My 13 Favorite Live Madonna Performances Part 3 ~ Conclusion
04 "Sooner or Later" (The Academy Awards)
Of the 13 performances that I've shared in the list this one is the single shakiest. Madonna is visibly nervous at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion while performing for the crowd she once so badly wanted to be a part of (movie stars!). It's a mark of her eternally super-sized chutzpah that she pulls off the vamping under that pressure and gives one of the best musical performances ever seen at this nearly 80-year-old ceremony.
03 "Vogue" x 3 (Blond Ambition, MTV Video Awards, Girlie Show)
I figure if anything needed a multiple attack it was Vogue. Madonna's blockbuster single from 1990 gets elaborately diversified treatment in each of her tours and yet...doesn't it feel like it remains set in stone as well? So, in its own glamorous showoff way it's both a snapshot of Madonna herself (constantly mutating while always the same) and a perfect distillation of what it was always about... see also the brilliant 1991 documentary Paris is Burning for more fascinating dissection of the dance phenom.
02 "Holiday" (Blond Ambition)
One of only two songs (I believe -correct me if I'm wrong ~ the other 'Like a Virgin') that Madonna has performed in every tour. The crowd affection for it is contagious. Especially when Madonna seems like she's bursting with joy performing it. This rendition gets my vote for the best party moment in any of her tours. As an added bonus this will always be connected to that diva-inspirational moment in 1991's Truth or Dare when Madonna, Donna, and Niki all strut backstage together hand in hand in their Gaultier, singing the chorus a cappella to rev up for the show. Heaven.
01 "Like a Virgin" (MTV Video Awards)
Were I to write an autobiography this would be a moment of personal mythology. From the moment she rose up from the wedding cake, in her tarty veil, gown, and "boytoy" belt...well, this young boy was never the same again.
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3 comments:
"One of only two songs (I believe -correct me if I'm wrong ~ the other 'Like a Virgin') that Madonna has performed in every tour."
You're wrong, "Holiday" is the only one she's done every time she tours. My fave is in Drowned World with that brilliant Stardust sample!
Man, I have held the belief for the last year or so that I was born 10 years too late, because I would've LOVED to grow up during the 80s. And one of those reasons was seeing Madonna rise and rise and rise.
Out of all the ones you have mentioned, I have only seen the "Vogue" performance from the MTV awards (where it was all Amadeus sized wigs and big period style garb) and any from the Drowned World tour.
Madge hasn't even toured here since The Girlie Show, the DVD of which is on my DVD list but it hasn't been sent to me yet.
-Glenn
Enjoyed a lot! »
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