This is the official tour schedule. Between
August and December 2008, Madonna performed a total of 58 shows
in 17 countries.
During the summer of 2009, she will be performing another 29 shows
in 20 European countries.
That brings this tour to a record breaking total of 87 shows
in 32 different countries.
Remarks: The
show in LA experienced several technical difficulties, causing some
parts of the stage to be in the dark and the circular screen to be
out of order.
The
shows in Buenos Aires, originally scheduled for December 3-4-6-7 were
all pushed one day forward, because the stage didn't arrive in time.
This meant that Madonna had to perform on a Friday for the first time
2001, which she previously refused to respect Kabbalah.
The
December 7th and 8th show in Buenos Aires were recorded by Nathan
Rissman, director of I Am Because We Are, for the DVD release.
The
idea to extend the tour to Australia was considered but then dropped
because of economical reasons (weak Australian dollar).
In
January 2009, Madonna announced she would extend the tour with 22
European shows in the summer of 2009. This was the first time Madonna
added such an extension to one of her tours.
In
April 2009, Madonna cancelled shows in Manchester and Hamburg because
of "scheduling conflicts".
The first part of
the show is inspired by Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, mixed
with urban influences. After the Sweet Machine intro, Madonna rolls
in sitting on a throne, wearing a black jacket by Givenchy and knee-high
boots, and holding a cane. During Beat
Goes On, she strips down to reveal her see-through outfit and
puts on a white top hat.
Following a Madonna tour tradition, her hair is light blond. At
first it's tucked into the collar of her jacket but then she takes
that off, revealing her golden locks with a bit of black roots.
The first interlude
is Die Another Day
where Madonna is seen on the big screens, bringing the tourbook
photoshoot to life. Two dancers perform a boxing choreography in
a ring at the end of the catwalk. Madonna then hops back onstage,
channeling NYC of the early 80s with wearing a black sleeveless
jacket and red hotpants, designed by Arianne Phillips. For She's
Not Me, she sports white heart-shaped glasses but as she moves
onto the segment-closer Music,
she gets rid of them along with her jacket and switches her hotpants
for a purple one, showing off her rainbow belt.
An interlude that
mixes Rain with Eurythmics'
'Here Comes The Rain Again' introduces two Hamutsun Serve dancers
on stage, with their typical impressive outfit. Devil
Wouldn't Recognize You has Madonna on top of a piano, dressed
in a long black Givenchy cape. Towards the end of the song, she
opens her cape to reveal her Gypsy outfit, with colourful stripes
on a black see-through dress, topped by pink necklace ribbons.
For the virtual duet
of 4 Minutes, Madonna
is dressed like a superhero with a Xena-like breastplate and red
shoulder pads. For this part of the show, she's now wearing a wig
that covers her forehead. She loses the shoulder pads before kicking
into the rave performance of Like
A Prayer and the breastplate follows right before the final
song. Madonna finishes the show in black rave outfit, wearing funny
glasses, inspired by one of her dancers.
Opening Acts: Robyn
appeared as a special guest for the opening act at the following
concerts in 2008: Nice, Berlin, Zurich, Amsterdam, Dusseldorf,
Frankfurt, Lisbon, Seville, Valencia, Vienna, Budva & Athens.
Paul
Oakenfold opened in London, all of the Latin America dates, and
is opening all of the Europe 2009 shows.
Benny
Benassi was the opening act at the Rome show.
Bob
Sinclar was opening for Madonna in both Paris shows.
Madonna
didn't have an officially scheduled opening act on the North American
leg of the tour.
Guest Appearances: International
pop star and previous Madonna-collaborator Britney Spears features
in the background video of Human
Nature. She made a live appearance in the show in LA.
To
visualize the collaborators during the 4
Minutes performance, Justin Timberlake and Timbaland appeared
on video screens. However, Justin made a live appearance in the
show in LA, while Timbaland was a guest at the show in Miami.
For
Beat Goes On
and Give It 2 Me,
Hard Candy producer Pharrell Williams supported Madonna on the
video screens. During the shows in New York City and Miami, Pharrell
made a guest appearance. Kanye West also featured in the Beat
Goes On video backdrop, even though Madonna had wanted him
to make a guest appearance as well, he was unable to do so because
he was on tour himself.
Remarks: Before
the final two songs, Madonna introduced a new concept to her shows:
she let the audience request one of her hits, which they could
then sing along with her. While she chose Express
Yourself herself for most of the European shows, sometimes
replaced by Like A Virgin,
she built in more variety in the North American shows. Check
the diary for each specific song request. This request section
was droped for the 2009 leg of the tour.
The
only actual change in the 2008 setlist happened at the 4 shows
in Buenos Aires where Madonna performed Don't
Cry For Me Argentina as a medley with You
Must Love Me.
Originally,
Madonna rehearsed a guitar-driven version of Impressive
Instant, mixed with Burning
Up, as part of the Futuristic Rave segment, but then she replaced
it with Like A Prayer.
For
the 2009 leg, three songs on the setlist were replaced. Heartbeat
had to make way for the classic Holiday,
which included a tribute to late Michael Jackson. It was followed
by a rock rendition of Dress
You Up, instead of Borderline.
Surprisingly, the only Confessions
song Hung Up got kicked
out in favour of Frozen, which
received a dance make-over, featuring snippets of Open
Your Heart.
The candy pattern backdrop during the opening number Candy Shop was replaced by Marilyn Minter's Green Pink Caviar in 2009.
Madonna
changed up her costumes a few times on tour in 2008: she wore a pink outfit
during the Old School segment in Berlin, Lisbon, the 2nd show
of Paris and the 1st show of Toronto, while she had red-framed
glasses in Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Seville, Valencia & Vienna.
Because of the rain on the 1st Rio De Janeiro show, Madonna changed
the coat, the corset and the boots for the Gangsta Pimp and the
Gypsy costumes.
3500
Number of individual wardrobe elements for tour 653
Hours of rehearsal time for Madonna and band 250
Number of travelling personnel 200
Triangle sponges used to apply makeup 180
Q-Tips used for entire tour (3 per night) 120
Powder puffs 100
Pairs of out of stock fishnet, pantyhose in old style weave, purchased
for Madonna via ebay and local dance shops 100
Pairs of kneepads 69
Guitars 36
Different Designers contributed to the onstage wardrobe 30
Wardrobe Trunks travel to each venue 28
Maximum number of performers onstage 20
Nationalities represented in touring stuff (including Japanese,
Israeli, Russian, Romanian, Australian and Algerian) 18
Racks of Clothing for Band, dancers and gypsies 16
Caterers 12
Seamstresses working non stop in Cardiff to finish costumes for
opening night 12
Travelling trampolines used in training by Madonna and dancers 10 Large flight
cases of medical supplies 10
Number of guitars Madonna will travel with 9
Number of people working in wardrobe department 8
Major Madonna Costume changes 5
Number of people it takes to change Madonna into next costume 5 Keyboards on
stage for Kevin Antunes, Musical Director 4
Large freezers to carry ice packs for Madonna and dancers 4
YSL Lipsticks will cover entire tour 3
Romanian gypsy musicians playing acoustic instruments 3
Racks of Clothing contain Madonna's stage wardrobe 3
Shu Uemura eyelash curlers 2
Rigs for DJ set up 2
Stages 1.5
Minutes - Shortest time required to change Madonna's costumes between
numbers 1
Chiropractor 1
Personal trainer 1
Masseuse 1
Set of Swarovski crystal ear phones for DJ