madonnalicious

Sticky & Sweet Tour to visit Budva

Madonna's official website have just confirmed the news that the Sticky & Sweet Tour will stop in Budva, Montenegro:

We are happy to confirm that a show in Budva, Montenegro, was just added to Madonna's 2008 tour itinerary. The show will take place at Budva's Jaz Beach on Thursday 25 September. Tickets will go on sale Friday 11 July at 10:00am, local time. A devoted fan club presale will start on Wednesday 09 July at 10:00am local time.

Athens sells out!

After only a couple of days Madonna's tour date in the Olympic Stadium (with a 75,000 capacity) in Athens has now been declared a sell out!

Thanks to Maximillianism D

Liz Smith reports from the tour rehearsals

US newspaper columnist and Madonna champion Liz Smith attended the Sticky & Sweet Tour rehearsals and offers this report:

'UHHH....I can't jump rope in high heels!'
'Really?'
'Well, not that high a heel.'
OK folks, who do we know who would jump rope (double dutch, too) in heels? Of course! It is our old friend, the indomitable Madonna.
La Ciccone has been rehearsing her 'Sticky and Sweet' tour in a massive space in New York. Her latest troupe of beautiful dancers is present, as is every other member of a massive Madonna undertaking. When the boss works, everybody works! It is 80 degrees and humid outside. Inside, it's a steam bath. Madonna does not enjoy air conditioning. (Audiences tend to leave her concerts having lost about 10 pounds in water weight.) Everybody looks whipped. Not Madonna.
Without makeup, her long blond hair lank, dressed in funereal black rehearsal togs, she looks fresher, younger and more vital than she does on the red carpet. (She also looks less muscular. Concert lighting and flash photography tends to over-emphasize her toned sinew.) She certainly shakes a tail feather like she is still writhing along the canals in Venice for the 'Like a Virgin' video, filmed before most of her dancers were born.
People close to Madonna, those who love her, are always saying, 'Why don't you relax more, have some fun?' Sometimes she will agree. But most of the time she doesn't bother to give concerned parties her life memo: hard work - pushing herself to the limit and most of all, dancing is her fun and relaxation. So many of her songs celebrate the power of dance and how it can free you - perhaps just temporarily - from immediate care.
Watching this star go through her paces, she seems not to have a care in the world, except to perfect her show. 'That sucked!' she declares after failing to execute her double dutch without error. 'I have to be better.' Madonna pauses and gives a mock scowl to her dancers, 'And so does everybody else.'
Later, she painstakingly explains her vision on one of the numbers. The choreographer is working only from an e-mail he just received from Madonna. She has her vision, now she has to communicate it. The number will feature four girls who are dressed up in various iconic versions of Madonna images past. She's laughing at her old 'looks' and discussing the particulars. 'At first I thought mannequins, then no, real girls would be better. Truthfully, I wanted drag queens - who does me better? But I figured that might be too much drama, you know - those girls love their scenes. And I provide enough of that!'
As Madonna recruits the dancers who'll stand and strike a pose, each holding or wearing a prop, the star will snatch away, the choreographer beams, 'Oh, this is getting so wickedly weird. Now I'm really loving it!'
Throughout the afternoon and evening, Madonna never flags, and never loses her sense of humor or the maternal camaraderie she always shares with her dancers.
Happily lost in her greatest love - her work - it doesn't seem the time or place to bring up her supposedly failing marriage or the betrayal of her brother, Christopher Ciccone, and his tell-all book. (Poor Christopher. He has made his bed, and already the peas in his mattress are the size of boulders. In the end, he will have helped sell a gazillion more tickets to his sister's concerts.) Will Madonna and Guy Ritchie separate? I don't know. I do know they have been deeply in love, very much in sync (certainly at one time), and both these strong-willed people have tried hard to accommodate the other.
The last time I saw Guy and Madonna together they couldn't have been more convivial and affectionate. They were in public, of course, so we take the proverbial grain of salt on that one. I don't think the towel is thrown in yet. It's damp and well used. It's hanging crooked on the shower stall. But it's not quite ready for the hamper. She has three children. She is not cavalier when it comes to divorce. (Remember, this is only her second marriage.)
Certainly Madonna does not look or behave like a woman whose marriage is on the rocks. She wouldn't show that face anyway; that's a great part of her appeal. She doesn't beg her audience for love or understanding. You either understand or you don't. Seen through the oft-distorted prism of the media, her ambition and 'manipulation' is not always admired. Still, many do admire her, without really admitting she has talent. Millions more worship her as a figure of empowerment and forging success in a man's world on a man's terms.
She's the music industry's Hillary Clinton, jumping rope in high heels.

From New York Post

Sticky & Sweet Tour: Athens ticket frenzy!

Tickets for Madonna's Athens Sticky & Sweet Tour date went on sale to the general public this morning - here are some reports and pictures from madonnalicious readers:

From Gerasimos:
Very early this morning (at about 06:00am) about twenty people were standing in front of the ticket stand of the Olympic stadium.
Two hours later there were about 300 waiting to buy tickets for Madonna's concert (at the other sales point in the heart of Athens about 1000 people waiting for the TicketPro shop to open).
I was the second one in line but I got the first ticket (the one pictured below). A friend of mine also just informed me that the show is already SOLD OUT an there is a possibility of an extra date!

From Jason:
Today the Madonna tickets were on sale in Greece! Total hysteria! People slept outside the box offices. Everything was and is beyond any expectation. More than one hundred fans slept outside that box office. I went at 6:00am and I couldn't believe the people there already.
The internet ticket sales crashed for a few hours. And Madonna is everywhere on the TV, a lot of TV channels and newspapers were reporting sale from the box office.

Here are Jason's pictures of the queues outside the Athens ticket office.

Sticky & Sweet Tour: Vienna Ticket

Here is a look at a ticket for the Sticky & Sweet Tour date in Vienna, Austria on Tuesday 23 September - note that 'gold circle' tickets at this show are called 'wavebreakers'!

Thanks to Michael

More than a million tickets already sold

Madonna fans have turned out in record numbers for her world tour, concert promoter Live Nation Inc said on Thursday, seeking to knock down reports the Material Girl is losing her appeal.
The Los Angeles company said Madonna had sold more than one million tickets - over 90 percent of those available - for Madonna's 42-date global 'Sticky & Sweet' tour, which kicks off in Cardiff, Wales on August 23.
Live Nation is trying to transform itself into a comprehensive music company, offering artists recording contracts and merchandising deals, as well as touring and access to its live venues. Madonna was one of the biggest names the company has signed for a reported $120 million contract.
The New York Post reported on Tuesday that Madonna was failing to sell out certain venues, including a November date at the Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles that sold just 27,000 of 43,000 seats.
Live Nation spokesman John Vlautin confirmed the Los Angeles numbers, but said the global tour's ticket sales are on target to gross more than $250 million, which would shatter Madonna's own previous record for a female artist of $195 million from 'Confessions On A Dancefloor' tour two years ago.
It has been a difficult month for Live Nation, with speculation mounting on whether the company overpaid to sign artists such as Madonna and rapper Jay-Z to be part of its new '360-degree' business model.
Live Nation lost its chairman, Michael Cohl, last week after a fallout with Chief Executive Michael Rapino over this strategy. Cohl, who was head of Live Nation's artists division, had wanted to sign artists at a quicker pace, but Rapino wanted to sign around four to six marquee names a year. Cohl is now a consultant to the company.
There has also been concern the slowing U.S. economy would hurt nonessential items such as rock concert tickets, which can cost up to $200 each for major artists - the larger share of Live Nation's revenue streams.
Live Nation's management has said it is has seen no impact from the slowing economy, Vlautin said.

From Reuters Via Yahoo! News

Sticky & Sweet Tour: Mexico City Ticket

Here is a look at a ticket for Madonna's sell-out show in Mexico City on Sunday 30 November.

Thanks to Isaac

Sticky & Sweet Tour: Athens Seating Plan

Pictured below is the seating/price plan for Madonna's tour stop in Athens on Saturday 27 September - click on the plan to enlarge and read the ticket prices and categories.

Thanks to Akis

Second date added to Mexico City tour stop

A second date has just been added to the Sticky & Sweet Tour itiniery. Madonna will now also play the Foro Sol on Sunday 30 November.

Pre-sale tickets went on sale this morning for the Saturday 29 November date and within 50 minutes were sold out - the second date was added soon after.

Lorraine Baz of Ticketmaster Mexico said that 61% of tickets were sold via the internet, 32% at points of sale, 5% by telephone and 2% by ticket office.

Thanks to Julio

Sticky & Sweet Tour Set Lists

Thanks to everyone who has emailed madonnalicious with rumoured set lists for the Sticky & Sweet Tour - so far we have had several rumoured set lists - including the one published on an infamous gossip site - so why not join the madonnalicious forum to discuss all these rumours at this link.

Sticky & Sweet: Mexico seating plan

The seating plans that have been released for the Foro Sol date in Mexico city are both showing a small catwalk.

Thanks to Horacio

Madonna European support act revealed

Robyn has been announced as the support act for Madonna's European tour dates. The Swedish popstar will join the material girl on the Sticky & Sweet tour throughout August and September.
The ladies shared the bill recently at Radio 1's Big Weekend in Maidstone, Kent on 10 May. Robyn almost stole the show, appearing with a band dressed as toy soldiers. She said: 'I'm very excited about sharing a stage with her.'
Madonna has sold nearly one million tickets to date for her shows across Europe and north America.
Robyn will play the following dates:

Nice Stade Charles Ehrmann (26 August)
Zurich Military Airfield Dubendorf (30 August)
Amsterdam Arena (02 September)
Dusseldorf LTU Arena (04 September)
Frankfurt Commerzbank Arena (09 September)
Lisbon Parque da Bela Vista (14 September)
Vienna Danube Island (23 September)
Athens Olympic Stadium (27 September)

The support on the UK legs of the tour in Cardiff and London have not been announced yet.

From BBC Newsbeat

Mexico City added to the Sticky & Sweet Tour

Madonna's official website have confirmed what will be the first date of the Mexico and South American leg of the Sticky & Sweet Tour:

We are happy to announce that a new city was just added to the 'Sticky & Sweet Tour' itinerary. Madonna will perform at Mexico City's Foro Sol on Saturday, November 29. Tickets will go on sale on Wednesday, Jun 25, at 11am Local Time, while a devoted fan club presale will start on Thursday, June 19, at 11am, LOCAL TIME.

A Banco Nacional (Banamex) pre-sale will also take place on Monday 23 and Tuesday 24 June.

Thanks to Jose and Julius

Madonna in Montenegro?

Another day, another tour date rumour - this time about a tour stop in Montenegro. Remember this is just a rumour and nothing is official until confirmed by Madonna's official website:

Madonna’s concert will definitely be held in Budva at Jaz Beach., says Blazo Radoman from the Tourist Agency in Budva, adding that the contract with the popular singer’s management will be signed soon, as well as that Madonna will confirm within the next 30 days that Budva is on the list of countries which she is going to visit on her forthcoming tour. Details related to the exact date of the concert will soon be scheduled (Madonna will perform at Jaz Beach in late August or early September) and the pop-queen, who is coming to Budva with her husband Guy Richie and children, will spend three days in Budva.
'The contract is still not signed, but everything is arranged with Madonna's management. She is definitely coming to Budva and the contract will be signed within next 30 days, when Madonna confirms that Budva is on the list of the cities where she will sing this summer. We are expecting about 100,000 people at Jaz Beach since the forthcoming concert has drawn much attention. People are calling from neighboring countries, the Czech Republic, Russia, even England, where Madonna regularly performs,' Blazo Radoman says for 'Blic'.
Radoman also says that $5 million-remuneration has been a little exaggerated and that organization of the concert will be paid by the agency selected by Budva municipality.
'We are just providing the concert space at Jaz Beach, but other expenses will be covered by the agency organizing the concert. Madonna’s concert will be unprecedented spectacle and it will greatly contribute to the tourist promotion of Budva. In summer, all world media will mention Madonna's concert in Budva and such publicity cannot be measured with money,' Radoman explains.
Although it has been said that tickets for Madonna's concert will be cheaper than last year's tickets for 'The Rolling Stones' concert at Jaz Beach (the cheapest tickets were 35 Euros), Blazo Radoman says that the ticket price will be determined by the agency organizing the concert, in accordance with their business plans and arrangement with the managerial team of the popular singer.

From www.wishmontenegro.com - thanks to Lauren

Vienna is confirmed by Madonna.com

As part of her 'Sticky & Sweet Tour', Madonna will perform at Vienna's Donauinsel on Tuesday 23 September. Tickets will go on sale Monday 23 June at 10:00am local time.
If you're a member of Madonna's Official Fan Club, please note that a devoted presale will start on Wednesday 18 June at 10:00am LOCAL TIME.

Possible tour date in Puerto Rico?

Puerto Rican newspaper El Nuevo Día claim that there are talks taking place to bring Madonna's Sticky & Sweet Tour to San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Thanks to Agustin, Maria and Willie

Madonna Sticky & Sweet Tour to play Vienna

Austrian Radio station fm4 have just announced this afternoon that Madonna will be playing her first ever show in Austria on Tuesday 23 September at Donauinsel in Vienna.

And radio station Ö3 have announced that the tickets will go on sale on Monday 23 June and will be priced at 99€.

Thanks to Alex and Michael

Madonna in Argentina?

TV reports and newspapers have been reporting that Madonna's Sticky & Sweet Tour will play the River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires for three days on Thursday 04, Friday 05 and Sunday 07 December.

Below is a scan from La Nueva Provincia informing it's readers of the same news - although madonnalicious is slightly wary of these dates as one is a Friday and Madonna does not perform on Friday evenings.

Thanks to Mariela

Athens Sticky & Sweet Tour date announced

Madonna's tour stop in Athens has been officially announced on www.madonna.com
The Sticky & Sweet Tour will play the Olympic Stadium in Athens on Saturday 27 September - tickets for the show will go on sale on Friday 27 June to the general public. The fanclub presale will start on Tuesday 24 June.

For more details visit www.tickethouse.gr or www.didimusic.gr

Thanks to al.x

Lisbon is a sell out!

Portugese promoters have now announced the Sunday 14 September date in Lisbon is a sell-out!

Thanks to Francisco