MDNA Tour diary - South America

Power cut interrupts final MDNA show

Cordoba

Last night, the MDNA Tour came to an end in Cordoba, Argentina. Fortunately, the show started again as usual, with the Transgression section.

But this time, there was another problem. During Open Your Heart, the power went down. Madonna however didn't give up (she's a Spartan after all ;-) so she used a megaphone to finish the song. It took almost 50 minutes to get the electricity back on. In the meantime, Madonna spoke to the audience with the megaphone, with only the help of an emergency light. She thanked her many fans, while hoping the power would be back on soon. When some fans started singing Holiday, Madonna kicked in as well.

Once the power went back on, they continued with Vogue, so no Masterpiece or Justify My Love, to make up for lost time. Later in that segment, she did perform Like A Virgin and Love Spent. During Like A Virgin, she asked a fan to light a sigaret for her, which she held throughout the performance, as a tongue-in-cheek reference to her outburst to smokers in Santiago.

And then, it was - like her back tattoo said - the "END"...

Guy Oseary tweeted a picture of him sitting on stage in front of the crowd. He added "Thank you Madonna and fans for an experience of a lifetime! This was an amazing journey. I'm grateful to Madonna and her incredible fans." During the day, he brought pizza to the fans waiting in the queue.

So this is it. It's a wrap for the MDNA Tour. With no news on a possible 2013 leg, it's probably waiting for the tour DVD now.

Entire Transgression section cut in Santiago

Santiago

After 7 gruelling months, the MDNA tour is coming to an end. But not without taking its toll. Madonna's having bad luck with the weather in South America and has been feeling ill and exhausted for several days. Yesterday, the city of Santiago was drenched in heavy rain.

In the afternoon, Madonna held a soundcheck in the rain. When she tried to open an embrella, it broke because of the heavy wind. On top of that, there were some fans in the Golden Triangle who were smoking, and Madonna lectured them that if they love and respect her, they wouldn't smoke. She even got quite agitated with the smokers and threatened not to perform that night.

And actually part of that threat came true. That night, Madonna cut out the entire Transgression section! The show started immediately with the Express Yourself performance. She didn't mention anything about it in her speech later on and there has not been any official explanation afterwards. Some think it has something to do with the recent shooting in an elementary school in Connecticut, but that seems unlikely since another shooting earlier this year in Denver didn't stop her from performing Gang Bang and Revolver. It's more likely that the heavy rain and her health issues are the main reasons for the cancellation of the first 6 songs.

After Human Nature she left the stage, so no Like A Virgin or Love Spent either.

On a slightly more positive note, she did throw Holiday back in, as well as Spanish Lesson.

Eva is back in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

It seems that, like many of the Brazilian fans, Argentinians are now also being deprived of the beautiful rendition of Like A Virgin. Contrary to Sao Paulo and Porto Alegre, the crowd in Buenos Aires did get something else in return: Don't Cry For Me Argentina. She dedicated the song to all the women in the world who speak their mind, and give a similar speech about it as in Porto Alegre.

At the beginning, she also said "It's hard to sing with a broken heart, it's even harder to sing with a broken shoe!" as she showed the crowd her shoe with broken heel.

Of course, her back tattoo read "EVA".

After DCFMA, she continued with Love Spent.

Thank you for all the women!

Porto Alegre

The final Brazilian show in Porto Alegre also had to do without Like A Virgin.

After her striptease in Human Nature, she held a short speech about women who speak their minds.

Thank you to all the women around the world who had the courage to speak up, to speak their minds, to be revolutionary in their thinking, to be brave. Some of them have been killed, shot at, assassinated, stoned, publicly humiliated. Murdered. Destroyed. All for one thing: for expressing themselves.

During her speech after Open Your Heart, she confessed that she was suffering from a cold, due to the bad weather during the Rio shows, and that before the she didn't really feel like doing the show. But that she's glad she didn't cancel, now that she sees all the happy faces.

After the speech, she went straight to Masterpiece, so it seems Holiday is gone again from the setlist. On the other hand, the mash-up of Celebration and Give It 2 Me is still there.

She repeated the Safadinha tattoo.

Naughty Girl in Sao Paulo

Sao Paulo

Our dear friend Josh was in the crowd in Sao Paulo. Though the second show was drenched in heavy rain, he got lucky to see it from the Golden Triangle.

Strangely, both shows had to do without Like A Virgin and Love Spent. It's unclear whether there was a technical difficulty (perhaps with the piano?) or because the show was running late and the performance was cut due to the strict curfue (the show only started at 11pm due to the rain).

After Human Nature, she took a shirt, handed to her by a fan, and wore it. It read "Motherfucker Fan". She then just left the stage.

Later on, she apologized for the late start and made it up to the fans by performing Holiday.

The tattoo on her back read "Safadinha", which means "Naughty Girl" in Portuguese.

Slutty Danger Girl in Rio

Rio de Janeiro

In Rio, Madonna showed off a new tattoo "Peri Gueve", which is a Rio expression, that roughly translates into "Slutty Danger Girl".

In her speech she urged the Brazilian audience to start a peace revolution. She then started Masterpiece, no Holiday nor Spanish Lesson.

Madonna bleeds in Medellin

Medellin

"Yo soy muy contenta. It's so great to finally come to Medellin!" With those words, Madonna greeted the Colombian crowd for the first time in her 30-year career.

In one of the shows, she cut herself during the Papa Don't Preach performance, with blood dripping down her face. At one point, one of the dancers tried to clean it up, but she pushed him away. The show must go on!

In her speech she referred to the predictions of some that the world will end by the end of this month. "The world isn't going to end. But it should be the end of prejudice!" As usual, she led the crowd into many "Fuck yeah!" chants. When she asked the fans in front row how they say 'fuck yeah' in Colombian, they made her say 'hijo de puta' (son of a bitch).

After her speech, she again treated the crowd to Spanish Lesson (instead of Holiday).

It rained heavily at the beginning of the second show, to which Madonna said "I've got one thing to say to the rain: "Besa mi culo" (= Kiss my ass")."

Guy Oseary posted this video of the soundcheck of Turn Up The Radio:

Madonna brings the Sin of Eve to Mexico

Mexico City

The MDNA Tour gets a second summer, this time in the Southern hemisphere. Madonna performed two nights in Mexico City, before heading to Colombia and then further south in Latin America.

In her speech, Madonna reverted back to Sagarra Jo, asking the Mexican crowd to shout "Sagarro Jo Mèxico!". After the speech, she launched straight into Masterpiece, without any hint of Holiday.

As she stripped down, Madonna showed off a new tattoo: EVE. For Like A Virgin, Madonna held a red apple, channeling the Sin of Eve into the performance. At one point during the song, she was handed a faux fur coat, which she then put on.

On the second night, there was a surprise in store for her Mexican fans; after the speech Madonna kicked into Spanish Lesson with the crowd.

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