it is live? Maybe just because it will be a video one day or maybe even better a 3D movie, would it be that surprising?

So this is very important because if you stand very close you don’t need the whole visual effects; you want to see the sweat on the forehead of the queen, you want to see the makeup cracking up and when she misses a lip syncing but still stays astonishing. If you sit, pleeease just in the middle otherwise you would miss one of the meaning of the show.

Aside of the 3D, it is all about defying gravity, a touch of „cirquedusoleilesque“ take your breath away without being too much. Finally, something that people aim to forget is that a Madonna is something very religious and it is her real name, so we have also some  churches, but in odorama, and a new interpretation of the tired redemption theme. This is not „Crime and punishment“, this is „Crime and redemption“!

So I was so happy seeing one of most amazing show of my life when all Germany preferred to see a very bad show on television: the half-final of the European soccer cup!

The 2010's: instructions of use

It's so hard to capture the spirit of a decade when it’s not over. Even a few years later, the lack of distance from the facts hinders an objective perception. Five years ago, while I was organizing a 90’s party, my friends arrived with all sorts of unexpected outfits just because they had tried to reproduce their own 90’s (sometimes even with their boring vintage clothing!) and not the specific atmosphere of those years. The 2010’s were such a mystery to me until that sleepless night when I decided to attend the party "Homopatik" at "about: blank".
My friends still answer the phone at 6:15 in the morning and are waiting for me in the garden. I take the first taxi and believe I can be there in fifteen minutes. Horror, Ostkreuz is actually very far from Ostbahnof; my budget of 70 euros is already well underway and I am not yet in the club. I am happy to be sober to face the South American goalie; she let me in and immediately the magic begins.

This are the results of my observation in the coolest place of Berlin, every third Friday of the month.

What to hear in the 10’s:
I could define it as electro-blues with a hint of tribal disco. Forget the worshipping of the DJ, we love only our friends and now the DJ has a secondary role ... but he is professional!

What to drink in the 10’s:
There is only one drink: Vodka-Mate. I have not tried to fight against the current, I knew I was catapulted into the 10's, so I had to bear the consequences, I would drink my first vodka-Mate at "about: blank"! Of course all bottles are returnable but there is some more routine to respect. Half a liter of native American caffeinated drink arrives on the desk and if like me, you look frustrated at the sealed bottle, the eager bartender will tell you: "So, drink a sip!" In Germany, you have to obey from time to time (not always!). I drink two sips and the bartender takes my bottle and fills it with vodka up to the brim. I screw back the cap and mix the cocktail. The breakfast can start!

What to wear in the 10’s:
I knew it, American Apparel had run its course and Weekdays took over. Still some slim jeans but leggings with improbable colors were a must. "But are your pants green? - No, can’t you see it’s yellow! "The key is that the top is "oversized" and that the bottom ... is not! This is the basis of the outfit, accessories are (must be) personal creations. This refers to the sublimation of the curtains of your grandmother (as a scarf, an apron or even a skirt), the recycling of used straws from the club to organize a tiara or the reinterpretation of a fake pearls necklace to be laid carelessly over your shoulder. Next comes the makeup, and please for men, never symmetrical! The eyes are the most important, but the eye area extends up to the ear, with lots of bright colors and glitter. Although most of the people stand in bright light and the rain, it has to be seen in the darkness of the club. If you have already seen video clips of "Empire of the Sun" it is exactly the same thing, but trashier!

What to do in the 10’s:
You are a "Nerd" but do not know about it. You look for your friends in the club with "WhatsApp" and everyone think it's very normal. Everybody search for a cigarette everywhere but nobody buys a pack because it costs too much. You party with your friends and stay awake with all the letters of the alphabet, except C (too 2000’s and it costs too much!). You do not know yet but you belong to a generation who will speak out new message soon.

Good luck kids, in fact 2012 has much in common with 1993 but I won’t tell you the end and yes you can still surprise me!

Three hours later the photographer who enjoys capturing the innocence of young girls on film replies "Sure, I know Richard Kern, I am over thirty!" And then I ask him his opinion on naïve perversion and he tells me he never sleeps with his models!

At that moment I experience a "Writing flash” and I must leave everybody to tell you everything.

The girls wear sunglasses in the rain, the boys finish their beers while waiting for the regional train and a beautiful day of the 10’s years begins. I love my city and finally the rain stops!