My Night With Madonna or Where All the Gay Men in Fresno Were Monday Night

I photographed a Madonna concert Monday night and while I’m no fan of her music the evening was entertaining. I saw more limousines and gay men than I’ve ever seen in Fresno. It was like the Gay Pope was in town and everyone wanted to kiss her ring.

I was allowed to shoot the first 4 songs before I was tapped on the shoulder by my minder and led off the floor of the arena. Most acts only allow 2 or 3 songs to be photographed so I guess I should be thankful for the extra song, which saw Madonna riding a huge stripper pole with a leather saddle over the crowd.

Anytime you shoot one of these big concerts you have to deal with all sorts of uptight PR people who are paranoid that you’re going to illegally photograph or record the show. Most acts require you to sign a waiver which makes it illegal to sell the pictures or post them on any websites other than the media outlet that assigned you to the show. Madonna’s “people” however were very cool and never asked me to sign anything and even sent me a press release telling me exactly how far from the stage I would be and what songs I would be photographing. I would prefer to be cut loose to wander as I please but that’s never going to happen so you just have to take what’s given.

Still, there are always Spinal Tap moments at these things and last night was no exception. As the first PR person was taking me from the lobby of the arena to my shooting position we were stopped by a man mountain of a security guy who informed the PR person that “she diddn’t have escort privileges” and couldn’t take me backstage and onto the floor of the arena. It took a series of calls on her walkie talkie, several whispered conversations with various official looking folk before we were finally cleared to make the 30 second trip through the forbidden zone known as backstage and to my final resting place near the sound board.

Once at my shooting spot I discovered that they had me standing on a platform above the level of the crowd, which was good for me but clearly not good for the people in the seats behind me. They were understandably a little upset that their $300 seats were located directly behind a 6 foot 5 photographer on an elevated platform. If it had been a heavy metal concert I may have been used for a punching bag but Madonna fans are far more polite than they should be. Other than a few “down in front” comments the most I heard from them was “ Ahh, say, just for my information are you going to be standing here all night?”

My favorite picture of the night wasn’t published. Madonna holding a guy in a dog collar on a leash was apparently too much for readers of the Central Valley. Too bad, I think that’s exactly what the average local family should see while eating breakfast.