{"id":141481,"date":"2026-08-06T15:30:43","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T15:30:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/141481\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T15:30:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T15:30:43","slug":"my-evening-with-madonna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/141481\/","title":{"rendered":"My evening with Madonna"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Editor\u2019s note: International News Editor Michael K. Lavers and Photo Editor Michael Key will be on assignment in the Netherlands through Aug. 10. They will be covering World Pride in Amsterdam.<\/p>\n<p>AMSTERDAM \u2014 Madonna and 6,000 of her closest friends celebrated World Pride at Amsterdam\u2019s AFAS Live concert hall early Sunday morning. I was fortunate enough to be one of them.<\/p>\n<p>Madonna last Wednesday nearly broke the internet when she said on social media in Dutch that \u201cI got somethin\u2019 I wanna talk about,\u201d referring to an opening line in \u201cDanceteria,\u201d one of the tracks on her \u201cConfessions II\u201d album that has received rave reviews since its July 2 release. The track has been on near constant replay on my playlist since I first heard it.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"qme\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udc40 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/TeuHcUzNt9\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/TeuHcUzNt9<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Madonna (@Madonna) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Madonna\/status\/2082115994198131005?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">July 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>MISTR \u2014 a telehealth platform that offers free access to PrEP, Doxy PEP, STI testing, and long-term care that has organized Madonna\u2019s Club Confessions shows in the U.S. and the U.K. \u2014 later confirmed the rampant speculation. I woke up on July 30 to an email in my inbox from MISTR and the World Pride Music Festival PR team that said I was on the press list.<\/p>\n<p>Madonna was indeed going to headline the World Pride Music Festival that Jake Resnicow and Insomniac produced, and I was going to be there. OMFG!!!!<\/p>\n<p>The gay icon had one more surprise in store.<\/p>\n<p>The Dutch internet on Saturday once again broke over speculation that Kylie Minogue was going to appear alongside Madonna. I was getting ready to leave our hotel in Amsterdam on Saturday night when I saw a video of the two of them together.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMadonna is now teasing Kylie Minogue on her social media \u2026 she may be one of her \u2018special guests\u2019 tonight,\u201d I wrote in a text to Washington Blade Editor Kevin Naff at 8:46 p.m.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHave fun! This is turning into the gayest concert ever,\u201d he responded.<\/p>\n<p>I arrived at AFAS Live shortly before 11 p.m. My press contact walked me and two other Dutch journalists into the venue\u2019s cavernous main room known as the Black Box. We made small talk for a few minutes before I started to walk around and listen to Josh Harrison who was on the decks.<\/p>\n<p>Madonna was scheduled to take the stage at 1:30 a.m., but she is known for being late \u2014 she is Madonna and she does what she wants. Hayla, a British singer, and Bebe Rexha are among those who performed ahead of Madonna. Thousands of sweaty men \u2014 including a group of Australians next to me who were eagerly awaiting Kylie\u2019s anticipated appearance \u2014 packed the Black Box and were dancing, anticipating what was to come.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"867\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/20260802_Michael_K_Lavers_at_Madonna_performing_at_AFAS_Live_in_Amsterdam_insert_c_Washington_Blade_.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-98982460 lazy\"  data-\/>International News Editor Michael K. Lavers awaits Madonna at AFAS Live in Amsterdam on Aug. 2, 2026. (Courtesy photo)<\/p>\n<p>MISTR CEO Tristan Schukraft at one point came on stage and declared Madonna was indeed in the building. The moment for which we were all eagerly waiting finally came shortly before 2:30 a.m.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMother is here and this is gay heaven,\u201d said Madonna when she took the stage.<\/p>\n<p>Stuart Price, who produced her \u201cConfessions on a Dance Floor\u201d album in 2005, manned the decks during Madonna\u2019s set.<\/p>\n<p>She opened it with \u201cI Feel So Free\u201d from \u201cConfessions II.\u201d Madonna then sang \u201cBring Your Love\u201d and \u201cDanceteria\u201d to which this reporter \u2014 and everyone else \u2014 sang along.<\/p>\n<p>Madonna then teased a surprise before she began to perform \u201cLove Sensation.\u201d Kylie soon appeared on stage. It was nearly too much for my fellow partygoers from Australia. It was indeed the gayest concert ever!<\/p>\n<p>Madonna and Kylie performed \u201cLove Sensation\u201d together. They then sang \u201cHung Up\u201d and \u201cSorry\u201d from \u201cConfessions on a Dance Floor\u201d to round out the set that ended shortly after 3 a.m.<\/p>\n<p>Madonna and I share the same birthday \u2014 Aug. 16 \u2014 and I would like to think she and Kylie gave me an early birthday present. In all seriousness though, it was an amazing night for me and for everyone else who was fortunate enough to be there.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn the dance floor I feel so free,\u201d says Madonna in the opening of \u201cI Feel So Free.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For those few precious hours at AFAS Live I did not think about the Trump-Vance administration and the myriad ways it is destroying the U.S. I did not think about the National Guard troops deployed to D.C. I did not think about the pointless wars that continue to ravage Ukraine and other countries around the world. I simply lost myself on the dance floor and celebrated an icon who has always stood with my community.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you, Madonna.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Editor\u2019s note: International News Editor Michael K. Lavers and Photo Editor Michael Key will be on assignment in&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141482,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[101],"tags":[199,41742,332,67732,67045,67056,66994,19967,67733,66486,200,67048,67057,67734],"class_list":["post-141481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-amsterdam","tag-amsterdam","tag-bebe-rexha","tag-featured","tag-hayla","tag-insomniac","tag-jake-resnicow","tag-kylie-minogue","tag-madonna","tag-michael-k-lavers","tag-mistr","tag-netherlands","tag-stuart-price","tag-tristan-schukraft","tag-world-pride-music-festival"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/117049283770333480","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}