Kevin Bronson on November 7th, 2008

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[Thank the stars that I have people looking over my shoulder. I think. These two missives arrived in my inbox this morning, and since the writers (thanks, guys) took the trouble to share, I thought I would, too:]

Dear Buzz Bands: While you were running around hipster bars last night you missed quite a spectacle at the Madonna show.”  Because I drank beer, wine and vodka, I cannot give you a song by song review, but here is a smattering of memorable moments: I’m not used to shows with multiple LED screens, hundreds of costumed back-up dancers and moving stage elements, so just figuring out where to look was quite an effort on my part.”  When Madonna announced mid-set that “half of her stage” was broken/missing, I was relieved, I don’t think my brain could have absorbed the full production.”  Things got surreal for me when Madonna brought three former versions of herself on stage (think “Like a Virgin” wedding dress Madonna, “Open Your Heart” peep show Madonna), then proceeded to make out with one and strangle another (I don’t think she actually killed her but you never know with Madge).”  This was highly symbolic of the fact that Madonna has a love/hate relationship with her catalog of hits, which she spaced somewhat randomly throughout her set that must have been mostly songs from her new album that I don’t own. Most of the time I no idea what was going on.

After all of the buzz on the Interweb, it really wasn’t much of a surprise when Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake made their cameos, and the crowd went wild! Almost as wild as when J-Lo and Marc Anthony arrived and were escorted to their seats, that was a big highlight. Madonna performed two songs (I have no idea what they were) wearing official Madonna merchandise that was available for sale at 80,000 locations throughout Dodger Stadium, including a pair of red “Hard Candy” booty shorts. I die!”  The highlights of the show for me were recognizable versions “4 Minutes,” “Like a Prayer,” “Ray of Light,” (which inexplicably featured two astronaut backup dancers) and “Hung Up,” towards the end of her set for these brief moments, every seemed to know the words. But, overall, not worth the ticket price unless you are a die-hard Madonna fan. Of which there seemed to be thousands.

Fondly,
Lisa

Photo by Alex de Cordoba via LAist; see their coverage, as well as LAist’s Featured Photos on Flickr.

Dear Buzz Bands: I don’t know what excuse you have for not coming to the Wiltern, but I made it — after a long day of work on the Westside, I ran home, changed into the only “Red Dress” I own and headed to see TV on the Radio among all the other young hipsters (and old scenesters). After the Dirt Bombs opened with their garage rock-meets-R&B, TVOTR launched into their set with some stuff of “Dear Science.” Then it was “Return to Cookie Mountain” and “Dirty Little Whirlwind” and “Wolf Like Me.”

The college kids just couldn’t get enough. I was a bit confused, because I even though tried to shake my ass on the dance floor, I felt as though every song was on fast-forward.
I always liked the ambiance of TVOTR, and how heady they were capable of getting. One of their trippier songs, “Love Dog,” they skipped completely. And “DLZ” went by so fast I almost missed it. In the end, TVOTR brought the Dirt Bombs onstage, rocked out to another cut from “Return to Cookie Mountain” and finished with tune from their “Staring at the Sun” EP. Overall, though, I ended up disappointed.

Sleepily,
T