Venue : Maple Leaf Gardens
City : Toronto
State : ON
Country : CA
Tour by Madonna
Associated album: Madonna
Start date: April 10, 1985
End date: June 11, 1985
Legs: 1
Shows: 40 in North America
Box office: US $5 million ($10.96 million in 2014 dollars)
The Virgin Tour is the debut concert tour by American singer-songwriter
Madonna. The tour supported her first two studio albums, Madonna (1983)
and Like a Virgin (1984). Although, initially planned for an
international audience, the tour was restricted within United States and
Canada only. Warner Bros. decided to send Madonna on the tour, after
Like a Virgin became a success. After its official announcement on March
15, 1985, Madonna and her team started working on it. Madonna wanted
the tour to be a reflection of her own self and collaborated with
designer Maripol for the costumes. Beastie Boys were signed as the
opening act, while record producer Patrick Leonard was signed as the
music director for the tour.
The stage was triangular in shape and consisted of ramps around it,
with lighting arrangements hanging about 30 feet above the stage. Four
giant screens lined the outer perimeter of the stage, on three sides.
The set list consisted of songs from Madonna and Like a Virgin; the
songs were performed by Madonna, who was backed by two dancers, as she
moved energetically across the stage. The show ended with Madonna in a
wedding dress, performing "Like a Virgin" and "Material Girl".
The Virgin Tour received mixed reception from critics, but was a
commercial success. As soon as the tour was announced, tickets were sold
everywhere. Macy's New York department store was flooded with buyers,
who bought the tour merchandise like the crucifix earrings and
fingerless gloves. After its end, the Virgin Tour was reported to have
grossed over $5 million ($10.96 million in 2014 dollars), with Billboard
Boxscore reporting a gross of $3.3 million ($7.24 million in 2014
dollars). The tour was recorded and released in VHS, as Madonna Live:
The Virgin Tour, and received a gold certification by the Recording
Industry Association of America (RIAA). With the commencement of the
Virgin Tour, people—especially women—thronged to see it, wearing clothes
inspired by Madonna. This frenzy regarding Madonna gave rise to a new
term called Madonna wannabe—a word that was ultimately officially
recognized by the Webster's Dictionary in May 1991.
Background
The Virgin Tour was officially announced on March 15, 1985, by Warner
Bros. Records. Prior to the tour, Madonna's only live performances were
limited to evening shows at nightclubs like Danceteria, CBGB and Mudd
Club, and only the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards, where she performed her
song "Like a Virgin". Following the success of the Like a Virgin album,
the record label wanted to milk-in the success of the album by sending
Madonna on a worldwide tour. However, the tour was restricted within
United States and Canada. It did not visit Europe, Asia or other
continents. Early on there were plans to schedule dates in Britain and
Japan due to Madonna's large fan bases in both countries, however the
final schedule did not reflect the idea. In the end several more U.S.
dates were added and the tour was moved to larger concert venues due to
overwhelmingly strong ticket sales. Madonna was quite nervous to perform
in front of a huge audience, and singing with a live band for the first
time. During a 2009 interview with Rolling Stone, interviewer Austin
Scaggs asked Madonna regarding her feelings and emotions during the
tour, since it was the first time she was playing in arenas. Madonna
replied saying,
"That whole tour was crazy, because I went from playing CBGB and the
Mudd Club to playing sporting arenas. I played a small theater in
Seattle, and the girls had flap skirts on and the tights cut off below
their knees and lace gloves and rosaries and bows in their hair and big
hoop earrings. I was like, 'This is insane!' After Seattle, all of the
shows were moved to arenas. I've never done a bus tour. Everyone says
they are really fun."
Recordings
The 1985 Madonna Live: The Virgin Tour VHS documents a Detroit,
Michigan stop on the tour. "Angel", "Borderline" and "Burning Up" were
part of the tour set list but were not included on the official VHS
release. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of
America (RIAA) for shipment of 50,000 copies and received a "Video
Software Dealers Award" for the Most Popular Music Video in September
1986. The video received mixed reviews from critics. Annie Temple from
Philadelphia Daily News said that the release was "not so flattering"
and "was a sloppy job". Dennis Hunt from the Los Angeles Times said that
"the video is sometimes distracting and blurry, wonder what went wrong
during recording. The angles are awkward, especially when the audience
members are shown touching Madonna's hand. Was it really necessary to
show a fan coming unannounced on the stage?" Terry Atkinson from the
same paper said, "This follows the typical concert video format of
putting you in the best seat in the hall and letting the aura of a
superior performer encaptivate your senses." Joe Logan and Gail Shister
from The Wichita Eagle said that "seeing Madonna live in an arena and
seeing her up, close and personal in the tour cassette is totally
different. The energy, the movements, the provocation—all captures you
more." The release debuted at 14 on Billboard's Top Music Videocassettes
chart, on December 7, 1985, and reached a peak of 11, the next week.
The video started a slow climb on the chart, and on the issue dated
January 18, 1986, it reached the top of the chart, replacing Prince
& The Revolution: Live by The Revolution. On May 24, 1986, the video
again climbed back in the top ten of the chart, at position two. It was
present on the chart for a total of 65 weeks. Live – The Virgin Tour
was the top selling music videocassette for 1986. The video was
certified two-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of
America (RIAA) for shipment of 50,000 copies and received a "Video
Software Dealers Award" for the Most Popular Music Video, in September
1986.
Opening acts:
Beastie Boys
Run–D.M.C.(select venues)
Set list:
1. Dress You Up
2. Holiday
3. Into the Groove
4. Everybody
5. Angel
6. Gambler
7. Borderline
8. Lucky Star
9. Crazy for You
10. Over and Over
11. Burning Up
12. Like a Virgin (contains excerpts from Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean")
13. Material Girl
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