Blond Ambition Tour
| Blond Ambition Tour | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Tour by Madonna | ||
| Start date | April 13 1990 | |
| End date | August 5 1990 | |
| Legs | 3 | |
| Shows | 9 in Japan 32 in North America 16 in Europe 57 in Total |
|
| Madonna tour chronology | ||
| Who's That Girl Tour (1987) |
Blond Ambition Tour (1990) |
The Girlie Show Tour (1993) |
The Blond Ambition Tour was a world concert tour by pop singer Madonna. The tour spanned fifty-seven shows in twenty-seven cities in Japan, North America, and Europe, and lasted approximately four months. Many consider it to be one of the greatest achievements of Madonna's career. It was a controversial tour (mainly for its juxtaposition of Catholicism and sexuality) that garnered mixed critical reviews, but mostly positive reviews from fans. Among fans, it remains perhaps the most popular of all of Madonna's concert tours.
History
The Blond Ambition Tour was an hour-and-a-half concert that Madonna likened to musical theater. The singer's then-largest tour incorporated as central themes sex and Catholicism, a combination which engendered controversy. (The Pope called for a boycott of the show in Italy, and one of three scheduled Italian dates was cancelled.) The show has achieved a measure of cult status, with elements such as the cone brassieres becoming cultural icons in their own right.
The show's risque 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.
French fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier designed the costumes for the Blond Ambition 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 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 (retitled In Bed with Madonna in Europe).
Due to ongoing throat problems, six shows had to be cancelled, bringing the tour down from 63 shows to 57; altogether, some 125,000 tickets had to be refunded.
Due to poor ticket sales, the July 15 concert originally scheduled for Mungersdorfer Stadium in Cologne, Germany was moved to Dortmund on July 17.
Although the tour wasn't produced until April 1990, it was advertised as early as 1989 as the Like a Prayer Tour with no tentative tour-dates being announced.
In 1998 a tribute show was produced at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles,
California titled The Blonde Exhibition in which twelve Madonna look- and sound-alike performers from across the
The show
Blond Ambition shows were separated into four different segments. The first segment was the Metropolis segment, which was inspired by the famous German silent film of the same name by Fritz Lang. The set was straight from Madonna's " Express Yourself" video (also inspired by this film) featuring a huge staircase inside a huge "machine-room" full of half-naked male dancers. The second segment was a religious-themed set of five songs in which Madonna shocked the world with her masturbation on a crimson-sheathed bed during "Like a Virgin".
The third segment was taken directly from the Dick Tracy movie, which was just starting in cinemas during the tour.
The fourth segment was more of the light-hearted kind with a spoof-segment of Madonna mocking her image as a "Material Girl". The set ended with a dramatic yet minimalist performance of her then-current superhit "Vogue", featuring paintings by Tamara de Lempicka on the huge screens behind Madonna and her dancers. (Paintings by Tamara de Lempicka had previously been used in the opening of Madonna's 1987 Who's That Girl Tour.) The encore of the show was a combination of another light-hearted rendition of "Holiday" before Madonna went into a super-stylized version of "Keep It Together", which was inspired by the work of Bob Fosse.
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.
The Barcelona show at Estadi Olímpic featured 7 minutes long extravagant fireworks after the concert to the cheering crowd. [1]
The tour grossed U$65,7 million.
Broadcasts and recordings
Two shows were released commercially. The August 5 show in Nice,
France, was taped and aired on HBO in the United States and releasd worldwide exclusively on
In addition to these shows, the August 1 show in Barcelona, Spain was taped and aired on television in Europe and Australia. This show is known by fans for Madonna's unusually poofy hair (likely caused by the extremely hot weather) and numerous technical mistakes (including Madonna forgetting part of the lyrics to "Sooner or Later" and "Material Girl" and getting her monocle caught on her head-microphone at the beginning of "Express Yourself"). The July 6 date in Paris, France was also taped by Alek Keshishian for Truth or Dare.
Video of one of the Houston, Texas dates 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, which was also partially aired live on the MTV special 'Blond Date' during a 'Madonna Weekend'. This version is also to be released in the UK later in 2007; 15th October 2007 according to presale order dates as per HMV. The audio from two other shows was recorded and distributed by Westwood One: London and Houston. Also, the audio from a Dallas show was market by an Italian company.
Opening Acts
- Technotronic with "Pump up the Jam"
Setlist
(costume change)
- "Like a Virgin"
- "Like a Prayer"
- Medley: "Live to Tell"/"Oh Father"
- "Papa Don't Preach"
(costume change)
Now I'm Following You Pt II (costume change)
- "Material Girl"
- "Cherish"
- "Into the Groove"
- "Vogue"
(costume change)
- "Holiday"
(costume change)
- Medley: "Family Affair"/"Keep It Together"
Tour Dates
Cancellations: May 25 (Chicago), June 6 (Worcester), June 15 (Philadelphia), June 19 & 22 (East Rutherford), July 1 (Berlin), July 11 (Rome).
| Date | City | Country | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | |||
| April 13, 1990 | Tokyo | Japan | Chiba Marine Stadium |
| April 14, 1990 | Tokyo | Japan | Chiba Marine Stadium |
| April 15, 1990 | Tokyo | Japan | Chiba Marine Stadium |
| April 20, 1990 | Osaka | Japan | Nishinomiya Stadium |
| April 21, 1990 | Osaka | Japan | Nishinomiya Stadium |
| April 22, 1990 | Osaka | Japan | Nishinomiya Stadium |
| April 25, 1990 | Yokohama | Japan | Yokohama Stadium |
| April 26, 1990 | Yokohama | Japan | Yokohama Stadium |
| April 27, 1990 | Yokohama | Japan | Yokohama Stadium |
| North America | |||
| Date | City | Country | Venue |
| May 4, 1990 | Houston | United States | The Summit |
| May 5, 1990 | Houston | United States | The Summit |
| May 7, 1990 | United States | Reunion Arena | |
| May 8, 1990 | Dallas | United States | Reunion Arena |
| May 11, 1990 | Los Angeles | United States | Los Angeles Sports Arena |
| May 12, 1990 | Los Angeles | United States | Los Angeles Sports Arena |
| May 13, 1990 | Los Angeles | United States | Los Angeles Sports Arena |
| May 15 1990 | Los Angeles | United States | Los Angeles Sports Arena |
| May 16 1990 | Los Angeles | United States | Los Angeles Sports Arena |
| May 18 1990 | Oakland | United States | Oakland Coliseum |
| May 19 1990 | Oakland | United States | Oakland Coliseum |
| May 20 1990 | Oakland | United States | Oakland Coliseum |
| May 23 1990 | Rosemont | United States | Rosemont Horizon |
| May 24 1990 | Rosemont | United States | Rosemont Horizon |
| May 27 1990 | Toronto | Canada | SkyDome |
| May 28 1990 | Toronto | Canada | SkyDome |
| May 29 1990 | Toronto | Canada | SkyDome |
| May 31 1990 | Auburn Hills | United States | The Palace of Auburn Hills |
| June 1 1990 | Auburn Hills | United States | The Palace of Auburn Hills |
| June 4 1990 | Worcester | United States | The Centrum |
| June 5 1990 | Worcester | United States | The Centrum |
| June 8 1990 | Landover | United States | Capital Centre |
| June 9 1990 | Landover | United States | Capital Centre |
| June 11 1990 | Uniondale | United States | Nassau Coliseum |
| June 12 1990 | Uniondale | United States | Nassau Coliseum |
| June 13 1990 | Uniondale | United States | Nassau Coliseum |
| June 16 1990 | Philadelphia | United States | The Spectrum |
| June 17 1990 | Philadelphia | United States | The Spectrum |
| June 20 1990 | East Rutherford | United States | Meadowlands Arena |
| June 21 1990 | East Rutherford | United States | Meadowlands Arena |
| June 24 1990 | East Rutherford | United States | Meadowlands Arena |
| June 25 1990 | East Rutherford | United States | Meadowlands Arena |
| Europe | |||
| Date | City | Country | Venue |
| June 30 1990 | Gothenburg | Sweden | Eriksberg Stadium |
| July 3 1990 | Paris | France | Bercy |
| July 4 1990 | Paris | France | Bercy |
| July 6 1990 | Paris | France | Bercy |
| July 10 1990 | Rome | Italy | Stadio Flaminio |
| July 13 1990 | Turin | Italy | Stadio Delle Alpi |
| July 15 1990 | Munich | Germany | Olympia-Reitstadion Riem |
| July 17 1990 | Dortmund | Germany | Westfalenhalle |
| July 20 1990 | London | United Kingdom | Wembley Stadium |
| July 21 1990 | London | United Kingdom | Wembley Stadium |
| July 22 1990 | London | United Kingdom | Wembley Stadium |
| July 24 1990 | Rotterdam | Netherlands | Feyenoord Stadium |
| July 27 1990 | Madrid | Spain | Estadio Vicente Calderón |
| July 29 1990 | Vigo | Spain | Estadio de Balaídos |
| August 1 1990 | Barcelona | Spain | Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc |
| August 5 1990 | Nice | France | Stade de l'Ouest |
Dates: 57 (63 scheduled)
Personnel
- Show directed by: Madonna
- Choreographed and Co-Directed by: Vince Paterson
- Artistic Director: Christopher Ciccone
- Musical Director: Jai Winding
- Costumes: Jean-Paul Gaultier
- Additional Costumes: Marlene Stewart
- Personal Management: Freddy DeMann
- Keyboards: Jai Winding and Kevin Kendrick
- Guitar: Carlos Rios and David Williams
- Bass: Darryl Jones
- Drums: Jonathan Moffet
- Percussion: Luis Conte
- Additional Keyboards: Mike McKnight
- Background Vocals: Niki Haris and Donna DeLory
- Dancers: Luis Camacho, Oliver Crumes, Slam, Jose Gutierez, Kevin A. Stea, Gabriel Trupin, and Carlton Wilborn
- Tour Manager: John Draper
- Production Manager: Chris Lamb, GLS Productions
- Road Manager: Mike Grizel
- Set Designer: John McGraw
- Lighting Designer: Peter Morse
- Assistant to Madonna: Melissa Crow
- Wardobe Manager: Christopher Ciccone
- Make-up and Hair: Joanne Grier
- Massage Therapist: Julie Chertow
- Madonna's Fitness Trainer: Robert Parr
- Ambiance: Pamela Gatell
- Publicity: Liz Rosenberg and Warner Bros. Records New York
- Security: Clay Tave
External Links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
