Blond Ambition Tour

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Blond Ambition Tour
Tour by Madonna
Start date	April 13, 1990
End date	August 5, 1990
Legs	3
Shows	9 in Japan 31 in North America 17 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, Madonna's world tour of 1990, is considered by many to have changed the look and feel of concert tours. The tour spanned fifty-seven shows in twenty-seven cities in Japan, the United States, Canada, 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 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.

Contents 1 History 2 The show 3 Broadcasts and recordings 4 Opening Acts 5 Setlist 6 Tour Dates 7 Personnel 8 External Links

[edit] 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.

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 US recreated the singer's career from beginning to (then) end. A year later this idea was carried over into the MTV Video Music Awards in which Madonna herself appeared.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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 LaserDisc, titled Blond Ambition World Tour 1990 - Live, 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 Laserdisc 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 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"). Two of the Paris, France dates 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 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'. 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.

[edit] Opening Acts

• Technotronic with "Pump up the Jam"

[edit] Setlist

1. "Express Yourself" (with "Everybody" dancers introduction)
2. "Open Your Heart"
3. "Causing a Commotion"
4. "Where's the Party"
5. "Like a Virgin"
6. "Like a Prayer"
7. Medley: "Live to Tell"/"Oh Father"
8. "Papa Don't Preach"
9. "Sooner or Later"
10. "Hanky Panky"
11. "Now I'm Following You"
12. "Material Girl"
13. "Cherish"
14. "Into the Groove"
15. "Vogue"
16. "Holiday"
17. Medley: "Family Affair"/"Keep It Together"

[edit] Tour Dates

Cancellations (6): May 25 Chicago, June 6 Worcester, June 15 Philadelphia, June 22 E. Rutherford, July 1 Berlin, July 7 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	Nishinomya Stadium
April 21, 1990	Osaka	Japan	Nishinomya Stadium
April 22, 1990	Osaka	Japan	Nishinomya 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	Dallas	United States	Reunion Arena
May 8, 1990	Dallas	United States	Reunion Arena
May 11, 1990	Los Angeles	United States	LA Sports Arena
May 12, 1990	Los Angeles	United States	LA Sports Arena
May 13, 1990	Los Angeles	United States	LA Sports Arena
May 15, 1990	Los Angeles	United States	LA Sports Arena
May 16, 1990	Los Angeles	United States	LA Sports Arena
May 18, 1990	Oakland	United States	Coliseum
May 19, 1990	Oakland	United States	Coliseum
May 20, 1990	Oakland	United States	Coliseum
May 23, 1990	Chicago	United States	Rosemont Horizon
May 24, 1990	Chicago	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	Brendan Byrne Arena
June 21, 1990	East Rutherford	United States	Brendan Byrne Arena
June 24, 1990	East Rutherford	United States	Brendan Byrne Arena
June 25, 1990	East Rutherford	United States	Brendan Byrne Arena
Europe
Date	City	Country	Venue
June 30, 1990	Gothenburg	Sweden	Eriksberg Stadium
July 3, 1990	Paris	France	Bercy Stadium
July 4, 1990	Paris	France	Bercy Stadium
July 6, 1990	Paris	France	Bercy Stadium
July 10, 1990	Rome	Italy	Stadio Flaminio
July 13, 1990	Turin	Italy	Stadio Delle Alpi
July 15, 1990	Munich	Germany	Riemer Reitstadion
July 17, 1990	Dortmund	Germany	Westfallen-Halle
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 Balaídos
August 1, 1990	Barcelona	Spain	Estadio Olímpico
August 5, 1990	Nice	France	Stade De L'Ouest

Dates: 57 (63 scheduled)

[edit] 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

[edit] External Links

• http://www.madonnamultimedia.com
• http://www.madonna-online.ch/m-online/tours/90_bat/blond-main.htm
• http://www.ultimatemadonna.com/blondambition/
• http://www.absolutemadonna.com/tours/ba.shtml