The Girlie Show World Tour

Background

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."

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.

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 and also on a Brazilian promotional EP, The Girlie Show which included the tracks "Erotica", "Deeper and Deeper", "Bad Girl", "Fever", "Rain" and "Bye Bye Baby". 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".

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. 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.

Concert synopsis

The show was divided into four sections: Dominatrix, Studio 54, Weimar Cabaret, and Encore. It 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 and swinging her whip in dominatrix gear from a spotlit platform to sing "Erotica". Next came "Fever" where she takes her jacket, mask and glove off and dances suggestively with two shirtless male dancers 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 glitter ball, 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; while doing a comedic act with the pierrot. 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" as the curtain falls.

Broadcasts and recordings

The broadcast was produced in association with HBO and was titled Madonna Live Down Under: The Girlie Show. Initially, the November 20 show, the second of two dates at the Sydney Cricket Ground, was to be filmed and aired. 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. It was nominated for the Grammy Award of Best Long Form Music Video in 1995.

Additional video recordings were made during the Japanese leg of the tour and shown only on Japanese television, Madonna Live in Japan 1993 – The Girlie Show and the October 7 show at the Inonu Stadium in Istanbul was aired on ATV in Turkey. UK radio station, BBC Radio 1, broadcast the entire second show at Wembley Stadium on December 26 and Brazilian radio broadcast the show at Maracanã stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with live commentary.

Set list

1. "The Girlie Show Theme" (Fanfare Introduction)
2. "Erotica"
3. "Fever" (Edit One mix)
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" and "Love to Love You Baby")
8. "Why's It So Hard"
9. "In This Life"
10. "The Beast Within" (Dancers' 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 Is a Star" / "Everybody" (contains elements of "Dance to the Music", and "After the Dance")

Set list per official DVD track listing.

Notes

Opening act

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