Customer Reviews

Madonna: The Girlie Show - Live Down Under (Full Screen)

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I remember travelling to London to see Madonna's opening night of this Tour in September 1993. I was very excited & moreso because up until that point I thought that the Blonde Ambition was the most lavish spectacular ever brought to stage & screen. What could Madonna do next? The Girlie Show is definitely not a duplication of Madonna's 1990 Tour. Lavish, yes, but it does not go the Greatest Hits route. Madonna at the time was getting a lot of bad press due to the nature of her Sex book (which is very bland really) & her Erotica album (which I feel is one of her best). The Girlie Show therefore had to be something else & it is. Lipsyncing aside (Erotica/Justify My Love/Vogue), The Girlie Show is an impressive hommage to spectacles of old from harlequins to troubadours, 70s Disco & Deitrich, Madonna's Tour demonstrates her cultural awareness & her influences. The show, like the Blonde Ambition Tour is divided into segments.
SEGMENT 1: The Dita files. A series of darker dance numbers performer by Madonna in her Dita outfit. Erotica, the show's opener is Madonna's sole presence on stage, with dancers in the background. Good for what it is. But does not get the juices flowing, as the songs lyrics promise. Fever rocks - not one of my fave songs by Madonna, but she gives it plenty of life & sings it live! as well - she lipsynced to this one in London. Quite a sexy routine also with 2 dancers. Madonna flirts with the crowd. Vogue is an elaborate spectacle, with Madonna, Nikki & Donna wearing what look chandeliers on their heads, & indulge in artsy dancing. Cool. Rain demonstrates Madonna can sing & harmonise.
SEGMENT2: 70s DISCO. This part of the show is a partayyyy sequence with a totally blinding version of Express Yourself, moving into the feather boa dance routine of Deeper & Deeper, before slowing down a bit for Why's It So Hard & then In This Life, which has Madonna alone on the steps singing about lost friends. Bless.
SEGMENT3: WHAT IS GOING ON? SECTION: Madonna does Like A Virgin as Marlent Deitrich, dressed up as a man flirts outrageously with dancing girls on Bye Bye Baby & then proceeds into the most unexpected live! song ever - I'm Going Bananas. Nuts.
THE HITS: We then move into a wondrous rendtion of La Isla Bonita, spanish dancing et al & then a Military version of Holiday, which gets the audience livened up & Madonna genuinely appears to be enjoying herself & smiling without force.

The traditional expression save the best for last is true here. The encores are two very different sounds & images. Madonna goes to Ascot Horse Racing is the theme of Justify My Love, a very decadent type of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, with eloquent top hats, tails & lavish dresses (which is more 1920s than 1780s). Madonna's outfit is a combination of man-woman. The song is sultry & one I would never have imagined to be done live. It livens up at the end with the dancers all performing a hand-clapping routine. Bonkers. The showstopper is again a song I was not expecting, yet one of my faves. A totally reworked version of Everybody which breaks into Dance To The Music & then becomes all funky. It is euphoric & the total climax to the show IMHO. Add to this a secret clown who turns out to be Madonna & you have the impression that depsite the lack of greater hits like Papa Don't Preach/Open Your Heart, etc that Madonna does want to entertain her crowd & moreover interact with them. She does so well, or at least as warmly as I've ever seen her. Bad press asides, the sheer content of the show alone is enough to remind fans why they attended the show (& there are A LOT at this show - & she played 4 nights at this cricket ground as well as performing in other Australian cities!!!!) & why Madonna is one of the best at her game

This video is edited the "old" way where they actually show the same image for longer than 2 seconds, unlike Madonna's newest concerts. Lots of colour and great dancing, usual Madonna stuff. So if you have ADD get a newer concert if not you should enjoy this one.

this tour is done by madonna and supporting the album erotic(a)

what vogue,and erotica the oponing song of the night

she does very good in vogue

This concert only ran exclusively in a limited number of states and countries and only for a short period of time. Yet, die-hard Madonna fans who were not cowed by her Erotica period attended this show and were not disappointed. If you loved the re-invention tour 2004, you will certainly love this spectacle.

The Girlie Show is Madonna's most theatrical, complex, and dramatic live show to date, moreso than the dark Drowned World Tour or the minimalist setting of the re-invention tour.

This concert is simply amazing. The choreography will leave you gasping as this concert, more than any other, displays Madonna and her dancers as acrobatic and gymnastically adroit as ever. The costumes are eye-popping and as varied as they come. There is the dominatrix section, the Thai-goddess section, the disco era section, the German Dietrich Cirque du Soleil section, a strange 1930s section that features Justify My Love, and a weird sequence set to the Bible.

Though played in 1993, this concert is still as fresh as ever.

I own DVDs of Blond Ambition, Girlie Show, and Drowned World, and must say that Girlie show ranks third of the three. The show is the weakest because I find the music that Madonna released during this time to be some of the most forgettable of her career. She tries very hard to follow up her "shocking" Blond Ambition Tour with more shock and theatrics, but it just doesn't quite live up to it, and it seems that she tried too hard to shock us. Nevertheless, this is a solid performance. Like another post said, the theatrics and staging aren't as good as the other tours, but this tour was more about music and spectacle (read nudity and mass orgies). Sadly, however, the music just isn't as good. "Rain", "Express Yourself", and "Justify My Love" are the standouts. "Why's it so Hard" and "In this Life" are largely forgettable; "Live to Tell" and "Bad Girl" would have been better suited to this segment, but I am not Madonna, nor am I (...). That may be why it doesn't appeal to me as much. The only segment in which this concert tops Blond Ambition is Madonna's voice. She sings virtually all of the material, something she cannot claim in Blond Ambition, where almost half the numbers performed sport some sort of vocal sweeting, whether it be backing tracks she sings over (Express Yourself) half singing half lipping (Open Your Heart), or just outright lip synching (Vogue). In contrast, only three songs are canned during The Girlie Show, if only the songs she sang were more enjoyable musically. The dancing also had its hits and misses. "Vogue" is no longer "en vogue" with hand movements that must be viewed from row three to see, butlook great when viewed on the DVD, while "La Isla Bonita" is a show stopper. The show begins slowly, "Vogue" or "Bye Bye Baby" should have opened the show, as Erotica is a rather listless way to open a live performance with no vocal oomph, even if she was lip synching. Overall, this was not the best Madonna concert, but she did what she needed to do, and sold out every show. Most of the show is enjoyable with the skip button being used for most of the middle of the show, that's how i view it anyway. I would recomend this concert only if you cannot spot the money it takes to import Blond Ambition from Japan or Europe, or Drowned World is just to dark for your taste. Girlie Show certainly shrouds nothing.

The circus-like concert begins with a topless dancer slowly sliding down a tall pole. When the dancer disappears behind the curtain, an S&M costumed Madonna mimes to a remix of "Erotica" on a turning platform.

"Fever" is next, with Madonna seductively flirting with two male dancers. Quickly, Madonna adds a head dress and mimes to "Vogue" with Donna, Niki and all of her dancers with amazing choreography. Later, Donna, Niki and Madonna sit on chairs to perform "Rain." A circus-like interlude takes place.

The stage becomes a 70's discotheque, as Madonna (dressed in 70's attire and an afro wig) descends from the cieling on a disco ball. Donna and Niki join her to perform a 70's style "Express Yourself" and "Deeper and Deeper," which turns into an onstage orgy between Madonna and her dancers. Immediately following is "Why's it So Hard" and "In This Life."

Another costume change follows, with "The Beast Within" playing and two male dancers portraying homosexual intercourse, sibling rivalry, and acrobatic partnership.

Madonna shows up onstage in a tuxedo and performs "Like a Virgin" in a masculine voice and German accent. The now transvestite Donna and Niki show up for a lesbian performance of "Bye Bye Baby." The mood quickly morphs from "Screw You" to "Soy Loca" when the song "I'm Going Bananas" from Madonna's "I'm Breathless" is performed, with "La Isla Bonita" to follow.

After Madonna rambles on the stage about stealing from hotels, nose mucous and being short, the dancers all dress in military garb to perform "Holiday."

"Justify My Love" is the first encore, and delivers spectactularly in the artistic aspect of the show. Dressed in a top hat, sunglasses (or an eye patch, depending on the performance), she mimes to "Justify My Love" as more circus shenanigans ensue.

"Everybody is a Star / Everybody" is next, while Madonna, dressed in a yellow Adidas shirt (or a white tube top, depending on the performance) dances, sings, and "gets up to do her thing." She introduces her band in the song, as well as her "sisters" Donna De Lory and Niki Haris. The show closes with perfection, and leaves the audience stunned and wanting more.

In 1985, Madonna had gone on her first tour, which was The Virgin Tour 1985, and that was to promote the Like A Virgin album. In 1987, Madonna had put together her second tour, which was called The Who's That Girl Tour 1987, and that was to promote the movie and soundtrack of the same name. In 1990, Madonna went on her third tour, which was called The Blonde Ambition Tour 1990, and that was to promote both the Like A Prayer album and the I'm Breathless album.

Now, it's 1993, Madonna put together The Girlie Show Years Tour 1993, her fourth tour which promoted the Erotica album. That tour was put on this amazing DVD that should be owned by every Madonna fan around the world. This concert is loaded with amazing performances, featuring seven songs from her Erotica album. Each song on the setlist is choreographed and set up in its own unique way and will have you breathless from start to finish. Although it lacks some hits like Like A Prayer, Papa Don't Preach, Cherish, Open Your Heart, etc., this concert is without a doubt amazing.

It starts off with Madonna performing EROTICA. The outfit for this performance is not what you saw in the video. Here, she wears black sleeveless half-top with a black sparkling bikini top underneath, black sparkling shorts, fishnet stockings, black leather high-heeled boots, the black mask that covers only the eyes, and she carries a bouton. The performance of EROTICA is nothing less than amazing. She finishes EROTICA and gets ready to perform the next song. She starts off the second song by walking to the center of the stage, but she walks to the beat of the drums. While doing this, she takes off the mask and the sleeveless half-top, leaving on the shorts, boots, stockings, and bikini top. After she takes off the mask, she gives an incredible performance of FEVER. After FEVER, Madonna comes out with the same shorts, boots, and stockings, but with a different top, which is a black and grey beaded bikini. On her head is a black beaded headdress. With this outfit, she gives an outstanding performance of VOGUE. After VOGUE, Madonna comes out in a long black dress, similar to the one in the RAIN video. She sits on a chair and gives a beautiful rendition of RAIN. While in the middle of RAIN, Madonna breaks into a little portion of JUST MY IMAGINATION, and goes back into RAIN. After RAIN, Madonna goes back for another costume change.

Before she comes out, the band plays a club techno 70s retro version of EXPRESS YOURSELF. Madonna makes her entrance to this one by descending from the ceiling to the stage on a disco ball, wearing a pinkish purple bell-bottomed half-top, sparkling purple shorts, pink 70s high-heel shoes, complete with a blonde afro wig. She steps onto the stage and does a great 70s performance of EXPRESS YOURSELF, which then goes into an incredible 70s Latin flavored performance of DEEPER AND DEEPER. She ends DEEPER AND DEEPER by rolling all over the stage with her dancers while making the most sexual and orgasmic moans anyone has ever heard. That leads into the performance of WHY'S IT SO HARD. After WHY'S IT SO HARD, Madonna performs IN THIS LIFE, a song she had written for two of her friends that died of AIDS.

While doing a costume change, Madonna's haunting THE BEAST WITHIN (JUSTIFY MY LOVE) is played, where her dancers give an amazing dance routine that displays the elements of sex, love, passion, and destruction. Madonna finally comes out dressd as 1930s actress, Marlene Deitrich. With this outfit, Madonna performs LIKE A VIRGIN, but she does not sing it, she speaks it in Marlene Deitrich's German accent. After LIKE A VIRGIN, she goes into lesbian burlesque performance of BYE BYE BABY. After BYE BYE BABY, Madonna takes off the top portion of the tuxedo, revealing a black and white striped shirt, and a bandana on her head, and performs I'M GOING BANANAS. Being that I'M GOING BANANAS is has a Latino-Spanish vibe, she performs LA ISLA BONITA immediately after I'M GOING BANANAS. After LA ISLA BONITA, Madonna has a little chat with her audience. She tells them how she is relieved that it didn't rain, being that it's an outside stadium. After her conversation, she goes back stage for one short costume change, while her dancers come out in military drag. Madonna finally comes out, giving her dancers the military commands, while in military drag. She gives on final command, and starts off HOLIDAY.

The encore performances are JUSTIFY MY LOVE and EVERYBODY. I won't give away those performances. You will all have to see the last two for yourselves by buying this amazing concert. You want a good show? Here it is. Listed below is the whole setlist for the concert, as well as the whole tour.

EROTICA
FEVER
VOGUE
RAIN
EXPRESS YOURSELF
DEEPER AND DEEPER
WHY'S IT SO HARD
IN THIS LIFE
THE BEAST WITHIN (JUSTIFY MY LOVE) Dancers' Interlude (Costume Change)
LIKE A VIRGIN
BYE BYE BABY
I'M GOING BANANAS
LA ISLA BONITA
HOLIDAY
JUSTIFY MY LOVE
EVERYBODY

1993 wasnt the best year for Madonna. She had lost alot of fans after the sex book and body of evidence movie as well as the Erotica album (probably one of her most overlooked albums). In the last bit of 1993 she decided to go back on the road witth the Girlie show.

She looks absolutely fabulous here with that hair style and the costumes. I would say the Girlie Show is her best tour so far. i have yet to see the 'blonde ambition tour' az it isnt out on dvd or video. I have seen snipits of it from the in bed with madonna film, however.

There isnt an aspect of this tour that is boring. every second of the tour has you on the edge of your seat or ready to jump up and dance. With her Re-invention tour coming later on this year, i hope to see some of these greeats from the Erotica album once again. Hopefully it will be on DVD by christmas 2004!

If you are pondering on buying this or not....do yourself a favour and BUY IT ASAP!!! its a first class piece of entertainment!

I just watch it 3x then put the blond ambition tour that i recorded live on 08/5/90 HBO.. And yes These shows are very different from each other,even madonna looks different. But what im really back to say is I think Cher took lessons from Madonna, on putting on great show's. Cause all this was before cher came back in to the main stream about 5 years later. I think.....

The best concert Madonna has ever done is The Blonde Ambition Tour(not yet available on DVD). Originally shown on HBO, Blonde Ambition (thank god i have a vhs copy) is the best concert she has done so far(covers all her classic hits and has the best stage setting she has ever had) with her Drowned tour coming in at 2nd place. The Girlie show has is moments but the are parts that you want to skip (especially the horrendus version of Like a Virgin. What was she thinking?? it would have been been better is she hadnt performed it at all). The show tries to be shocking but it comes up short. The dancing is good and her band is as tight as ever. The stage set was rather weak. If you want the best show that she has ever done i suggest you wait for the release of The Blonde Ambition Tour.You wont regret waiting for it.