I finally bit the bullet and downloaded Snapchat when I got tickets to the first night of Madonna’s recently concluded Rebel Heart Tour in Manila. I figured, if there was going to be an occasion wherein I’d take one video after another, it’d be of Madonna performing live for the first time in the Philippines.
I’m not really the type of person to read user manuals or instructions, so it’s a good thing that a lot of the app’s functionalities are pretty intuitive. If you saw my feed yesterday, you’d notice that I took about seven photos and videos before Her Madge-sty came out because I was still getting the hang of the app.
The moment she came onstage, however, things started to get pretty stressful. As millennial as this sounds right now, there were moments when I genuinely couldn’t figure out if I wanted to Snapchat this once-in-a-lifetime event, take a photo for Instagram for cross-posting to Facebook and Twitter, or to just record entire songs on video for posterity’s sake. Or, you know, actually watch the concert.
My boss, who watched the second night of Madonna’s concert, remarked: “Everyone on their phones. Too dead inside to realize they are EXPERIENCING Madonna.” (She’s a first-wave millennial, in case you’re wondering, but not like, bordering Gen X-er. Also, she got Snapchat before I did.)
On Facebook, my feed was flooded with videos and photos that people were posting during the event, which wasn’t such a feat, considering there was free WiFi for Globe subscribers. But I mean, how could people take the time to upload these things when the Queen was right in front of us? (Asks the hypocrite who would hastily type in captions—punctuated by enlarged emoji—for her Snaps before adding to her Story on Snapchat.)
That night, I switched out my iPhone 6 for a Huawei Nexus 6P because I needed a phone that could still take good photos, even in low-lighting. I love my iPhone, but the pics get blurry AF when it’s dark. You want to take photos or videos of Madonna’s brilliantly lit stage? Forget about it if you’re using an iPhone. Also, the Nexus 6P’s selfie camera was pretty decent, unlike my iPhone’s grainy front-facing camera. While it was slightly unwieldy because of its large size (it’s about the same size as the iPhone 6+), it’s difficult to find fault with the advantages of a touchscreen smartphone with larger screen real estate.
I quickly realized, however, that none of my shitty Snaps were doing true justice to Madonna’s incredible talent as a performer and artist or the outstanding production value of her concert. (Did she have that stage flown in?? How many costume changes did she do?) So when I had just 30-percent of my battery left, I decided to close the app and take as many photos and videos as I could for myself, and not the sad audience of six people who bothered to look at my Snaps.
Eventually, my phone died (probably because of my exhaustive Snapchatting) during the latter part of the concert. I didn’t have a video of stylist Shahani Gania getting awarded by Madonna for being her Unapologetic Bitch of the Night. I couldn’t record Madonna singing “La Vie En Rose,” dedicated to a woman named Czarina in the crowd who answered, “Fuck, YES!” when Madge asked her if she was rich. (To be fair, at Madonna’s request, we were all required to respond in the affirmative by saying “Fuck, yeah!” Still, she probably really was rich if she could afford to be seated right near the stage.)
I did not have a selfie of myself with a giant crying emoji positioned next to my face when Madonna changed out of her matador costume and did not sing “Take a Bow,” my favorite Madonna song of all time (after “Crazy for You,” which she performed on her second night). And when she ran out waving the Philippine flag and while singing “Celebration” for her encore, I had no photographic proof that she actually did it, but that’s cool.
My memory, unlike Snapchat, lasts for much longer than 24 hours.
Click through the slideshow above to see my more photos from Madonna’s Rebel Heart Tour in Manila!