Madonna did two shows in Rio (one for the people and one for VIPs); g1 saw half in each place and tells us what the differences are | Pop & Art

Madonna drives fans wild in Rio de Janeiro with the biggest show of her career

1. One performance was for 1.6 million people, who squeezed onto the sands and promenades of Copacabana Beach;
2. The other was for a select group of 7,500 people in a space in front of the stage, including celebrities, sponsor guests, influencers and other VIPs.

g1 saw half of Madonna’s performance in the crowd of fans; and the other half in the most popular VIP area in recent times. See the report:

Of course, seeing the show in the VIP area is better in every aspect: you can see Madonna without the help of big screens, the sound quality is better and you share the space with much fewer people.

The comfort is undeniable and the idea here is not to romanticize the experience of watching among the people. Even so, it’s impressive how different each audience’s priorities are: overall, the crowd seems to be more interested in the show than the VIPs.

The fear of having your cell phone stolen helps explain the absence of devices in the public. Selfies and glow-ups were rare outside of the celebrity space.

In the VIP area, many fans were there to make content for networks or chat the entire time. A small and faithful group of people gathered at the front of the stage and the catwalks (the VIP of the VIP of the VIP) and must have stayed there throughout the show.

In the surroundings of the “premium dance floor”, many celebrities or sub-celebrities seemed not to care much about being in such a privileged space.

Another difference has to do with education. Or the lack of. At an event of this size, it is normal to get bumped and stepped on almost all the time. In the VIP area, most people give you dirty looks when this happens. On the regular dance floor, people apologize and even ask you to sing with them.

The sound at the front of the stage was impeccable. Away from the celebrities, there were points with more or less quality and sound power. On the beach, the sound was good. On the sidewalks, not so much.

In addition to the screens and speakers on the main stage and the after stage in Leme, there were eight pairs of towers with speakers. In this structure, only the first two lines had screens in both towers and the rest had screens in only one of them.

The menu, of course, was also very different. In the premium space, everything was free: beer from the sponsoring brand, drinks and food such as banana tartar, salads, cassava with dried meat, churros, Minas Gerais food and other delicacies.

Among the people, the options at fast food stalls varied between R$ 12 and 30, with green corn, hot dogs and hamburgers among the main delicacies. The beer cost around R$10 and the caipirinha was bought for R$24.

They were two very different experiences, in all aspects. But, in the end, the place from where I saw the performance wasn’t that important: what was really worth it was seeing the biggest show in the career of the biggest active pop star.