| Blond Ambition World Tour | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Promotional poster for the tour |
||||
| Tour by Madonna | ||||
| Associated album | Like a Prayer I'm Breathless |
|||
| Start date | April 13, 1990 | |||
| End date | August 5, 1990 | |||
| Legs | 3 | |||
| Shows | 57 | |||
| Madonna tour chronology | ||||
|
||||
The Blond Ambition World Tour was the third concert tour by American singer-songwriter, Madonna. The tour was launched in support of her fourth studio album, Like a Prayer, and the soundtrack, I'm Breathless. The tour reached North America, Europe and Asia. It was a highly controversial tour, mainly for its juxtaposition of Catholic iconography and sexuality. Rolling Stone called it an "elaborately choreographed, sexually provocative extravaganza" and proclaimed it "the best tour of 1990."[1] In 1991, a documentary film, Truth or Dare (aka In Bed with Madonna), was released chronicling the tour. The tour received the "Most Creative Stage Production" at the Pollstar Concert Industry Awards.[2] The tour was named the Greatest Concert of the 1990s by Rolling Stone'[3]'.
Contents |
Originally to be called the "Like a Prayer World Tour",[4] Sire Records announced the Blond Ambition World Tour in November 1989, following the success of Madonna's fourth studio album, Like A Prayer, and Madonna's performance of "Express Yourself" at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards - considered as a tour preview. Initially, the tour was only to reach Japan and North America, as Madonna was considering roles in several films. By the end of 1989 plans were announced to bring the tour to Europe as well because of popularity and fan demand. In December 1989, when preparations for the tour began, Madonna herself announced during a pre-recorded interview on German TV channel ZDF, that she would tour Germany during 1990.[5] In April 1990, additional dates in Europe were added.[6] Stage preparations and dress rehearsals took place at the Disney Studios, Burbank, California, before the tour kicked off in Japan.
The tour incorporated as central themes, sexuality and Catholicism, a combination which engendered controversy. The Pope called for a boycott of the show in Rome, and one of three scheduled Italian dates was eventually canceled. The show has achieved a measure of cult status, with elements such as the bullet bra and ponytail hair extensions becoming cultural icons in their own right.
Madonna herself called the concert "like musical theater" and choreographer Vincent Patterson stated she wanted to "break every rule we can... She wanted to make statements about sexuality, cross-sexuality, the church... But the biggest thing we tried to do was change the shape of concerts. Instead of just presenting songs, we wanted to combine fashion, Broadway, and performance art."
The show's explicit overtone caused problems. In Toronto, police were alerted that the show might possibly contain lewd and obscene content (particularly a masturbation scene) and threatened charges unless parts of the show were changed. The show went on unaltered, however, and no charges were made after tour manager gave the police an ultimatum: "Cancel the show, and you'll have to tell 30,000 people why."[7]
French fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier designed the costumes for the tour, including the now-infamous cone brassiere. Additional costume pieces were designed by Marlene Stewart, who had previously worked with Madonna on the 1987 Who's That Girl World Tour.
Director Alek Keshishian captured more than 250 hours of film of Madonna and her troupe during the tour. This footage was edited and released to movie theaters as Truth or Dare (aka In Bed with Madonna).
Due to ongoing throat problems, six shows had to be canceled, bringing the tour down from 63 shows to 57; altogether, some 125,000 tickets had to be refunded.
After Madonna embarked on the tour, Blond Ambition World Tour has been regarded as an iconic musical performance. With the Blond Ambition Tour, Madonna continued to influence the fashion world. She popularized the idea of wearing underwear as outer wear and will be forever associated with the ponytail hair extension and the pink satin conical bra designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier.
The show was separated into five different sections: Metropolis, Religious, Dick Tracy, Art Deco and Encore. It began with the Metropolis segment, which was inspired by the Fritz Lang silent film. It begins with "Express Yourself" which includes an introduction from her 1982 song "Everybody". The stage was inspired by the "Express Yourself" music video and set in a large industrial machine-room with shirtless male dancers. Madonna enters the stage at the top of a long staircase, dressed in a pinstripe suit, with cone-bra and garters from her bustier visible. In this segment Madonna also performs "Open Your Heart" and has a mock-fight with her back-up dancers in "Causing a Commotion" (dressed in colorful bicycling gear). The final performance on this segment is "Where's the Party"; Madonna leaves the stage early for a costume change, while three male dancers continue dancing until the song ends.
The second segment was passionate and religious-themed, beginning with an Middle-Eastern version of "Like a Virgin" sung on a red silk bed. Madonna is dressed in a gold corset and performs with two hermaphrodite dancers on each side of the bed and concludes the song by simulating masturbation. The set is then transformed into a church; Madonna wears a black robe and a large crucifix during "Like a Prayer", with her back-up singers and dancers dressed as nuns and priests. A medley of "Live to Tell" and "Oh Father" and a performance of "Papa Don't Preach" end this section.
The third segment was a cabaret inspired by the 1990 motion picture Dick Tracy, in which Madonna starred as "Breathless Mahoney". During this segment, Madonna was wearing a green and white striped showgirl outfit. It includes performances of "Sooner or Later", sung atop of a grand piano, "Hanky Panky" and "Now I'm Following You" in which she danced and lip-synched with the dancer Salim Gauwloos, who was dressed like Dick Tracy.
The fourth segment was inspired by 1930s Hollywood films using the work of artist Tamara de Lempicka and an Art Deco set design. Madonna performs "Material Girl" in a mocking dumb blonde voice, wearing hair rollers and bathrobe, (later removed to reveal a dress with pink fur). "Cherish" is performed with three male dancers dressed as mer-men whilst Madonna simulates playing the harp. Madonna ends the section with "Into The Groove" (with a sample from the 1989 Inner City song "Ain't Nobody Better") and a minimal version of "Vogue" performing choreography from its music video, dressed in a black sports bra and lycra shorts.
The fifth and final segment includes the two encores to the show; "Holiday", with Madonna in 1970s polka-dots and ruffles singing a sample from "Do the Bus Stop" and "Keep It Together" inspired by the work of Bob Fosse with Madonna dressed in bowler hat and performing chair-juggling. The "Keep It Together" routine was also inspired by the film A Clockwork Orange and found Madonna speaking with a cockney accent. The show finale has Madonna singing "Keep it together, Keep people together, forever and ever" over and over, finishing with her removing her hat and the spotlight zooming on to it.
The Japan and North American shows featured Madonna in her trademark blonde ponytail hair extensions. However, because the hairpiece kept getting caught in her headset microphone and was pulling her real hair out by the root, she switched to short blonde curls for the European leg of the tour.
After the tour, Madonna and her entire Blond Ambition tour stage troupe recreated a neoclassic-themed performance of Vogue at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards.
The official tourbook and promotional posters for the tour used photography from the 1989 music video "Express Yourself" and Vogue.
| Date | City | Country | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asia | |||
| April 13, 1990 | Chiba City | Japan | Chiba Marine Stadium |
| April 14, 1990 | |||
| April 15, 1990 | |||
| April 20, 1990 | Hyōgo | Hankyu Nishinomiya Stadium | |
| April 21, 1990 | |||
| April 22, 1990 | |||
| April 25, 1990 | Yokohama | Yokohama Stadium | |
| April 26, 1990 | |||
| April 27, 1990 | |||
| North America | |||
| May 4, 1990 | Houston | United States | The Summit |
| May 5, 1990 | |||
| May 7, 1990 | Dallas | Reunion Arena | |
| May 8, 1990 | |||
| May 11, 1990 | Los Angeles | Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena | |
| May 12, 1990 | |||
| May 13, 1990 | |||
| May 15, 1990 | |||
| May 16, 1990 | |||
| May 18, 1990 | Oakland | Oakland Coliseum Arena | |
| May 19, 1990 | |||
| May 20, 1990 | |||
| May 23, 1990 | Rosemont | Rosemont Horizon | |
| May 24, 1990 | |||
| May 27, 1990 | Toronto | Canada | SkyDome |
| May 28, 1990 | |||
| May 29, 1990 | |||
| May 31, 1990 | Auburn Hills | United States | The Palace of Auburn Hills |
| June 1, 1990 | |||
| June 4, 1990 | Worcester | The Centrum | |
| June 5, 1990 | |||
| June 8, 1990 | Landover | Capital Centre | |
| June 9, 1990 | |||
| June 11, 1990 | Uniondale | Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum | |
| June 12, 1990 | |||
| June 13, 1990 | |||
| June 16, 1990 | Philadelphia | Philadelphia Spectrum | |
| June 17, 1990 | |||
| June 20, 1990 | East Rutherford | Brendan Byrne Arena | |
| June 21, 1990 | |||
| June 24, 1990 | |||
| June 25, 1990 | |||
| Europe | |||
| June 30, 1990 | Gothenburg | Sweden | Eriksberg Shipyard Docks |
| July 3, 1990 | Paris | France | Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy |
| July 4, 1990 | |||
| July 6, 1990 | |||
| July 10, 1990 | Rome | Italy | Stadio Flaminio |
| July 13, 1990 | Turin | Stadio Delle Alpi | |
| July 15, 1990 | Munich | Germany | Olympia-Reitstadion Riem [8] |
| July 17, 1990 | Dortmund | Westfalenhalle | |
| July 20, 1990 | London | England | Wembley Stadium |
| July 21, 1990 | |||
| July 22, 1990 | |||
| July 24, 1990 | Rotterdam | Netherlands | Feyenoord Stadium |
| July 27, 1990 | Madrid | Spain | Vicente Calderón Stadium |
| July 29, 1990 | Vigo | Estadio Municipal Balaídos | |
| August 1, 1990 | Barcelona | Olympic Stadium | |
| August 5, 1990 | Nice | France | Stade de l'Ouest |
Cancelled/Postponed Dates:
She's Breathless is a promotional music video compilation by singer Madonna. It was released by WEA Records UK in 1990 to promote the Blond Ambition Tour and was only available to UK record stores and the music industry.
It was released on VHS and cassette and both contained the same "Hanky Panky" CD single style packaging.
Includes 18 music videos:
Two shows were released commercially. The August 5 show in Nice, France, was taped and aired on HBO in the United States and released worldwide exclusively on Laserdisc, titled Live! - Blond Ambition World Tour 90, as part of a sponsorship deal with Pioneer Electronics. One of the Yokohama, Japan dates was also taped and released on VHS and Laserdisc in the Japanese market as Blond Ambition - Japan Tour 90. Pioneer signed an exclusive deal to release these concerts on laser disc only and thus no video or DVD has yet been released.
In addition to these shows, the August 1 show in Barcelona, Spain was taped and aired on television in Europe, Australia and Canada by SACIS-RAI. This show is known by fans for numerous technical mistakes (including Madonna forgetting part of the lyrics to "Sooner or Later" and "Material Girl," getting her monocle caught on her headset microphone at the beginning of "Express Yourself", and not realizing that her headset microphone was still live as she exited the stage after "Where's the Party," resulting in her command at a backstage crewmember to "get the fuck out of my fuckin' way"). All three Parisian dates were taped by Alek Keshishian for Truth or Dare (aka In Bed with Madonna).
Video of the 2nd night of the USA leg of the tour (May 5, 1990, Houston, Texas) taken from the video screens has been widely circulated among the fan community. In addition a poor quality Germany-only DVD Blond Ambition Tour 1990 is from the same Houston show, not to be confused with the 1st night of the USA leg of the tour (May 4, 1990, Houston, Texas) which was also partially aired live on the MTV special 'Blond Date' during the 'Madonna Weekend'.
In the UK, BBC Radio 1 broadcasted the full show, live from Wembley Stadium in London on Saturday 21 July which led to controversy over the amount of swear words Madonna uttered live on air and the BBC had to issue an apology. Highlights of the show were lated aired after the 1992 interview with Madonna and Simon Bates.
The second show in Dallas was recorded for radio broadcast in the USA with the in-between song chatter removed. 'Express Yourself' and 'Open Your Heart' are recorded from the first Dallas show, whereas the remainder of the recording is from the second Dallas show.
Radio NRG broadcasted highlights from the first European show in Sweden on June 30.