From Art:
It was amazing! I was on the floor, row 12....during Hung Up, she held the microphone for me, and had me say 'time goes by, so slowly'....it was the best!! She just smiled at me while she held the mic....
Meanwhile, I need your help! If anyone in section floor 1 took any pics of her during that, please email them to me at velvetboy22@aol.com....I wanna show all my other friends who didn't make the show, proof....

From Daniel:
I think I came at least twice (kidding) during the show - kidding! This is THE CLOSEST I've ever gotten to the diva herself. The best is when she did Like A Virgin right in front of me! We were in Sec 115, and she gave mad props to our side of the arena - she said this side of the room (right side) has more energy than the left. Of course, we all went buck wild. It was great to see everyone jumping up and down screaming for her attention.
What really drove the crowd wild was when she dissed Las Vegas. She mentioned the shows over the weekend, and said the energy of the crowd in Las Vegas was nowhere near the level of San Jose.
Of the 3 tours I've seen (DWT, RIT, and Confessions), this has got to be the best. The entire show was an assault on the senses and stimulating. It's visual overload. For those of you seeing it more than once, I'm jealous. You have to catch the show more than once to see what's really going on.
From opening to end, I did not sit down once - my voice is starting to crack from all the yelling!
Lastly, it was pretty easy to get a camera in - they didn't check at all. They just scanned the ticket, and in we went. However....as for usage....you're not suppose to take videos or shots as she's close to you on the side catwalk....which is where I was. You can take photos as she's in the middle of the arena or the main stage.
For those of you waiting....get ready....it's one hot ass show. I'm tempted to buy another tix for the 2nd bay area show!
I still have an adrenaline rush from the show and cannot sleep.

From Jaime:
In the past I have only dreamed of being as close to Madonna as I was last night. I had floor seats in the 13th row, about four seats away from the catwalk. When me and my friend finally got down to the floor to our seats, I almost pissed myself, we were so close.
Madonna, up close, is gorgeous. Her eyes are so bright and beautiful, you can really feel when she is happy and enjoying singing to us. Like a Virgin was awesome! I was right underneath Madonna when she was riding the pole. Ray Of Light rocked the arena! That was the most fun song. Erotica was great, the dancing was awesome. But what is that song that she sings? - its not just Erotica.
Live To Tell was beautiful and powerful. The laid back acoustic set of Substitute For Love and Pardise (Not For Me) was touching, I loved hearing Paradise that way. The show was awesome, the crowd was beautiful. It was like Gay Pride with Madonna. It was all I ever thought it would be.

From Jared:
I've seen M so many times now, but on this tour, she seemed like she genuinely was having so much fun. The energy during the show was intense, especially during Sorry, Like A Virgin, Ray Of Light, and Lucky Star. Even I Love New York had everyone up.
My seat was fantastic and was well worth the price. Using 'I Feel Love' and 'Disco Inferno' totally worked, and I knew it would. The graphics were f'ng fantastic and the horses in the intro fit perfectly. The Drowned World tour and Reinvention did not have the 'fun' element that this tour did, though I loved them both.
I could go on and on about this show, but that would take far too long. She loved the San Jose crowd and showed it. Being that SJ is my hometown, words can do no justice for Queen Madjesty.
Erotica was You Thrill Me this time around, which went great with the dance steps, and the background images to La Isla Bonita were gorgeous. I am so happy she included images of her past, as well. How can we ever forget the past? Apparently, she never has either. Long Live the Queen....

From Jose:
The show was amazing! I was in Section Floor 1, Row 10, Seat 14.
The floor seats at HP Pavilion are numbered from right to left. So, in Section 1, Seat #20 is the one right up against the catwalk(so i had 6 people keeping me from being right up where I wanted to be), and in Section 3, Seat #1 is the one right up against the catwalk.
Being on the floor anywhere before about the 20th row means you spend a lot of time turned around to see her when she's on the center catwalk stage and a lot of time she has her back to you (people in the very back of the arena actually get the most complete picture of everything that's going on).
When you've got Madonna that close to you, your eyes are fixed on her, so it's hard to pay attention to the dancers or the projections on the screens. While she did say that we were a great crowd compared to Vegas (her words were 'Who says Vegas is fun?', but I wonder if she'll put down the previous city at each stop - I've seen other artists do that to get each city riled up with a competitive spirit).
She did complain that Section 1 wasn't as much fun as Section 3....and unfortunately, I have to agree. The first 3 rows of the section were into it, and everybody from Row 10 back was great....but Rows 4 to 9 were a total dead spot. The queens right in front of me in their late 40s/50s stood still the whole time and one would give me the dirtiest looks because I was going crazy screaming (I admit that my screaming is extremely loud, but don't they know that artists give back what you put out).
I mean it's so embarassing for your section to get singled out for being boring. It seems like no matter how much I pay, I so often end up in the boring zones. I thought floor seats would solve the problem, but I guess not. That's why I often prefer General Admission concerts. The people next to me were great - dancing the whole time - I only wish they hadn't been so afraid to crowd over by the catwalk.
I guess it's sour grapes, but it looked like a lot of the people who ended right up against the catwalk were this one type of suburban blonde women in their late 30s/40s who were drinking and dancing and having a great time, but didn't know any words to the new songs. It seemed that rather than specifically being Madonna fans, they were the type that goes to every big show at HP Pavilion or Shoreline Amphitheatre and have a good time as long as there's enough beer flowing.
Unique parts of this show (that I remember now):
I didn't realize from previous reports that the intro incorporated the sound of galloping horses.
The spoken word parts of 'Future Lovers' were pre-recorded and it's cool because she doesn't pretend to lip-sync them....she just sings the singing parts, and when she sings part of Donna Summer's 'I Feel Love' at the end of 'Future Lovers', she still goes back and sings a reprise of 'Future Lovers' lyrics.
She kept making eye contact with Stuart during 'Get Together' (probably something sound-related, because at some other point, I saw/heard Stuart complaining to one of the sound guys about something being too loud).
'Jump' was great and gets a great crowd response (hint: release it as a single!).
'Live To Tell' sounded beautiful and the image of her on the cross did not seem like a gratuitous attempt to stir up contoversy when you see it in the context of all the images surrounding it.
'Isaac' (the song and the singer) sounds great live and the caged woman dancer was great, especially followed by the female empowerment choreography of the next song....
'Sorry' was a highlight of the concert. By the way the whole stadium was singing along and going crazy, you would never know that the song only made it to #58 on the US charts. She used the Pet Shop Boys' backing vocals from their remix of the song (the part where Neil Tennant slowly sings 'I'm sorry....so sorry....please forgive me), and toward the end it even incorporates some of the music from their remix too.
I love the 'Sorry Interlude' with all the politicians on screen.
She forgot the words for the 1st line at the beginning of the 2nd verse of 'I Love New York' (the line that says 'If you don't like my attitude'), she recovered in time for '....then you can F-Off', and then slipped in 'If you don't like my attitude' in her speaking voice....I wonder if she hadn't messed up, if she would have said 'F*ck Off' instead, because it seems like the mess-up kept her from improvising....instead of following the line 'You can go to Texas' with '....and suck George Bush's d*ck!', she stuck to the original line 'isn't that where they golf'.
Otherwise, she displayed great rock attitude while playing the guitar for that and the following 'Ray Of Light'.
Although the version of 'Let It Will Be' that she performs is the Paper Faces Mix, there is one small part near the end when it goes to the album version with the strings (I noticed this at Coachella as well, but don't remember if that's how it was at the Koko performance).
As she ended it sitting down, she joked 'Turn off the f*cking air conditioning....I'm freezing up here!' (I wasn't any hotter than I've been at any show where people are packed together tightly and jumping and dancing, but on the way back to the car, we heard some queens on the corner complaining about how uncomfortably hot it was in there).
When I had seen pictures of her sitting during 'Drowned World/Substitute For Love', she looked a little tired and sweaty (who wouldn't be after the crazy energetic dancing of 'Let It Will Be' all over the stage!), but tonight she looked so beautiful and radiant. Her long loose hair falling over her shoulders looked so beautiful in this part.
I can't believe how beautiful her voice sounded right after such an energetic performance (I would have been so out of breath!). The audience responded remarkably well to this ballad (which wasn't released as a single in the US). I could swear I heard a lot of people singing along....this could be a reflection of how succesful the Ray Of Light album was, and the fact that the song was also included on the GHV2 compilation.
'Paradise (Not for Me)' also sounded great with Madonna sitting on a stool playing guitar and Isaac next to her on another stool adding his beautiful vocals to this version (perhaps replacing the French part with Hebrew or some other language). She interacted with the audience at this point asking 'How do you like my friend Isaac*#63; Isn't his voice beautiful?' I was under the impression that this was a totally acoustic version, but Stuart used the vocoder on Madonna's voice on quite a few parts of it. The images of falling flowers were beautiful.
At this show (even in the 'dead' section where I was), the two ballads in a row did not seem to slow down the show as some have complained before. A lot of people remained standing the whole time.
'Disco Inferno' with all of the dancers roller-skating all over the place was out of this world. There is so much constant motion, and nobody seemed to fall tonight. This version of 'Music' with Madonna in the white leisure suit doing John Travolta's moves from Saturday Night Fever was a nice change from the versions we've seen on the last two tours.
I can't begin to say how beautiful the vocals and the music to 'Erotica/You Thrill Me' sounded live. And the salsa-ish choreography was great. Madonna and all the dancers looked so great dancing those steps in front of the blu-ish background. It really did put me in a trance....lol.
The super-fast version of 'La Isla Bonita' was quite a workout, with all the images of tropical island backdrops on the screen and the words 'Te Amo' appearing briefly.
It was cool to hear 'Lucky Star' performed live with Madonna wearing the Dancing Queen cape that was lit up on the inside.
'Hung Up' was a great ending with a lot of familiar choreography, but the addition of Madonna humping the boombox out on the center catwalk stage. She must feel so proud prancing down that catwalk with her flawless body in that leotard. She led the audience in a sing-a-long of the line 'Time goes by....so slowly!', and when she finally was pleased that everybody was singing it loud enough, she said 'I love you (guys)!'.
I caught one of the gold balloons that came down from the ceiling. While 'Hung Up' is such a motivating crowd-pleaser that an encore would be great (especially the way the crowd was screaming for one until the lights came on), she was probably already miles away while we were still reading the question 'Have you confessed?' on the screen. I have to respect her artistic decision not to do encores.
Anyway....that was all I could think of about tonight's show....I hope I haven't bored people too much....more news tomorrow night....I only hope the crowd in Section 101 tomorrow is more lively than the crowd in Section Floor 1 was tonight.
I want to thank Trina (ICON name: histon) and her friend Michael for offering me a ride home and getting me home about 90 minutes earlier than if I'd taken the bus and BART! 'Ooh....you're an angel' keeps going through my head.

From Lionel:
OMG what an amazing show she put on! Between songs she pointed out that the people in Vegas were boring and the crowd in San Jose was much more livelier. She later said 'Who said Vegas was fun?' to which the crowd went crazy.
During one of the later songs a fan threw a t-shirt on stage, she then got the shirt threw it back down and said 'That's not very nice!' between verses. In the end song 'Hung Up' she also approached two people along the center runway and asked 'What does time go?' to which they replied enthusiastically 'TIME GOES BY SO SLOWLY!' OMG I can't wait to see her later on tonight AGAIN!

From Ricco:
Just got back from the Tuesday 30 May show in San Jose. The show went perfect, and at one point she said one side of the room was singing and yelling louder than the other side. When she was satisfied both sides were even, she said what a great crowd, you guys are the sh*t. The crowd went nuts. We loved her, but this fantastic show deserves an encore. Can't wait till Fresno next week.

From Brian:
A-MAY-ZING! What more can I say. The HP Pavillion Center is really a great venue because it’s so much smaller than most arenas. There really isn’t a bad seat in the house. We sat in section 226, which sucked in some ways, but was great in others. If you’re facing the stage, it’s to the far right....almost behind the stage. We weren’t all the way up so you could see her very well. We also had a large screen that showed her most of the time. The things we couldn’t see were the images on the large screens nor could we see Donna and Nicky, until they came out towards the end.
The cool aspect of it was that it made it seem more like a Madonna concert than a Vegas show. It was a bit more intimate, but this show was also more intimate than RIT. I wish I could see it again from the entire perspective, however, time and money won’t allow this time around. I’ll have to wait for the DVD. She did seem more relaxed and was having a great time. Especially during Disco Inferno/Music.
Below are my personal highlights of the show. Oh, and by the way, even if you have read all of the spoilers and have seen all the pics, you will still be surprised.
The Grand Entrance – The damn crystal disco ball was so f*cking cool! The whole stadium was dying of anticipation. When she finally came out, you could feel the room shake.
Future Lovers/I Feel Love – I never really cared for this song until now. And it was so great to hear her sing this Donna Summer classic. It sounded perfect with her vocals.
Like A Virgin – Timeless classic done to a somewhat techno beat.
Live to Tell – The intro was amazing. I would’ve shed a tear if I wasn’t so afraid of being ridiculed by my posse. She looked and sounded amazing on the cross and her voice was very intense. I’d say the most emotional part of the show. I love how she didn’t stray too much from the original, just enhanced it. I hope there’s a live CD for this tour as well.
Sorry - She danced and semi-krumped her ass of and still sounded great singing live. There was so much going on with the set, dancers and her. And can I please say that Mihran is the cutest dancer on her tour?!
Sorry video interlude – well, I couldn’t see any of the images really, but this version was kind of industrial sounding. This needs to be released at somepoint. Maybe on the remix album.
Music/Disco Inferno – The best performance in the show. This version is amazing and the choreography was HOT! She was having the time of her life!
La Isla Bonita – I’ve always loved this song and when I watched the 23 sec. clip from the dress rehearsal, I couldn’t wait to hear this live. It was completely redone and much faster with a hot latin flavour to it. I just wish she did a longer version of it. I felt like it was over in just seconds. I didn’t at all get to see the tropical imagery that was behind them all.
Lucky Star/Hung Up – OMG! This is the only time I got to see Donna and Nicky. Donna looked great but the new Nicky doesn’t quite cut it for me. Not much soul to her voice compared to Niki or Siedah and she didn’t move so well. This new version was so fun. I never thought I would hear her sing this live. It’s another one of the all time Madonna classics. And I loved how it segued into Hung Up…very nicely done. I thought I was not going to enjoy seeing Hung Up since I had seen it on TV or online s many times already, but it rocked the house! The addition of the boom box scene really got everyone wild.
Although those were my personal highlights, I’ve gotta say that once again there wasn’t one portion of the show that I disliked. I’m so honoured to have her help raise me for the last 23 out of 33 years of my existence. LOL I can’t wait to see what is next.

From Gabi:
I can not describe my both nights in San Jose. Madonna was beautiful, sexy, powerful, energetic, and super amazing. I was 2nd row first night and 10th row first seat by the catwalk second night (which is way better).
My favorite best killing two parts were....when she TOUCHED my hand. I almost fainted. When she was singing Future Lovers, she looked at me I gave her my hand and she squeezed it, AND while singing Let It Will bBe, she high fived me! UNBELIEVABLE! I went totally crazy.
My friends went wild and the people around me were jumping, they couldn’t believe it. Neither did I. I didn’t want to wash my hands afterwards! She has this incredible power in her eyes, every time we had an eye contact, she smiled....and I froze! I loved every second of it. Every song, every move, every word. I will never EVER forget this experience.

From Jerry James:
This show was amazing. My friend and I were in the front row on the floor. First off we handed out 500 glow sticks to our section. One of the crew members came out and took our picture because they saw us handing them out to everyone and we had made our shirts: 'Bush Fucking Sucks' and 'Madonna for President'. He said Madonna loves seeing stuff like this. It's really neat thinking she will see our picture! It was so great.
When the lights went off and the disco ball dropped our whole section was waving their glow sticks in anticipation for the ball to open up. After that our section kinda sat down, it was pretty annoying so the other floor section got more attention. But when Madonna or Donna came over to our side, they mostly interacted with us so we didn't mind that part. Donna interacted with us the most. We would throw her winks and she would throw them back. Madonna looked she was having a blast. It was great seeing her have SO much fun.

From Jose:
My seat tonight at Section 101, Row 2, Seat 3 ended up being lined up perfectly with Row 23 on the floor. It was a perfect place to be lined up with the center catwalk stage, and it helped me to have a much better time tonight than I did last night.
The crowd tonight was incredible! They were screaming even before the lights went out, and the energy level never let up the whole night. It was a grateful and adoring crowd that screamed appropriately at every little move she or the dancers made, and as a result she gave a much better show!
It was obvious the whole night that she was enjoying herself so much more than last night. She kept saying 'You guys are great!' at various points in the show, and I'm glad that her beloved 'Front Row B!tches' (at one point she said 'You front row bitches are distracting me!' and she referred affectionately to the 'front row bitches' later in the show) made themselves stand out, which is how it should be (unlike the huge dead spot of no-energy people in front of me in Section 1 last night).
And for people who are upset that she doesn't say 'Thank you' or 'Good night' at the end of the show....well it meant a whole lot more to hear her say 'Thank you....thanks for all the love!' as she was walking back to main stage near the end of 'Like It Or Not'. I was able to see so much more of just how beautiful the stage show really is than I could from Row 10 last night (this is one show where floor seats are almost better from Row 23 back, unless you're lucky enough to be right up againt the catwalk in any row).
People who aren't on the floor shouldn't worry, as the show is designed to work on a large scale and there are aspects that look better from further away than close up.
I was able to hear the dancers' recorded 'confessions' much better in the lead-up to 'Live To Tell', and the appearance of her on the cross got an instant positive reaction tonight. I noticed tonight that right after she goes off-stage after 'Jump', there is a recording of her singing the line 'I have a tale to tell....' right before the first dancer's (Cloud) confession starts.
She didn't mess up on 'I Love New York' at all. She sang 'F-Off' and not 'F*ck Off', but she did say 'and you can suck George Bush's dick!' after the line '....go to Texas'. The crowd was worked into a frenzy by this song, which was perfect since she wanted everybody to keep jumping during the next song 'Ray Of Light' and this crowd obliged.
After a blistering 'Let It Will Be' performance, she said something like 'You know I'm having a great time when....' and I can't remember the exact words , but it was something to the effect of being sweaty or worn out from the performance.
Again, 'Drowned World/Substitute For Love' got a great response from the crowd (this crown even want as far as to fill any pauses with their screams), and the two ballads in a row ('Paradise (Not for Me)') did not in any way feel like a lull or a downer.
The whole 'Music Inferno' sequence is a wonderful sensory overload that has to be seen to be believed.
I noticed during 'Erotica/You Thrill Me' that she sings the 'Erotic, erotic' part, but not the 'put your hands all over my body' part (either that line is pre-recorded or Niki/Donna sing it).
'La Isla Bonita' was my least favorite number last night, as it felt a bit rushed to me. Tonight, however, I felt that it worked. She and the dancers really seemed to be having fun with the choreography, whereas last night it was the one number where I felt she was 'going through the motions' (albeit at a breakneck speed).
I noticed that while Niki and Donna were holding up the Dancing Queen cape for her that she stepped forward a bit too soon without it being on her yet. She laughed as she she stepped back into the cape. It was great to see that she was having such a great time that she could even enjoy herself during this tiny 'mistake'.
And I hadn't even noticed last night that two of the male dancers jump off the catwalk and run all the way up into the loge, then back down onto the stage.
I'm SO glad I decided to splurge on a 2nd show! It was so worth it, as it was much better the 2nd time around. This was the same kind of high-energy San Jose crowd that I experienced during the Re-Invention Tour (I only went to the 2nd night of 3 nights for that tour).

From Theresa:
I went to the last San Jose show....and IT WAS AMAZING! Madonna put all she had and then some into this performance! She interacted with the crowd alot....and had alot of fun with her 'FRONT ROW BITCHES!'
I was also soooo impressed with Isaac....he was great. I would have to say my favorite song was 'Like It Or Not'. Her solo with this was also amazing! I was worried I wouldnt have as much fun I had at RIT cuz I was in the pits then....BUT I WAS WRONG....with this woman....all seats are GOOD seats. Love ya Madonna!

From Trina:
Just back from night two at San Jose....tonight I had floor seats row 23....right by the catwalk....right where the disco ball descends. I really thought I would never get as close to Madonna as I was in the pit on RIT but let me tell you....anyone near those catwalks will clearly see the her divine madgesty!
She was in great form tonight, and so were the audience. The crowd were awesome last night too but I felt the energy was turned up a few notches tonight. They seemed to have sorted out the sound glitches tonight and she was in a great mood. She even joked with the front row calling them 'my front row b*itches' It was hilarious.
She also told us what we could all do to George Bush's appendage....I noticed a lot more of the show tonight on the floor than I did last night which makes seeing it a few times a plus as you really do get a different perspective every time.
I treasured the eye contact we made....and blew her a kiss as well (brave for shy me but what the hell it's Madonna right!). She totally rocked the place with I Love New York and Ray Of Light. In fact that is rapidly becoming one of my favourite parts of the tour. She looks much more comfortable on the guitar with each outing and it is a pleasure to see that.
On the merch side....still no whips at the show, still no lanyards (apparently M hasn't approved them yet....hurry up M you have nothing better to do LOL).
Again cameras were cool once they weren't professional and you weren't recording on them. A lot of people used their phones to take pictures...I even got some gold balloons tonight....a little harder to put in a photo album like my previous tour's confetti but a lot of fun!
On the floor, the people in floor 3 are pretty much kept in their seats as the dancers interact a lot with the audience and the camera crew stay there to film her as well BUT you have primo view as you have the middle of the stage right in front of you and she spends a lot of time on the smaller catwalk so I honestly think there is no bad seat on the floor....