The fiery European inside of me has not been this satisfied in years.
As someone who has never actually visited the country both his parents called home for the early years of their childhood (Bosnia), my emotional pull to it and, in general, European music, has grown over the years. As I've gotten older I've found myself appreciating the 'narodne' and 'zabavne' songs my parents would force upon me as a child. A lot of the European sounds borrow quite heavily from the musical stylings of Gypsies, a sound which I associate with my childhood almost as much as the sounds of Madonna or The Doors resonating from my Auntie's bedroom.
I spent a large portion of this weekend with the TV on, waiting for Madonna and her set at this weekends Live Earth, which I had worked out would start about 6:30am my time. At about 2:30am I couldn't handle it anymore and went to sleep, purposely leaving the TV on (what would Al Gore say?) and setting my alarm for 6:25am. You can probably guess that when 6:25am came round, I did not. I cannot recall switching the alarm off but I must have, and ended up awaking at about 10:30am.
I was pretty upset, annoyed that I'd have to download her set and watch it on my computer... I wanted to see it on my television, not on my monitor. Anyways, I began to rub my eyes and, out of the corner of my eye I see Madonna's name scrawled across the bottom of my television screen (I have this alarming, er, talent, to spot Madonna's name or a picture of her face from miles away. Honestly, it's a gift.) Fox8 began showing Madonna's set all over again. It was almost as if it had been set up to coincide with me waking up. I totally spun out.
So I sat there, at the edge of my bed, watching her sing "Hey You" and "Ray Of Light." Not checking the net for any spoilers, I was not expecting any sort of surprises, especially not in the form of a remodeled "La Isla Bonita." When the Gogol Bordello guys came out, I initially thought they'd just be there for backing vocals. But when that gypsy madness kicked in, well, fuck me. I was instantly zapped out of sleep mode, completely alert and focussed. Was this really happening? Was my favourite Madonna song of all time actually being fused together with sounds of the Balkans? As it all kicked in, my emotions totally took over. And when Mo started singing in Romani, I, very quietly, totally lost my shit. The goosebump factor was intense.
I've always thought that Madonna's performance of "La Isla Bonita" at the Drowned World Tour was the definitive version, but now I'm really not sure. This Live Earth remodel is simply another spin on the Confessions Tour version, which took a while for me to appreciate. But the whole Gogol Bordello touch... it was like she had figured out there was something missing from the CT version, and knew exactly what ingredients to add in order to make the finished product better than any previous version of the song. If that's what went through her head, then she was right on the money.
I am totally overwhelmed at how beautiful it all was. The dancing, the music, it not only connected me to Madonna (you're all well aware of the effect she has on me), but connected me to the Balkans, to Europe, to the music my grandparents and their parents would listen to at gatherings around a lamb on the spit, playing cards in the backyard of a small Bosnian cottage. It was pretty ace.
I'm sure this is just a bunch of nonsensical rambling, but I just had to share how I've been feeling all day. I swear to god, there is nothing better than when music makes you feel like this. I'm seriously on top of the world.
This will most likely turn out to be my favourite live Madonna performance of all time I'd say.
Watch and love.
COMING THIS WEEK:The release of Harry Potter V this Wednesday will see some seriousRedknob appreciation. And some of that other shit I promised you all two weeks ago.
12:56 PM | Poster Girl said... Adem, that's a scary number of coincidences. I mean, it really was as if it was just for you. I missed Live Earth, but that's a great performance.
1:00 PM | Paul said... on a slightly unrelated note, my friend was there and texted me to say that you can buy condoms with a local anesthetic on the outside for the "larger" man!!! Oh my!
