Madonna Live

Madonna choreographed and designed her stage shows to such a degree that they were more like theatrical presentations than mere music concerts. Their stylised explorations of gender and sexuality were a source of regular controversy, though they are most notable simply as dazzling spectacles. In addition to her solo tours, Madonna has taken part in a series of international charity and consciousness-raising concerts.

The Virgin Tour (1985)

Dress You Up, Holiday, Into The Groove, Everybody, Angel, Gambler, Borderline, Lucky Star, Crazy For You, Over And Over, Burning Up, Like A Virgin, Material Girl.

At the end of each concert during The Virgin Tour, Madonna would throw customised dollar bills into the crowd, highlighting the irony in Material Girl's lyrics. The Virgin Tour was performed only in America, though all of Madonna's subsequent shows would tour the world. Footage from the Detroit Virgin concert was released on video as Madonna Live: The Virgin Tour. The full set-list was not included on the tour video, however, as Angel, Burning Up, and Borderline were omitted.

Live Aid (1985)

Holiday, Into The Groove, Love Makes The World Go Round.

An assertive, transformed Madonna performed at Philadelphia's JFK Stadium for Bob Geldof's Live Aid charity. Live Aid was released on video in 2004, though Love Makes The World Go Round was omitted.

Who's That Girl Tour (1987)

Open Your Heart, Lucky Star, True Blue, Papa Don't Preach, White Heat, Causing A Commotion, The Look Of Love, Dress You Up, Material Girl, Like A Virgin, Where's The Party, Live To Tell, Into The Groove, La Isla Bonita, Who's That Girl, Holiday.

The 1987 Who's That Girl Tour (her first world tour) demonstrated the results of Madonna's strenuous fitness regime. The tour included a cover version of I Can't Help Myself (Sugarpie Honeybunch) performed in an eccentric pink dress (during the Dress You Up/Material Girl/Like A Virgin medley), though Madonna's main stage costume was a black, tassled bustier. The stand-out performances of the show were a dazzling Where's The Party and an extended Into The Groove. The tour was released on video as Who's That Girl Live In Japan (filmed in Tokyo; released in Japan only) and Ciao Italia: Live From Italy (released in 1988; filmed in Torino, Italy).

Blond Ambition Tour (1990)

Express Yourself, Open Your Heart, Causing A Commotion, Where's The Party, Like A Virgin, Like A Prayer, Live To Tell, Oh Father, Papa Don't Preach, Sooner Or Later, Hanky Panky, Now I'm Following You I, Now I'm Following You II, Material Girl, Cherish, Into The Groove, Vogue, Holiday, Family Affair, Keep It Together.

The enormously successful year of 1990, perhaps the peak of Madonna's entire career, was dominated by the Blond Ambition Tour. The show began with a recreation of the set from the Express Yourself promo video, and lyrics from Everybody. The singer emerged on a hydraulic platform, wearing the suit and monocle familiar from the video; she removed her suit half-way through the song, to reveal an astonishing Jean-Paul Gaultier bustier which, like much of Madonna's wardrobe, has since become a fashion icon. Express Yourself is a song about assertiveness and empowerment, and Madonna demonstrated this by simulating sex with her male dancers.

While performing Like A Virgin, Madonna appeared on a huge red bed, surrounded by hermaphroditic male slaves who simulated various sexual positions with her. When the men left the stage, Madonna was alone in a masturbatory frenzy. Spiritual redemption followed, with Like A Prayer. Now I'm Following You II, a remix of Now I'm Following You I, includes samples from He's A Man, Hanky Panky, and Cry Baby. The concert ended with Vogue, and there was a singalong encore of Holiday. The second and final encore was a medley, with a cover version of Family Affair leading into Keep It Together.

In Italy, Madonna was condemned by the Catholic church for the tour's combination of sex and religion. In Canada, she was threatened with arrest for indecent behaviour if she simulated masturbation during Like A Virgin. She refused to self-censor the show, and the police backed down.

Madonna was followed backstage during the tour by a documentary crew, and the resultant film, Truth Or Dare, was released in 1991. The tour is available on video as Blond Ambition World Tour '90 (filmed in Yokohama, Japan; released in Japan only), Blond Ambition World Tour Live (filmed in Nice, France), and Blond Ambition Tour 1990 (filmed in Houston, Texas; released in Germany only, in 2005).

The Girlie Show (1993)

Erotica, Fever, Vogue, Rain, Express Yourself, Deeper And Deeper, Why's It So Hard, In This Life, The Beast Within, Like A Virgin, Bye Bye Baby, I'm Going Bananas, La Isla Bonita, Holiday, Justify My Love, Everybody Is A Star, Everybody.

The Girlie Show was a combination of Weimar cabaret and 1970s disco. The tour's title implied a burlesque, erotic performance, and this tone was set from the very beginning as the show started with a pole-dance by a topless woman, after which Madonna descended onto the stage astride a glitter ball. This tour was also Madonna's campest, with her usual buffed male dancers looking especially oiled and muscular.

Rain was supplemented by a verse from Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me), the first of several brief cover versions during the show. The Beast Within is a remix of Justify My Love. Madonna appeared as Marlene Dietrich for a cod-German rendition of Like A Virgin, complete with a few lines from Dietrich's cabaret classic Falling In Love Again (Can't Help It).

The encores were Justify My Love (with costumes seemingly inspired by Royal Ascot) and Everybody (preluded by Everybody Is A Star and ending with Dance To The Music). The tour was released on video as The Girlie Show Live Down Under (filmed in Sydney, Australia), including an untitled extra song with an Australian theme. A second tour video, The Girlie Show In Japan 1993 (filmed in Fukuoka, Japan) was released in Japan only.

Drowned World Tour (2001)

Drowned World/Substitute For Love, Impressive Instant, Candy Perfume Girl, Beautiful Stranger, Ray Of Light, Paradise (Not For Me), Frozen, Nobody's Perfect, Mer Girl, Sky Fits Heaven, I Deserve It, Don't Tell Me, Human Nature, The Funny Song, Secret, Gone, You'll See, Lo Que Siente La Mujer, La Isla Bonita, Holiday, Music.

The first track on the Ray Of Light album, Drowned World/Substitute For Love, provided the title for Madonna's rather ambient and remote Drowned World Tour (2001). The tour concentrated on material from the Ray Of Light and Music albums, supplemented by La Isla Bonita and a now-traditional Holiday encore. The Funny Song, a catchy but somewhat misjudged new composition, was also included. The show, filmed in Detroit, America, was released on video as Drowned World Tour 2001.

Reinvention Tour (2004)

The Beast Within, Vogue, Nobody Knows Me, Frozen, American Life, Express Yourself, Burning Up, Material Girl, Hollywood, Hanky Panky, Deeper And Deeper, Die Another Day, Lament, Bedtime Story, Nothing Fails, Don't Tell Me, Like A Prayer, Mother And Father, Imagine, Into The Groove, Papa Don't Preach, Crazy For You, Music, Holiday.

The Reinvention Tour began with a rerecorded version of The Beast Within (originally a remix of Justify My Love and previously featured in The Girlie Show), the first time it had been performed without a Justify My Love chorus. This acted as a dramatic introduction to the show, increasing the tension until Madonna rose up on a hydraulic platform in a glittering Lacroix corset.

The show began with energetic performances of Vogue and Nobody Knows Me. For American Life Madonna wore an army uniform, her dancers were dressed as nuns and priests, and war casualties were shown on the video screen. (There were video projections throughout practically the entire concert, including Chris Cunningham's explicit short film Flex from 2000.)

Express Yourself featured military marching and rifles. An emotional Like A Prayer was accompanied by Hebrew Kaballah symbols on the video screen. A medley of Mother And Father and Intervention was next, and then a cover version of Imagine.

Bagpipe-players in kilts introduced the next song, Into The Groove, and Missy Elliot was on the video screen, singing her lines from Into The Hollywood Groove (the duet they recorded for Gap in 2003). The show finished with an extended version of Holiday. In the tour programme, Lament is incorrectly titled The Lament and Bedtime Story is incorrectly titled Bedtime Stories.

The show was a sensory overload, with constant video projections, a moving stage, fire-jugglers, breakdancers, and skateboarders. This made the slower sections, when Madonna sat on an empty stage during most of the ballads (and even in an electric chair, for Lament), seem less dramatic, though the performances of classics like Express Yourself, Like A Prayer, Into The Groove, and Holiday were absolutely dazzling.

A backstage documentary, I'm Going To Tell You A Secret (2005), was filmed during the tour and released commercially in 2006. Like Truth Or Dare, it features monochrome backstage material and colour concert footage. Before her Dublin concert, Madonna sang The Flesh Failures (Let The Sunshine In) during a soundcheck, though the song is listed variously as Let The Sun Shine In and Let The Sunshine In. Also featured is a demo version of I Love New York, listed in the credits as I Love NY. A live album, also titled I'm Going To Tell You A Secret, was released to accompany the documentary.

Live 8 (2005)

Like A Prayer, Ray Of Light, Music.

For Bob Geldof's Live 8, held twenty years after Live Aid, Madonna performed at London's Hyde Park. Music, with extensive crowd-participation, was one of the highlights of the event. A video of the concert was also released.

Confessions Tour (2006)

Future Lovers, I Feel Love, Get Together, Like A Virgin, Jump, Confessions, Live To Tell, Forbidden Love, Isaac, Sorry, Like It Or Not, I Love New York, Ray Of Light, Let It Will Be, Drowned World/Substitute For Love, Paradise (Not For Me), Music Inferno, Erotica, La Isla Bonita, Lucky Star, Hung Up.

At the start of each Confessions Tour concert, Madonna emerged from a giant disco ball (evoking memories of The Girlie Show), wearing riding gear for the equestrian-themed first song, Future Lovers, performed as a medley with a cover of I Feel Love. Confessions, not listed in the tour programme, features a series of actors performing monologues, introduced with the first line of Live To Tell. Controversially, for the Live To Tell performance, Madonna appeared on a giant crucifix, wearing a crown of thorns. In the tour programme, Drowned World/Substitute For Love is listed under the abbreviated title Drowned World. Forbidden Love is the Confessions On A Dance Floor track, not the earlier Bedtime Stories track. Isaac and Paradise (Not For Me) feature additional vocals by Yitzhak Sinwani.

Music Inferno features Music interspersed with lines from Where's The Party; it is introduced with a medley (titled The Duck Mixes The Hits, though not listed in the tour programme) of soundbites from Borderline, Erotica, Dress You Up, and Holiday. Erotica features alternate lyrics, taken from a demo version of the song. Hung Up features lines from the earlier track Love Song. The music for Hung Up builds up gradually during the preceding song, Lucky Star. The Confessions Tour was released on video in 2007, along with a live album, both of which were recorded in London.

Live Earth (2007)

Hey You, Ray Of Light, La Isla Bonita, Hung Up.

Madonna performed at Wembley Stadium, London, for Al Gore's consciousness-raising Live Earth event. The first song in her set, Hey You, was written especially for Live Earth, and was initially released as an online download. Madonna was accompanied by Gogol Bordello for La Isla Bonita, which included lines from the Romany song Lela Pala Tute. Live Earth was released on video (featuring only one Madonna track, La Isla Bonita), along with a live album.

Sticky And Sweet Tour (2008/2009)

The Sweet Machine, Candy Shop, Beat Goes On, Human Nature, Vogue, Die Another Day, Into The Groove, Heartbeat, Borderline, Holiday, Dress You Up, She's Not Me, Music, Devil Wouldn't Recognize You, Spanish Lesson, Miles Away, La Isla Bonita, You Must Love Me, Get Stupid, Four Minutes, Frozen, Like A Prayer, Ray Of Light, Hung Up, Give It 2 Me.

Madonna's Sticky And Sweet Tour was divided into four themed sections: 'pimp', 'old school', 'gypsy', and 'rave'. It included multiple tracks from her Hard Candy album, though also featured superlative, remixed versions of classics such as Vogue, Into The Groove, and Like A Prayer. Many of the songs contained vocal samples from other artists. Into The Groove features samples from It's Like That by Run-DMC and Toop Toop by Cassius. Human Nature features a sample of Gimme More by Britney Spears. La Isla Bonita features Gogol Bordello performing extracts from Lela Pala Tute. Like A Prayer features samples from Feels Like Home by Meck.

Madonna also blended elements from several of her own songs together. The Sweet Machine features samples from Give It 2 Me and Four Minutes. Candy Shop features samples from Four Minutes and Beat Goes On. Vogue features samples from Give It 2 Me and Four Minutes. Get Stupid features samples from Give It 2 Me, Four Minutes, Voices, and Beat Goes On. Finally, Music begins with a brief cover version of Last Night A DJ Saved My Life.

When Madonna originally performed Sticky And Sweet in 2008, Holiday, Dress You Up, and Frozen were not included on the set-list. The following year, Madonna relaunched the tour, adding those three songs and cutting Heartbeat, Borderline, and Hung Up. The second leg also included a tribute to Michael Jackson.

Both versions of the tour featured a request section, during which Madonna sang an a capella version of a song suggested by the crowd. In total, fourteen different songs were requested over the course of the tour: Express Yourself, Like A Virgin, Dress You Up, Holiday, Sorry, Material Girl, Open Your Heart, I Love New York, Everybody, Burning Up, Lucky Star, Secret, Beautiful Stranger, and American Life.

The tour was released on video in 2010, titled Sticky And Sweet Tour. This concert was filmed in Argentina in 2008 and included an extra song, an emotional performance of Don't Cry For Me Argentina. The request song at this concert was Like A Virgin. The video was accompanied by a live album featuring selected highlights from the concert.

The MDNA Tour (2012)

Girl Gone Wild, Revolver, Gang Bang, Papa Don't Preach, Hung Up, I Don't Give A, Best Friend, Express Yourself, Give Me All Your Luvin', Turn Up The Radio, Open Your Heart, Masterpiece, Justify My Love, Vogue, Candy Shop, Human Nature, Like A Virgin, Nobody Knows Me, I'm Addicted, I'm A Sinner, Like A Prayer, Celebration.

The MDNA Tour, a world tour to promote the MDNA album, opened with Girl Gone Wild, featuring a brief extract from Material Girl. The theme of the first act was 'transgression', with guns and violence being central motifs for the performances of Revolver and Gang Bang. The act concluded with a truncated version of Papa Don't Preach, Hung Up (which incorporated some lyrics from Act Of Contrition and Sorry), and I Don't Give A.

The second act, 'prophecy', opened with Express Yourself. During this song, Madonna sang the chorus from Lady Gaga's Born This Way, followed by the title line from She's Not Me. Gaga's song had previously been criticised for its similarities to Madonna's Express Yourself; Madonna thus demonstrated her recognition of the similarity, and asserted her own originality.

After Give Me All Your Luvin', Turn Up The Radio was introduced with Turning Up The Hits, a medley of clips (Holiday, Into The Groove, Lucky Star, Like A Virgin, Four Minutes, Ray Of Light, and Music) similar to the Music Inferno medley from Sticky And Sweet. Following Open Your Heart, Madonna performed Sagarra Jo with Kalakan.

The third act, 'masculine/feminine', opened with Vogue, for which Madonna wore a corset and bra designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier. This was followed by Candy Shop, which incorporated lyrics from Erotica. The act ended with Human Nature and an ultra-slow version of Like A Virgin.

The final act, 'redemption', began with I'm Addicted. This was followed by I'm A Sinner, which ended with an extract from Cyber-Raga performed with Kalakan. The show finished with Like A Prayer and Celebration (featuring excerpts from Give It 2 Me). Three video interludes were played between acts: Best Friend (featuring samples from Heartbeat), Justify My Love, and Nobody Knows Me.

As the tour progressed, two additional songs were added: Holiday and Love Spent. Also, at a special club concert in Paris, Madonna performed Beautiful Killer and a cover of Je T'Aime... Moi Non Plus. At selected concerts, Madonna also performed additional songs: Everybody in San Jose, California; an extract from American Life in Saint Paul, Minnesota; Give It 2 Me (featuring Gangnam Style) and Music with Psy in New York; Spanish Lesson in Mexico City; and Don't Cry For Me Argentina in Buenos Aires.