Sunday, June 17, 2012

#6: Future Lovers - Confessions 2006, but wait…


Number 6 belongs to Madonna’s opening number for her Confessions tour in 2006. Since I already posted a clip of this performance in my tribute to Donna Summer, I thought it might be nice to use this number 6 position to highlight an Honorable Mention selection, which goes to Rain from The Girlie Show: Live Down Under. Funnily enough, Rain is the next song in The Girlie Show right after Vogue.

With the first three songs in the show being up-tempo songs, I like to think it’s appropriate for the fourth song to be a ballad, something to bring the crowd down a bit from the last 15 minutes, plus it can serve as a segue into the next section of a show, especially if the next section starts with a faster song.

Donna De Lory on the left, Madonna in the middle, and Niki Haris on the right sit on stools, draped in simple black gowns. This performance shows how well their three voices blend together, and after several tours together, they know how the other sounds, when to go high, when to sing the melody line, when to go low. Another treat is the bridge section: Here comes the sun/Here comes the sun/And I say/Never go away. They quickly transition briefly into an old Motown classic, then back to Rain.

The last part finds De Lory, Madonna and Haris standing up, close to one another, snapping their fingers as if they’re in an old 60’s Motown girl group—definitely a nice touch. And finally, check out that long last note Madonna hits as the thunder rolls in—another nice touch.

PS: The song ends at 6:00, but the clip goes for another (lengthy) four minutes, which serves as a dancer interlude/costume-change break for the three women. BSo



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