Madonna concert does not disappoint in gay-friendly Phoenix

If you had your doubts over the gay friendliness of the Greater Phoenix area, your opinion would quickly change if you were in attendance for the Madonna concert on Tuesday, October 16, at the US Airways Center in downtown Phoenix, Arizona.
A huge gay contingent turned out to hear the Diva, but they had to wait.
The concert was technically scheduled to start at 8:30 but started a little after then with a deejay spinning Madonna music. His performance lasted a little over an hour. The crowd erupted into cheers just after 10:20 p.m. when the giant Madonna curtain came down revealing the full stage. The house lights went down at 10:29 pm to more cheers. As if on cue, Madonna took the stage at 10:30 p.m. with a gothic/religious theme. A giant fixture meant to symbolize incense was swayed down over the front of the audience by 'monks' clad in red.
Lady Gaga made it into Madonna’s act. Just after 11pm, Madonna took a swipe at Gaga as she sang her Respect Yourself standard interspersed with lyrics from GaGa’s Born This Way.
Madonna turned political almost an hour into her show when she declared that Obama won the presidential debate tonight.
She told the crowd that she loved even Republicans. 'I am a Democrat. But I love you if you are not, because we preach tolerance,' the Diva said.
Madonna also made a dramatic statement against bullying. She showed off the name AMANDA written on her back. She explained that was in tribute to a15-year-old Canadian girl, Amanda Todd, who committed suicide because of antigay bullying. The star liked bullying to terrorism. She later showed slides of young people who have committed suicide because they were gay.
Briefly delving into the political dustup she got into in Russia the diva later joked to members of the audience, 'Get a hotel room for that guys. You could get arrested for that in Russia.' She later added, 'No public displays of affection guys unless I am involved.'

From www.examiner.com / Picture Credit: Ed Walsh

Comments

[Wil W]

Respect Yourself is the song by the Staples Singers that Madonna was accused of ripping off with Express Yourself. There are amazing similarities between the two, but not as obvious as Gaga's Born This Way. I'm a big fan of both Gaga and Madonna, but Madonna fans jumping on Gaga for ripping her off should take a close look at the things Madonna has "borrowed" over the years. Just sayin'.

[tracy]

@ngl-thanks for your kind words. :) xxxx

[Cate]

Amanda Todd was not gay, that is false information. She was just bullied to death.
Kudos to Madonna though for putting it out there!!!

[ngl]

@tracy- Thankyou for sharing your Heartbreaking story, your Uncle's behaviour is appalling & it makes me feel both furious & sad. I am so glad that You were Kind & Accepting of your gay cousin, and were a Friend to him. Like Madonna, I believe in Life after Death (or Life after Life) & one day you will be Reunited! It is said that on the last day God shall wipe away every tear from our eyes, and clearly this means the more tears to be dried the greater will be the consolation. May God Bless You, and Your Cousin!xxx

[tracy]

my gay cousin recently commited suicide-his father didnt handle his lifestyle too well-he kicked him out & was always horrible to him- & he eventually turned too drugs-although clean in recent years he suffered flashbacks & depression because of this.i will always beleive his father is partly to blame.if he'd been more of a man-& proud of his son-instead of a bullying homophobe-i would still have my precious cousin here today :( he adored madonna-i took him to his first madonna gig when he was a teenager-it was such a special day.i'll never forget it-or him.xxxxx

[T]

"Respect Yoursel"?? Um it's "Express Yourself"

[Curtis]

The "get a hotel room" remark was intended for the gay couple standing beside me in the pit. They kissed, Madonna saw, and reacted. It was awesome!

[ngl]

Good on Madonna for her pro-gay rights stance! Madonna needs to tread very carefully when dealing with the issue of Suicide. The media has struggled for years on how to deal with this issue- do you stay silent on suicide and hope it will go away, or do you talk about it & run the risk of unintentionally glorifying it and this can lead to copycat suicides. IMHO I think Madonna having the name 'Amanda' written on her back, a girl that died through suicide, is potentially dangerous- other suicidal teens that idolize Madonna could see this as both a way out & a way to become immortalized at the same time. Suicide is a serious issue, it does not have any easy answers. Madonna's decision to deal with teen suicide in her concerts is like tip-toeing through a minefield- it is brave & well intentioned, but risky to say the least.