Madonna Hard Candy Concert Review (Tallinn)
Wednesday, August 5, 2009 9:59 by Robin GurneyWell I admit I did not go with high expectations…
But the full moon, warm summer evening, tickets to the spacious fanzone sector (so we did not feel like sardines) helped we warm up to the idea that it might be a special night.
BTW boy, am I glad we did not buy VIP tickets -they were seated and probably had snacks and nearer toilets but they were way off the action - we were a few metres from the stage
and could almost see the wrinkles (great “make up” team she has).
Anyway now my scores:
Overall show/entertainment value: 10
Madonna’s Dancing: 7-8 (short bursts of good stuff but mostly pretty mundane - hey give the girl a break she is 50!)
Madonna’s singing: 5-6. Am I the only who noticed that:
a: she cant sing anymore
b. she mimed half the stuff (easily noticed when she lowered the mike and her voice (not the excellent backing vocals) still carried on. Tut tut- surely we shouldn’t have been able to spot that. Very unprofessional.
c: the backing vocalists took over most of the hard stuff
Other moans:
I doubt my review of any other Madonna concert on this tour would be any different.
There was zero localisation.
Pure cut and paste and “insert country name here”:
“Come on [country name] you can do better than that”
“[country name] - this is for you” - was followed by spinning maps and world videos that made zero reference to Tallinn or Estonia but instead focused on Bucharest, Moscow (faux pas imho) and Rajistan (if I remember right) etc.
Transport: Ok it was a lovely evening but given Tallinn just got a huge tourism boost and must have made a fortune
(great stuff- thanks Madonna for attracting so many tourists to Tallinn) - I think Tallinn City Council could have provided free bus shuttle services to and from centre.
The traffic planning was pretty poor.
So overall was it worth the money - yes.
My wife loved it and so did her mates and I confess I tapped my foot a bit and the last song was pretty damn good (Give it to me).
However if I had been in the main sector standing near the back I think i would have felt otherwise.
Up close and personal is the only ways to see live music IMHO - it really makes the difference.
I think the reals stars of the show were the technical team- wow- they did some very cool stuff with screens, lazers, moving stages etc etc. Really impressive.
As I said overall the score was 10 but she could have personalised and said thanks to the team who made this event special - all the singers, dancers and technical team but I suppose that would deflect attention away from her…ho hum. That attitude does not really fit with all the eco-ethical-moralistic screen messages we were pumped throughout the show (about being nice etc.)
So that’s it.
Your comments are welcome.
PS Personally I think Morrissey was ten times better (he played Rock Cafe, Tallinn last month) and I am far more looking forward to seeing Estonia play Brazil (football) - yes it’s expensive but it’s a one-off. Brazil will NEVER play in Estonia again - this is your chance to see the beautiful game as it should be played. Go buy a ticket and support Estonia!!
Needless to say these views are my own and no way reflect the opinion of altex marketing or any of the other members of our team






Madonna Tickets Tallinn Estonia says:
August 5th, 2009 at 10:07 am
[...] 2009 10:16 by Robin Gurney Posted in category English Posts, Other Stuff // Aug 5: read my Madonna hard candy tour concert review (Tallinn) I just managed to get 6 tickets to see Madonna in Tallinn, Estonia in August. She’s on the [...]
Siim says:
August 5th, 2009 at 10:35 am
Robin, I really agree with the points to stated out!
Although I would have really expected any sort of country’s personalization 
In addition to that, I’d like to point out the really professional video & stage show. Videos even had some actual messages to the audience
blogetrotter says:
August 5th, 2009 at 11:03 am
As regarding the Moscow, Buchurest, Rajastan video clip, the main faux-pas was not even showing Moscow but depicting Eastern Europe exactly as in “Borat” movie. I am pretty sure one can find lot of heart-breaking video material from this region, but instead they choose some “lets feel sympathy for poor Iraqi bastards somewhere in the desert” attitude.
Sweet and Sticky Tour 2009 in Tallinn - Review says:
August 5th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
[...] [Altex Marketing] Related Articles:Madonna Concert in TallinnNokia Concert HallLet The Song Festival Begin!Lesson from Re-Start-Up IlMarineIce Cricket World Cup in TallinnSweet and Sticky Tour 2009 in Tallinn – Review [...]
Sandra Mesipuu says:
September 25th, 2009 at 9:23 am
No Robin, you´re not the only one to notice those things. The fact that she earned 70 mills - it is worth to study a simple word like ” Tere Eesti”, ” Privet Russia ” or smtn.. she was so full of ” lets get this over with” energy .. I looked other clips from her tour around the world .. Commercial shit: Are you ready Russia! ” ( crowd goes mad ), “Are you ready Buenos Aires! ” ( crowd goes mad ) and so in every country.. disrespectful and so in it for the money, fame and” im the biggest of all times” attidude..
My plus was that i was selling drinks and i was payd for the ” concert” ,, otherwise i would have been sad for the moneyloss if i would have bought the 60 euro ticket.
Meelis says:
September 25th, 2009 at 9:28 am
Loosely related but an interesting point of view:
http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/artists-are-not-inherently-entitled-to-monetary-compensation.html