The Girlie Show World Tour

The Girlie Show World Tour (also referred to as simply The Girlie Show) was the fourth concert tour by American singer-songwriter Madonna, in support of her fifth studio album, Erotica. The tour visited the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Madonna's inspiration for the name of the tour was a painting called "Girlie Show" by Edward Hopper. The tour is estimated to have grossed over US$70 million.^[1]

About the Tour

Proclaiming after her 1990 Blond Ambition World Tour that she would "never go on tour again", it only took her three years until she hit the road again. After that, she said that if "you ever hear me say again 'I'm never going on tour again', don't believe me."^[1]

The Girlie Show was launched in support of Madonna's 1992 album, Erotica. The show had the central visual theme of a "sex circus". Described as "a mixture of a rock concert, a fashion show, a carnival performance, a cabaret act and a burlesque show", the show had a more complex stage than those from Madonna's previous tours: it had a runway that led from the center of the main stage to a minor stage, a revolving elevated platform in the middle of the main stage, balconies in the rear of the stage, and a giant illuminated "Girlie Show" sign above stage, among other features. The tour was directed by Madonna's brother, Christopher Ciccone; costumes for the tour were designed by Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana.

The show began with calliope fanfare as a pierrot - who makes several cameos later - appears from the red curtain near a tall go-go pole on which a topless dancer Carrie Ann Inaba performed. Madonna then makes her entrance striking poses in dominatrix gear from a spotlit platform to sing "Erotica". Next came "Fever" where she partially strips and dances suggestively before disappearing among flames. "Vogue" is performed in a beaded headdress with a Hindu flavor; she serenaded the audience with a Motown-influenced "Rain", complete with a "Singin' In The Rain" dance interlude which features the pierrot. Afterwards, she descends from the ceiling on a giant glitterball, wearing a blond afro wig (inspired by the 1932 film Blonde Venus which stars Marlene Dietrich) to perform a disco-styled "Express Yourself" and "Deeper and Deeper". Following a simulated orgy, she sings "Why's It So Hard" and "In This Life"; the pierrot watches Madonna during the latter song.

Another interlude, "The Beast Within", features an apocalyptic dance with sexual overtones. This leads to "Like A Virgin", where Madonna performed in a classic tuxedo with a Marlene Dietrich vocal accent; the pierrot returns to interact. She then acts as a sideshow barker, singing "Bye Bye Baby" during a chair routine with her dancing girls; this was done in the same manner as her performance at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards. After the Hispanic "I'm Going Bananas", she staged a rendition of "La Isla Bonita" before donning military trench coats for a marching, funked-up version of "Holiday"; the circus theme is heard before and after this song. For encores, she appeared in Victorian-themed costumes for "Justify My Love", and finally brought the house down with a minimal "Everybody". As the red curtain fell and carnival music played, the pierrot emerged yet again, only to reveal its identity as Madonna herself: she closed the show by singing the phrase "Everybody is a Star".

Madonna played an unusually few five dates in the U.S. It was speculated that this was related to the Erotica album's particularly low sales in that country and the extreme negative backlash surrounding Madonna's book Sex and film Body Of Evidence. The tour was chronicled by the photo book The Girlie Show, which included a CD with three live tracks: "Like A Virgin", "In This Life", and "Why's It So Hard."

Photography for promotional material, posters and publicity for the show was by Herb Ritts. The same imagery was used on the "Bye Bye Baby" single cover, which was released during the Australian leg of the tour. Other images from the same shoot were also included in The Girlie Show book released in 1994 and also on the 1993 single release, "Rain".

Boxscore information

• Madonna's show at Hayarkon Park in Tel Aviv sold about 50,000 tickets.^[2]
• The concert at the Inonu Stadium in Istanbul sold a total of 54,000 tickets, breaking the record for the biggest stadium concert ever held in Turkey.^[3]
• Madonna's two concerts at London's Wembley Stadium sold a total of 144,000 tickets.
• The 2-date stint at Toronto's SkyDome attracted a total of 50,880 fans and grossed US$1,495,000.
• The three concerts at Madison Square Garden attracted 43,353 concertgoers and grossed US$2,020,000.
• The show at Philadelphia's Spectrum attracted 13,810 and grossed US$500,280.
• Madonna's first-ever performance at the Morumbi Stadium in São Paulo sold 86,000 tickets.
• The single concert at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro attracted 120,000 fans.
• Madonna's concerts at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City sold a total of 180,000 tickets (official by Billboard Magazine)and grossed US$8,928,000 - the 13th highest concert gross ever, at the time.
• In Sydney, 90.000 tickets was sold in 1 hour.
• The three-date stay at the Melbourne Cricket Ground attracted 165,000 fans in total.^[4]
• The concert at the Adelaide Oval drew a crowd of 40,000 spectators.^[5]

Public response

The Girlie Show was a substantial success, solidifying her artistic integrity in the aftermath of the Sex book controversy.

Some venues forbade nudity, so dancer Carrie Ann Inaba wore a halter top at those shows. Uproar developed in Puerto Rico after Madonna rubbed the Puerto Rican flag between her legs on stage.^[1] In São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Madonna performed the Brazilian song "The Girl from Ipanema". During her second show in Buenos Aires, Madonna performed the song "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" from the musical "Evita" which she would end up starring in the film adaptation of the stage musical directed by Alan Parker only two years later. Trouble in Israel occurred when Orthodox Jews staged protests to force the cancellation of the singer's first-ever show in that country. The rallies were unsuccessful as the show was sold out and went on as scheduled.^[1]

Broadcasts and recordings

In the beginning, and since this was the first time Madonna visited Latin America, HBO had the intention of recording some of the concerts performed in Mexico City. But Madonna choose the title "Live Down Under", a nickname given to Australia, since it was the first ever Madonna live concert in that country.

Initially, the November 20, 1993 show, the second of two dates at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney, was to be filmed and aired on HBO in the United States. However, a massive storm forced the cancellation of the show, so the November 19 show (which had been filmed as a "safety show") was aired instead in USA (HBO) and Germany (Premiere). A month later an edited version of this original broadcast was shown on UK TV (Sky).

A re-edited version of this concert was released worldwide on VHS and Laserdisc on April 26, 1994 as The Girlie Show – Live Down Under. Another recording was made during the Japanese leg of the tour and shown only on Japanese television; Live in Japan 1993 – The Girlie Show. This version has never had a commercial release.^[1]

The October 7, 1993 show at the Inonu Stadium in Istanbul was aired on ATV in Turkey.

BBC Radio 1 broadcast the entire second show at Wembley Stadium in London on December 26th 1993

Brazilian radio broadcast the show at Estadio Do Maracana, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, on November 6th 1993 with live commentary

The video for the tour, The Girlie Show – Live Down Under, was nominated for the Grammy Award of Best Long Form Music Video in 1995.

Opening acts

• Yonca Evcimik and Kenan Doğulu (Istanbul)
• Gipsy Kings (Paris)
• UNV (England, some USA venues)
• Mario Pelchat (Montreal)
• Peter Andre (Australia)

Setlist

1. "Introduction / The Girlie Show Theme"
2. "Erotica"
3. "Fever"
4. "Vogue"
5. "Rain" (contains excerpts from "Just My Imagination" along with elements of "Singin' in the Rain")
6. "Express Yourself"
7. "Deeper and Deeper" (contains excerpts from "It Takes Two")
8. "Why's It So Hard"
9. "In This Life"
10. "The Beast Within" (Dance Interlude)
11. "Like a Virgin" (contains excerpts from "Falling In Love Again")
12. "Bye Bye Baby"
13. "I'm Going Bananas"
14. "La Isla Bonita"
15. "Holiday" (contains excerpts from "Holiday for Calliope")
16. "Justify My Love"
17. "Everybody" (contains excerpts from "Everybody Is a Star" along with elements of "Dance to the Music", "After the Dance")

Source:^[6][7][8]

Tour dates

Personnel

• Director and Production Designer: Christopher Ciccone
• Musical Director: Jai Winding
• Stage Production: Jeffrey Hornaday
• Lighting Designer: Peter Morse
• Costume Design: Dolce & Gabbana and Rob Saduski
• Choreographers: Alex Magno, Keith Young , Michelle Johnston and Niki Haris

Band

• Keyboards: Jai Winding, Michael Bearden and Mike McKnight
• Guitar: Paul Pesco
• Bass: Victor Baley
• Drums: Omar Hakim
• Percussion: Luis Conte
• Backing Vocalist: Niki Haris, Donna DeLory
• Dancers: Ungela Brockman, Christopher Childers, Michael Gregory, Carrie Ann Inaba, Jill Nicklaus, Ruth Inchaustegui, Luca Tommassini and Carlton Wilborn

References