Search - Madonna - The Girlie Show (Live Down Under) on DVD

Outstanding Performance

S. Foster | Moira, Co Armagh United Kingdom | 01/01/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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"

Sexy and extravagant.

H. R. Trigg | Swindon, Wilts United Kingdom | 03/18/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Madonna is well known for her fantastic and extravagant stage shows, and this tour was no exception.Filmed in Australia in 1993, this was Madonna's last world tour for 8 years (until the Drowned World Tour) and followed her stunning and adventurous Erotica album.Highlights of this show include the start: a topless dancer climbs seductively down a large go-go pole, and as she disappears into the stage, Madonna appears in sparkly hotpants, top and s&m mask, brandishing a whip as she turns seductively and in time to the sexy single, Erotica. Its a truly stunning and exciting entrance...She moves through a range of hits, 'Fever', 'Vogue', 'Rain' and in Express Yourself, she appears from the top of the stage on a large disco ball, complete with purple afro, set to a fantastic and energised 70's remix of the song.More hits follow, 'Deeper And Deeper', 'Why's It So Hard', 'In This Life', 'The Beast Within', until she appears dressed in a mans suit, for the Marlene Dietrich inspired Like A 'W'irgin (yes, I spelt it right).'Bye Bye Baby', 'I'm Going Bananas' follow, and then a fantastic flamenco dance sequence for La Isla Bonita, followed by tour classic, Holiday (she alters this for every tour).Justify My Love is extraordinary, as Madonna enters the stage in an amazing outfit (she appears to be 15 foot tall!), inspired by the horse racing scene from My Fair Lady, a truely surreal moment in the concert, with the song turning very 60's towards the end!She finishes with Everybody / Everybody is a Star, and leaves you wanting more more more...This is an exciting, sexy show, and even in the humourous moments (I'm Going Bananas) thoroughly enjoyable. It makes me wish I could live it all again! (oh...I can...I have the dvd! ha ha)(No DVD extras)"

Very Elaborate Concert Captured on DVD

TT | Chicago, IL | 09/03/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Though I've never been to a live Madonna concert, watching this DVD has made me recognize all the preparation, costumes, coreography, etc. that go into her Girlie "Super" Show. Virtually every song requires a new costume change. The dancing is tight. She performs a rather peculiar rendition of "Like a Virgin", a fun retro version of "Express Yourself", her classic and stylish "Vogue", and other 80's to early 90's Madonna-fan favorites--basically up to her Erotica album.The sound quality is probably better than being at the show, since you can actually hear her and the band perform over the screaming crowd. With a combination of camera cranes and Steadicam shots, you get a great on-stage perspective of her show. Madonna fans should not be disappointed with this DVD at all. In fact, you can crank up the volume on your surround-sound home theatre system and lose yourself in the great video and audio presentation of her show."

A Tremendous Sensory Experience

katfish8 | 11/18/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I only wish now that I had seen one of Madonna's concerts in person, but I doubt that I would have been able to get close enough to REALLY see her in all her glory as in this DVD. Even with the shortest of hair, Madonna is still visually stunning with all the EROTICA songs acted out by her and her dancers. I am TOTALLY mesmerized each and every time MADONNA is on stage and the choreography is mind-boggling! Madonna never gives anything but 100% and this DVD will knock your socks off! LOVE YA, MADONNA!"