Confessions Tour

Confessions Tour
Madonna performing Forbidden Love during her 2006 World Tour
Tour by Madonna
Supporting album	Confessions on a Dance Floor
Start date	May 21, 2006
End date	September 21, 2006
Legs	3
Shows	34 in North America 22 in Europe 4 in Japan 60 in Total
Madonna tour chronology
Re-Invention World Tour (2004)	Confessions Tour (2006)	Sticky & Sweet Tour (2008/2009)

The Confessions Tour was the seventh world concert tour by American singer-songwriter Madonna to support her album Confessions on a Dance Floor. According to Billboard The tour grossed over US$194.7 million, ^[1] becoming highest grossing tour ever for a female artist.^[2][3] Additionally, the tour received the "Most Creative Stage Production" at the Pollstar Concert Industry Awards. ^[4], as well as, "Top Boxscore" from the Billboard Touring Awards. ^[5] Madonna broke her own record in 2008, with her Sticky & Sweet Tour, which also became the highest grossing tour by a solo artist. ^[6]

About the Tour

Madonna mentioned in an interview UK newspaper The Guardian on November 20, 2005 that she may tour the following year; she was going to call it the Confessions Tour or Confess Your Sins Tour. A further rumoured name for the tour was the Dance and Sing World Tour although Madonna soon denied this.^[7]

Madonna described the tour as "turning the world into a giant dancefloor." The show is divided into four separate acts with different themes: equestrian, urban religious, glam punk and disco fever. Each show in each city is almost the same except some very few differences. Prefacing the concert tour was her performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California.

The show began with Madonna appearing in a horse-themed video onscreen before a giant disco ball was lowered onstage, opening like a flower bloom to reveal Madonna inside. As she took her dancers' reins, she performed "Future Lovers/I Feel Love", "Get Together", rode a carousel horse during "Like a Virgin"; her dancers later tumbled through a gymnastic-like "Jump". Three of her dancers then revealed personal tragedies during an interlude called "Confessions" before Madonna reappeared on a mirrored crucifix to sing "Live to Tell" as a death toll of African AIDS victims counted down onscreen above her. She stepped down off the cross to perform "Forbidden Love" and brought a guest vocalist from her Confessions on a Dance Floor album onstage for "Isaac", when a female dancer in an oversized Middle-Eastern burka danced within a cage; Madonna then recreated the dance-off scene from her "Sorry" music video live with her troupe for her performance of the song.

After singing "Like It or Not", her dancers performed krump dancing for a remix interlude of "Sorry" as social, political, and ecological images flashed onscreens. Madonna strapped on a guitar for rocked-out versions of "I Love New York" and "Ray of Light", sung "Let It Will Be" and "Drowned World/Substitute for Love", and recalled co-singer Isaac out for a duet during "Paradise (Not for Me)". After a brief radio-style mini-mix of old hits, Madonna emerged in a butterfly-collared suit influenced by John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever for a mash-up of "Music" and The Trammps' "Disco Inferno" while dancers rollerskated circles around her. She then did an alternate version of "Erotica", a reworked version of "La Isla Bonita" that retains it's original latin essence and a dance-version "Lucky Star", before bringing the house down with a rousing Hung Up. The show ended as the phrase "Have you confessed?" appeared onscreen.

Scenes in the opening number, "Future Lovers", were taken from Madonna's 2006 photo shoot with Steven Klein for W magazine. Madonna's actual x-rays from her horse riding accident were used as backdrops during the "Like a Virgin" performance.

The tour generated international controversy due to its use of Christian religious iconography. While singing "Live to Tell", Madonna hung from a mirrored cross, wearing a crown of thorns around her head. Christian, Jewish and Muslim groups in North America and Europe came together to criticize what they saw as Madonna's exploitation of "sacred" Christian symbols. In response, Madonna personally and publicly invited Pope Benedict XVI to see the show while in Rome - insisting that she was doing the controversial act to raise awareness and money for orphans abandoned in Africa (particularly Malawi) due to HIV/AIDS and that "Jesus wouldn't mind."

The version of "Erotica" performed in this show includes lyrics from an early demo version of the song, commonly known by fans as "You Thrill Me".

Yitzhak Sinwani (who is featured on the album track "Isaac") sings alongside Madonna for the same song and joins her on renditions of "Paradise (Not For Me)", "Drowned World/Substitute For Love", and "La Isla Bonita".

After Madonna demanded for the air-conditioning to be turned off in the venue at the Phoenix stop, rumors started that she had requested for the air-conditioning to be turned off during the remainder of the tour. These rumors were confirmed when Madonna announced that she had requested for the air-conditioning to be turned off at the Chicago stop on June 18th.

Madonna sang "Give Peace a Chance" during her stop in Moscow during her "diva speech". She brought out her whole stage crew, even Isaac and Stuart, and had them lift their hands up and sway.

Musician Lenny Kravitz, who also appeared in the audience during numerous shows, joined Madonna live on stage for the song "I Love New York" at one of the Paris gigs.

The multi-million dollar stage and props took 24 semi-trailer trucks to transport.^[8] The setup had a main stage with 3 elevators & a turntable (which rose & lowered), a central runway with LED lights and strobes connected to a central stage with an LED view screen in the construction and an elevator. The two secondary runways were raised up into the stands and also had view screens inside of the construction. There were two projection screens raised above the audience so those who couldn't get a clear view of the stage could still see the performance. There were also 3 L.E.D. screens that moved around during the performance, including one semicircular transparent screen lowered onto the stage during the Video Interludes.

Among the various props were a two million dollar disco ball embellished in $2 million worth of Swarovski Crystals, bringing it to a weight of two tons. During the opening number the ball was lowered onto the stage at the end of the runway, with Madonna inside, then opened revealing her. Inside the ball was hydraulic tubing to hold it open, two sets of stairs, and hundreds of LED lights. Other props include the turntable-pummel horse used during "Like a Virgin", a set of jungle gym-like metal bars used during "Jump", the steel cage used for "Isaac" and "Sorry", and the boom box used during "Hung Up".

This is the first tour wherein Madonna does not sing "Holiday". A few seconds of the song, however, was part of "The Duke Mixes the Hits" interlude.

At the Japanese leg of the tour, in Tokyo but not in Osaka, Madonna wore a short-haired blonde wig at her performance starting from "I Love New York" up to the end of the show.^[9][10][11] The wig was similar to the one she wore at her Jump music video. She also wore a "Japanese Do It Better shirt" during her diva speech up to Paradise. Also, in a very rare act, Madonna got down off the stage during a show in Osaka, talked with, and touched some audience members' hands. One of the fans gave her a stuffed animal.^[12]

Crucifix controversy

NBC made headlines when it censored the concert and refused to broadcast controversial footage of the pop star hanging from a crucifix during one of her songs. This controversial footage was also removed from the MuchMoreMusic broadcast of the show in Canada. However, the crucifixion scene was broadcast in full on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom and VARA in the Netherlands. The segment in question wasn't shown with Madonna appearing on the cross, but instead NBC aired pictures of African Orphans that appeared upon the screens during the live performance with a counter that ran from 0 to 12 million (representing the 12 million children orphaned by AIDS in Africa).

Madonna's crucified during the performance of "Live to Tell.".

There were talks with Madonna and Warner as well as HBO to see if they could air the concert live from Madison Square Garden on HBO. However the deal fell through when HBO denied Madonna the amount of time needed to air the concert.

At least one NBC affiliate, Gannett-owned WXIA-TV Atlanta, opted not to carry the concert, airing it on its co-owned sister station, WATL, instead. Also News Channel 6 WVVA-TV out of Bluefield WV, chose not to show the concert either. They said it was inappropriate and felt that the viewers did not need to see the show. They showed the Nutcracker instead.

NBC, TVR 1 and Channel 4 also did not air the "Sorry Interlude", "Drowned World/Substitute For Love", "Paradise (Not For Me)" and "Lucky Star".

WCNC-TV, an NBC affiliate in Charlotte, NC, pre-empted the concert and aired in place a local Christmas tree lighting. The concert was shown in full at 2:05am EST.

After airing on NBC the concert special aired on Bravo, mun2, and in high definition on Universal HD on December 29. The three above listed cable networks are all owned by NBC Universal Cable.

Madonna released a statement about the controversy:

"I am very grateful that my show was so well received all over the world. But there seems to be many misinterpretations about my appearance on the cross and I wanted to explain it myself once and for all.

There is a segment in my show where three of my dancers 'confess' or share harrowing experiences from their childhood that they ultimately overcame. My 'confession' follows and takes place on a Crucifix that I ultimately come down from. This is not a mocking of the church. It is no different than a person wearing a Cross or 'Taking Up the Cross' as it says in the Bible. My performance is neither anti-Christian, sacrilegious or blasphemous. Rather, it is my plea to the audience to encourage mankind to help one another and to see the world as a unified whole. I believe in my heart that if Jesus were alive today he would be doing the same thing.

My specific intent is to bring attention to the millions of children in Africa who are dying every day, and are living without care, without medicine and without hope. I am asking people to open their hearts and minds to get involved in whatever way they can. The song ends with a quote from the Bible's Book of Matthew:

For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was naked and you gave me clothing. I was sick and you took care of me and God replied, "Whatever you did for the least of my brothers... you did it to me."

Please do not pass judgment without seeing my show.^[13]

Set list

Performing "Hung Up"

1. "Future Lovers"/"I Feel Love"
2. "Get Together"
3. "Like a Virgin"
4. "Jump"
5. "Confessions" (Interlude) (contains elements from "Live to Tell")
6. "Live to Tell"
7. "Forbidden Love"
8. "Isaac"
9. "Sorry"
10. "Like It or Not"
11. "Sorry" (Remix) (Video Interlude)
12. "I Love New York"
13. "Ray of Light"
14. "Let It Will Be"
15. "Drowned World/Substitute for Love"
16. "Paradise (Not for Me)"
17. "The Duke Mixes the Hits" (Video Interlude) (contains excerpts from "Borderline", "Erotica", "Dress You Up", "Holiday" and "Disco Inferno")
18. "Music Inferno" (contains elements of "Music", "Disco Inferno" and excerpts from "Where's the Party")
19. "Erotica" ¹
20. "La Isla Bonita"
21. "Lucky Star" (contains elements from "Hung Up")
22. "Hung Up"

• ¹ remixed version based on 1992 unreleased demo, known as "You Thrill Me".

Source: ^[14][15]

Tour dates

Source: ^[16][17]

Postponed dates

• September 11, 2006 - Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia (rescheduled for September 12th)

Rumored Australian Leg

In the summer of 2006, Madonna's manager announced that her Australian leg to the tour has been dropped^[18]. Her official website released the following statement:

To my fans in Australia,

Please forgive me. I really did hope and expect to come to Australia during the Confessions Tour and asked my managers to try to include some shows there. I have fond memories from previous tours. Unfortunately, the logistics just didn't work out this time around. We looked into going from Japan to Australia and ending the show there but I have to get my kids back into school in England and they are, as you can understand, my most important priority. The important thing to remember is that I'm not retiring anytime soon and I am gonna get to Australia as soon as I can. You remain in my heart and Thank you for your continued love & support.

Love, Madonna

Box Office Score Data

Ticket sales

Tickets for the tour sold out within minutes of going on sale at many venues in North America and Europe, and new dates were immediately announced - included five new dates at Wembley Arena and new dates in New York, Chicago, Paris and Los Angeles. Madonna rang up eight sellouts at Wembley Arena beginning Aug. 1, notching the highest Billboard Boxscore gross of 2006 in the process. ^[19] She grossed $80 million for the US shows alone throughout the summer, and it instantly became the highest grossing summer tour of the year 2006. Madonna's Tour:Spent 5 months on tour. Performed 60 dates. Average ticket prices were between $55 and $350.

In particular, NRJ reported that the two French dates sold out within 15 minutes of going on sale, resulting in two shows being added. The two original dates in London sold out almost instantly, and five new shows at Wembley Arena were announced. ^[20] On April 8, Madonna sold 30,000 tickets in under 40 minutes in Montreal, breaking a record previously held by U2. On July 9, 2006, 50,000 tickets went on sale for Madonna's Osaka and Tokyo shows. The tickets were sold out in a record five minutes. It was Madonna's first time touring Japan in 13 years. Fans began waiting in line and calling ticket brokers well in advance of the first day sale date. In order to meet high demand, an additional date was added, September 21, 2006, at the Tokyo Dome. On August 8, 2006, more than 35,000 tickets for the first ever Madonna concert in Moscow went on sale and, as claimed by show organizers, all were sold out in four days, which could be a new record in that country as all other artists had taken more than 2 weeks to sell out the tickets in the region. However, after many troubles with the concert (venue uncertainty, date change, ticket exchange), and, obviously, huge amount of tickets in the hands of speculators, tickets were on sale at their nominal values until the last minute.^[21]

Personnel

• Tour director: Jamie King
• Video Director: Dago Gonzalez for Veneno, Inc.
• Musical Direction: Stuart Price
• Costume Design: Arianne Phillips, Jean Paul Gaultier and Roman Diaz
• Worldwide Promoter: The Next Adventure

Band

• Keyboards: Marcus Brown and Stuart Price
• Drums: Steve Sidelnyk
• Guitar: Monte Pittman and Madonna
• Backing Vocals: Donna De Lory and Nicki Richards
• Guest Vocalist: Yitzhak Sinwani
• Dancers: Jason Young, Daniel "Cloud" Campos, Leroy "Hypnosis " Barnes, Mihran Kirakosian, Williams "Normann" Charlemoine, Steve Nester, Addie Yungmee, Sofia Boutella, Charmaine "Charm" Jordan, Reshma Gajjar, Tamara Levinson, Sébastien Foucan, Oleg Vorslav, Levi Meeuwenberg and Victor Lopez

Broadcasts and Recordings

The show was filmed at the Wembley Arena, in London on August 15 and 16, 2006. After plans failed with HBO, The Confessions Tour - Live from London aired on November 22, 2006 on NBC. The television version omitted the performances of the "Sorry" (Remix) video interlude, "Drowned World/Substitute for Love", "Paradise (Not For Me)" and "Lucky Star". In the United States, the performance of "Live to Tell" was censored, the broadcast displayed the video backdrop shown on the tour instead of Madonna performing on the mirrored cross. She does not appear until she has come down from it. Outside of the US, the performance was not censored. In the UK it was broadcast on Channel 4 and later on E4.

In January 2007, Warner Bros. Records released The Confessions Tour CD+DVD package. To promote it, "Music Inferno" and "Future Lovers/I Feel Love" were released as radio promo singles. The release has sold an estimated 1.2 million copies worldwide and also won Best Long Form Music Video at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards. ^[22][23]

Book

Madonna: Confessions is a photography book by Guy Oseary and was released in October 2008 during Madonna's Sticky & Sweet Tour. It contains over 250 never-before-seen images from the 2006 Confessions Tour with photographs from backstage and during the show. All author proceeds from the book will be donated to Raising Malawi. ^[24][25]

External links

• Confessions Tour
• Official website
• Tour Art
• Fan Photos from Confessions Tour
• NBC concert website
• Internet Movie Database

References