One of my girlfriends & I had been talking about going to Elton John but hadn't quite gotten our act together in terms of getting tickets. Yesterday we decided we still wanted to go and would head down and see what the scalpers could offer us. This was a great way to see the show - we ended up with tix that were worth R$550 for R$250. We were on the floor and had an awesome view of both Elton and James Blunt, who opened for him.
On the way in several people warned us about getting robbed so I was a bit nervous....getting scalped tix was a bit sketchy as this cop came up to us as we were walking with one scalper and asked us if we had tickets and if we were buying them from the guy, I said we didn't have tickets but that the guy hadn't offered us tickets (which he had but I didn't want to make any trouble... not sure what the laws are on reselling tix here...) we ended up buying them from someone else. Oh and the washrooms in the Sambódromo are nothing short of terrifying... but other than that it was a great venue.
I enjoyed James Blunt a LOT, much more than I expected to. I will have to buy some of the songs I heard last night from iTunes later.
Elton was fantastic as always, funniest thing was I think he was wearing the same outfit he wore when I saw him in Calgary last year and may have even done the same set. My viewpoint was much better from where we were here, and it's always magical to watch a concert from under the stars. It even rained very briefly (which was a bit of a relief from the heat!) I just felt really lucky to be there.
Elton John played for over two hours. He is such an amazing entertainer and I really enjoy the members of his band as well, especially the drummer who is an original member of the band and the blond guitar player who is probably pushing 70 but is still just too cool for words and even almost hot.
Here is the list of what Elton sang last night:
"Funeral for a friend / Love lies
bleeding"
"The bitch is back"
"Madman across the water"
"Tiny
dancer"
"Levon"
"Believe"
"Take me to the
pilot"
"Goodbye yellow brick road"
"Daniel"
"Rocket
man"
"Honky cat"
"Sacrifice"
"Dont let the sun go
down on me"
"I guess that’s why they
call it the blues"
"Sorry seems to be
the hardest word"
"Candle in the
wind"
"Bennie and the jets"
"Sad songs (say so much)"
"Philadelphia freedom"
"I’m still
standing"
"Crocodile rock"
"Saturday night is alright for fighting"
After the curtain call:
"Skyline pigeon"
"Your song"
I hadn't heard "Skyline pigeon" before but the Brazilians sure had.
Yay!
After the concert my night took a bit of a turn for the worse but I'll put that in a separate post...
They say to thank god for unanswered prayers... I get it as I sure was happy we did not get tickets for Madonna's first show - Sunday night - as it poured rain that night and she even slipped and fell at one point, yikes!
Monday night's show was fantastic - cool weather for Brazil, which was welcome, in that crowd! We had floor "seats" so we were especially thankful for the lack of rain. As we walked down the platform and I saw the huge glittering "M"s I admit I got a little choked up. I was so excited!!!!! I figured I would cry when I first saw her (this was pre-pregnancy me thinking this... so I figured I was really in trouble now!) but I held it back until she sang "You Must Love Me" from Evita... loved that.
She opened (an hour and 37 minutes late - this is according to our friend who "wasn't watching his watch") with Candy Shop from her new album, and had a good mix of old & new, she played for over 2 hours. Highlights for me were Borderline (she did sort of a rocker-style version, loved it), Devil Wouldn't Recognize You & Heartbeat from the new album, La Isla Bonita (which she really seemed to Brazilian-ize - went over really well!), especially with one of our friends, that was his one song he wanted to hear! The Brazilian crowd seemed to love it most when she sang Human Nature, 4 minutes, Vogue, Ray of Light and Music.
I was shocked at how calm the crowd was, reportedly there were 70,000 people there and we were a bit timid to find a place to stand closer to the front as we didn't want to get squished (me especially!) but it all stayed quite civilized, which almost made me sad we hadn't gone up further. Better safe than sorry, especially in my condition!
She closed the show by waving a Brazilian flag.
I can't even describe in words how much energy Madonna has. To be honest it's frightening in a way. I don't understand how she literally whips herself from one end of the stage for hours on end, day after day - it has got to be the most exhausting show ever to perform, and she does it for days on end at 50 years old. No wonder the woman is so ripped (and oh, is she ripped...) She seemed much more "Edgy" and maybe even hard is the right word, in person in concert rather than when I have seen her on television, had to comment on that as well (for example she called us motherf*...ers more than once... and yelled for people to "show the queen you love her" and staked a claim she will never leave). She sure has been through a lot and it does show!
I was so grateful for the opportunity to see Madonna live, especially at Maracana, it was an experience I'll never forget. It was overcast that night but every so often I'd lift my head to look up and remember we were outside and the odd star would reveal itself from behind the clouds. What a venue! Great night.
Here is a photo of some of the madness outside the Copacabana Palace, where she is staying.
For updates on all things Madonna-in-Rio, the Made in Brazil blog has got it under control! Check it out there is even a video of her before-show prayer!
We didn't take many photos - mostly video (and if you've seen the soccer santa post, you'll forgive me as you'll know how terrible I am still at posting video...)
It has come to my attention that Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves were in my hood on Friday night. As in about 2 blocks from my house, people....
Here is a photo which I poached from www.gossipgirls.com Please don't sue me.
They had dinner at sushi leblon, which is one of our favorite spots. We actually were just down the same street that night, meeting friends for drinks. We even grabbed a KONI later (see, we ate sushi too... Just like a block away...)
In my neighbourhood, the paparazzi are often lurking around, taking photos of people who I have never seen before (Brazilian stars). Being that I have no idea who these people are, they don't really get any special treatment from me. But Matthew McConaughey, yeah I think I'd recognize him.
They also ate at Zozo at the base of the sugarloaf gondola, another one of my favorite spots (and incidentally, where I told my dad he was going to be a Gramps!)...
Apparently they stayed at the Hotel Fasano down the beach in Ipanema/Arpoador.
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