The Virgin Tour 25th Anniversary
Today is the 25th anniversary of the opening night of Madonna's The Virgin Tour. On April 10 1985 Madonna played the first show of the tour at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle.

setlist:

"Dress You Up"
"Holiday"
"Into the Groove"
"Everybody"
"Angel"
"Gambler"
"Borderline"
"Lucky Star"
"Crazy for You"
"Over and Over"
"Burning Up"
"Like a Virgin"
"Material Girl"

from Wikipedia:

About the tour
Madonna's first concert tour was strictly one for the United States and Canada; it did not cross over to Europe, Asia or other continents. After a series of track dates in 1983-1984 in New York City and parts of Europe and Asia to promote her debut album Madonna, early on there were plans to schedule dates in England and Japan due to Madonna's large fan base in both countries, however the final schedule did not reflect the idea. Madonna later toured these countries during her 1987 Who's That Girl World Tour. In the end several more U.S. dates were added and moved to larger concert venues due to overwhelmingly strong ticket sales. Madonna notably performed every date on the tour with no cancellations.

In San Francisco, tour shirts were selling at a clocked rate of one every six seconds. All 17,672 tickets for Madonna's show at New York City's prestigious Radio City Music Hall were completely sold out in a record-breaking 34 minutes. The same happened for the rest of the shows as most other shows were sold out in almost the same record-breaking time.

Madonna performed her concerts with the enthusiasm of a new kid on the block, excitedly proposing to her audiences "Will you marry me?" and seducing them with her energy and a series of club, radio and video hits like "Gambler" and "Burning Up". The look was pure Boy Toy, with costume changes including colorful New Wave jackets for "Holiday" (she looked like "Susan", the title character she portrayed in her film debut Desperately Seeking Susan) and white wedding gowns similar to the one worn in her "Like A Virgin" music video. In an obvious reference to her Detroit roots, Motown influence, and same-aged pop superstar rival, Michael Jackson, Madonna even sung a verse of "Billie Jean" during "Like A Virgin". After her concert tour, Madonna performed "Holiday", "Into The Groove" and "Love Makes The World Go Round" at the historic African famine benefit concert Live Aid in Philadelphia.

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."

Personnel
Vocals: Madonna
Set Designer: Ian Knight
Choreographed / Staged by: Brad Jeffries
Keyboards: Patrick Leonard and Billy Meyers
Drums: Jonathan P. Moffet
Bass: Bill Lanphier
Guitars: James Harrah and Paul Pesco
Dancers: Michael Perea and Lyndon B. Johnson
Personal Management: Freddy DeMann for Weisner-DeMann Entertainment
Show Mix: Dave Kob
Music Produced by: Madonna and Patrick Leonard

I still own the VHS!!! used to watch it all the time when I was like 12.

I've only seen clips of "The Virgin Tour" on the internet and i've been looking for a DVD of it for like years, but i've never been able to find one. I was only able to find it on VHS. From what i've seen of the tour though, I thought it was pretty good. Madonna had a lot of energy and seemed very happy. Her energy on stage was just infectious. Then again, why wouldn't she be happy, she was on top of the world then basically.

I have to say that It made me laugh to see all those young girls in the audience dressed like her. I don't remember Madonna in the 80's 'cause I was was younger then and was never really exposed to her or her music , but seeing those clip made me realize what a big deal she was when she first came out. Of course I knew she was a huge star then, but reading about it and seeing it are two different things.

Either way, that tour is a lot of fun to watch. I would love to own a copy.

The Beastie Boys were the opening act on this tour

was that something to celebrate?

just kidding - gotta love 'angel' and 'burning up'

Yum yum....Madonna looked fantastic during that era. And the music was pretty good too. I would have loved to have seen her on that tour.

mancabdriver said:

Not the best singer, and a bit clumsy, but so much presence and energy. The great music didn't hurt!

I really like it on VHS, the one they pull the "Dress You Up" video from.

That shit never made it to DVD, huh?

Cinnie said:

Broadcasts and recordings

Main article: Live - The Virgin Tour
The 1985 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. In addition, bootleg video of the Dallas and New York dates have surfaced over the years, primarily on the internet.

The complete audio from a Los Angeles date was professionally recorded directly off the soundboard and soon leaked as a bootleg LP in the United States. It has been speculated that this recording was originally meant to be an official live album for The Virgin Tour that never materialized. As of April 11, 2010, there has been no official DVD release for this concert tour.

Later, a Laserdisc version of the Virgin Tour was released, then many fans copied it and transferred into DVDs to resell them on eBay.

RKJCNE said:

That cover look like some bootleg shit though. Was the official VHS even from Boston?

CHIC0 said:

Thanks, Chico. I would totally cop that shit!

Actually makes me want to find a laserdisc machine since no one wants that stuff, I bet second hand laserdiscs aren't that expensive either.

official cover:





this cover is cool though...

Cinnie said:

not sure.

i had the vhs converted to dvd. it's good quality. but definitely would like an official HQ dvd.

It's too bad the whole Virgin Tour show was never released. "Angel", "Borderline" and "Burning Up" were on the set list, yet weren't included on any released format.

However, clips from Dallas of all three of these songs have leaked onto the Internet.

I would like a copy of this full tour!

Madonna performing MJ's "Billie Jean" on the Virgin Tour!

SoulAlive said:

Madonna always tried to change up "Like A Virgin". She used "Billie Jean" as the bridge on the Virgin Tour.
On the Who's That Girl? tour, she used "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" as the bridge.
On the Blond Ambition Tour she went middle eastern with the whole thing.
On the Girlie Show Tour, she made it a Greta Garbo inspired tune.
She didn't tour again for quite a while, and dropped it from her shows until the Confessions Tour, where it was pretty much the regular version arrangement, but updated to be a bit more dance oriented (which also reflected the album's feel itself).

ernestsewell said:

Yeah,she loves to re-invent her old songs.I like the "Girlie Show" version of LAV..that was hilarious!

SoulAlive said:

I never really viewed it as a funny moment other than the schtick with the walking stick. I got the whole show though, how (like the Blond Ambition Tour) it was divided into sections. "Like A Virgin" kicks off the Vaudeville section of the show. I think the show suffered from some pacing problems, and it happened during "In This Life", "The Beast Within", "Like A Virgin". It was a weird 15-20 minutes, very slow, not a lot for the audience to connect with (especially with the latter two of the three songs).

It's still one of my favorite tours of hers.

SoulAlive said:

I would love to travel back in time for that one

Cinnie said:

ALL SEATS $15

CHIC0 said:

I'll grab you a tour shirt while I'm back in time Chico

Cinnie said:

funny enough...i have one and it's in perfect condition. but i'll take another!!

CHIC0 said:

you need a beastie boys one

Cinnie said:

Yeah,that show seems like your type of show Totally 80s,huh?