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156-830: The Blond Ambition World Tour (billed as Blond Ambition World Tour 90 ) was the third concert tour by American singer Madonna . It supported her fourth studio album Like a Prayer (1989), and the soundtrack album to the 1990 film Dick Tracy , I'm Breathless . The 57-show tour began on April 13, 1990, at the Chiba Marine Stadium in Chiba , Japan, and concluded on August 5 at the Stade Charles-Ehrmann in Nice , France. Additionally, it marked Madonna's first concerts in Sweden and Spain. Originally planned as

312-545: A US$ 5 million deal with Madonna to feature her and her then upcoming single " Like a Prayer " in a television commercial. The deal also included Pepsi sponsorship of Madonna's next concert tour , announced at the time as the Like a Prayer World Tour. Madonna wanted to use the commercial to launch the song globally before its actual release — the first time this had been done in the music industry. Pepsi also benefited from having their product associated with Madonna. Titled "Make

468-546: A natural gas processing plant. In 1999, the city council of Charleston, South Carolina , passed a resolution declaring the Klan a terrorist organization. The existence of modern Klan groups has been in a state of consistent decline, due to a variety of factors: from the American public's negative distaste of the group's image, platform, and history, infiltration and prosecution by law enforcement, civil lawsuit forfeitures, and

624-416: A "flashy, high-energy Broadway production". In his review of the show on May 7, 1990, at Dallas ' Reunion Arena , Tom Maurstad felt that, "it wasn't so much a concert as it was a musical extravaganza, with each song functioning more as its own production"; however, he criticized the singer for mixing up Dallas with Houston when addressing the crowd. Peter Buckley, author of The Rough Guide to Rock , praised

780-556: A 1933 interview, William Sellers, born enslaved in Virginia, recalled the post-war "raids of the Ku Klux, young white men of Rockingham County who would go into the huts of the recently freed negroes or catch some negro who had been working for thirty cents a day on his way home from work...and cruelly whip him, leaving him to live or die." Seemingly random whipping attacks, meant to be suggestive of previous condition of servitude, were

936-498: A Nation , which mythologized the founding of the first Klan, it employed marketing techniques and a popular fraternal organization structure . Rooted in local Protestant communities, it sought to maintain white supremacy , often took a pro- Prohibition stance, and it opposed Jews , while also stressing its opposition to the alleged political power of the pope and the Catholic Church . This second Klan flourished both in

1092-476: A Time that, "[Blond Ambition] forever changed audience expectations for pop concerts. Even if you didn't go, you're probably familiar with that tour". Co-director/Choreographer Vincent Paterson recalled that Madonna's goal was to "break every rule we can. She wanted to make statements about sexuality , cross-sexuality and the church. And she did". Dancer Luis Camacho said that Madonna "set the stage" for concerts and shows that followed. Scott Anderson concluded that

1248-412: A Virgin ". Madonna was decked out in the gold Gaultier corset and simulated masturbating on top of a red velvet bed. She was flanked by two male dancers wearing tights and gold pointy bras. For "Like a Prayer", Madonna wore a black robe and knelt down in the middle of the stage, which was surrounded by votive candles , while her dancers, who were dressed like priests and nuns, gyrated around her and uttered

1404-442: A Wish", the commercial had its premiere during the global telecast of the 31st Grammy Awards on February 22, 1989, with an estimated 250 million people around the world viewing it. The following day, Madonna released the music video for "Like a Prayer" on MTV . Featuring a church and Catholic images such as stigmata , Ku Klux Klan -style cross burning and the singer kissing a black saint. Religious groups worldwide, including

1560-462: A better time". However, Madonna was nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Actress for her role in the film. It was released on video by LIVE Entertainment on October 9, 1991. The 2016 documentary Strike a Pose chronicled the life of six of the dancers after the tour finished. Blond Ambition has been noted for its theatricality and fashion, something uncommon for concerts at the time. Drew Mackie from People , said that, "Blond Ambition changed

1716-428: A cage vest, skintight shorts, knee-pads and bowler hat. She started singing "Family Affair", then midway through the song switched back to "Keep It Together". During the mid-section of the song, her and the dancers performed a choreography with the chairs. At the end, all the musicians, dancers and collaborators came to say goodbye to Madonna and disappeared into a hole on the stage. The singer was left alone to finish with

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1872-536: A chance to participate in the process. Hundreds of Klan members were fined or imprisoned during the crackdown, "once the national government became set upon a policy of military intervention whole populations which had scouted the authority of the weak 'Radical' government of the State became meek." Klan leader Nathan Bedford Forrest boasted that the Klan was a nationwide organization of 550,000 men and that he could muster 40,000 Klansmen within five days' notice. However,

2028-477: A choreographed routine with a chair while a muscular dancer watched her from afar. For " Causing a Commotion " the singer wore a colorful cycling jacket and wrestled Haris and De Lory. The final song of the act was "Where's the Party". Three male dancers did an elaborate choreography while Madonna left the stage for a costume change. The Religious section began with a slow and sultry sitar -based version of " Like

2184-418: A concert tour to celebrate the anniversary of their past albums, such as U2 's 2017 tour to mark the 30th anniversary of The Joshua Tree (1987) and Janet Jackson 's 2019 tour to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989). A farewell tour is a concert tour intended to signal the retirement of a singer, the disbanding of a band, or the end of a show's run. Many of

2340-706: A congressional committee which took testimony from 52 witnesses about Klan atrocities, accumulating 12 volumes. In February, former Union general and congressman Benjamin Butler of Massachusetts introduced the Civil Rights Act of 1871 (Ku Klux Klan Act). This added to the enmity that Southern white Democrats bore toward him. While the bill was being considered, further violence in the South swung support for its passage. The governor of South Carolina appealed for federal troops to assist his efforts in keeping control of

2496-690: A detailed recounting of Klansmen's beatings and murders of freedmen and their white allies. Milder encounters, including some against white teachers, also occurred. In Mississippi , according to the Congressional inquiry: One of these teachers (Miss Allen of Illinois), whose school was at Cotton Gin Port in Monroe County , was visited ... between one and two o'clock in the morning in March 1871, by about fifty men mounted and disguised. Each man wore

2652-571: A few freedmen and white Republicans who allied with Democratic whites or had criminal agendas of their own. Indeed, all they had in common, besides being overwhelmingly white, southern, and Democratic , was that they called themselves, or were called, Klansmen. Historian Eric Foner observed: "In effect, the Klan was a military force serving the interests of the Democratic party, the planter class , and all those who desired restoration of white supremacy. Its purposes were political, but political in

2808-498: A few weeks prior to the Presidential election of November 1868. Although St. Landry Parish had a registered Republican majority of 1,071, after the murders, no Republicans voted in the fall elections. White Democrats cast the full vote of the parish for President Grant's opponent. The KKK killed and wounded more than 200 Black Republicans, hunting and chasing them through the woods. Thirteen captives were taken from jail and shot;

2964-406: A flight of stairs in the middle. At the end of this section ends, the curtain drops to the floor and gives way to the second one, where the stage became a boudoir and featured the singer on a red velvet bed. The third section, which was church-themed, had a large arc of Corinthian columns and votive candles. Halfway through one of the performances, a large scrim depicting a stained glass window

3120-534: A flight of stairs. She was dressed in a pin-striped suit with holes cut in it, so that her brassiere poked out of them. Underneath she wore the Gaultier conical corset. Accompanied by Niki Haris and Donna De Lory , her two backup singers and dancers, Madonna did a straightforward vocal rendition of the track, and an elaborate choreography, which included voguing , humping and simulated masturbation . The next number, " Open Your Heart ", featured Madonna performing

3276-440: A formal and decisive disbandment". A Georgia-based reporter wrote in 1870: "A true statement of the case is not that the Ku Klux are an organized band of licensed criminals, but that men who commit crimes call themselves Ku Klux". In many states, officials were reluctant to use Black militia against the Klan out of fear that racial tensions would be raised. Republican governor of North Carolina William Woods Holden called out

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3432-845: A half-buried pile of 25 bodies was found in the woods. The KKK made people vote Democratic and gave them certificates of the fact. In the April 1868 Georgia gubernatorial election, Columbia County cast 1,222 votes for Republican Rufus Bullock . By the November presidential election , Klan intimidation led to suppression of the Republican vote and only one person voted for Ulysses S. Grant . Klansmen killed more than 150 African Americans in Jackson County, Florida , and hundreds more in other counties including Madison, Alachua, Columbia, and Hamilton. Florida Freedmen's Bureau records provided

3588-440: A hands-free radio-frequency headset microphones , with the headset fastened over the ears or the top of the head, and the microphone capsule on a boom arm that extended to the mouth. Because of her prominent usage, the microphone design came to be known as the "Madonna mic". Other personnel included Jai Winding as the music director, John Draper as the tour's manager and Chris Lamb as the production manager . Rehearsals took place at

3744-530: A high school drop-out prevention program. Madonna was named the second most successful solo touring act of the time, behind only Michael Jackson . The tour was subject to controversy due to its sexual and Catholic imagery. In Italy, a private association of Roman Catholics called for a boycott of the shows in Rome and Turin ; Pope John Paul II urged the general public and the Christian community not to attend

3900-404: A live show". It is now considered one of Madonna's most iconic looks. The look was then referenced by actress Stephanie Faracy in the 1993 film Hocus Pocus . On the fifth episode of the second season of American television series Pose , "What Would Candy Do?", the characters Damon ( Ryan Jamaal Swain ) and Ricky ( Dyllón Burnside ) audition to be back-up dancers for the tour. While discussing

4056-478: A long black robe. For the energetic " Hanky Panky ", she was joined by Haris, De Lory and a dancer dressed as Dick Tracy . At the end of the performance, she would tell the audience: "You all know the pleasures of a good spanking, don't you? [...] When I hurt people, I feel better, you know what I mean?". "Now I'm Following You" closed the act; Madonna danced with the Dick Tracy dancer to a pre-recorded version of

4212-402: A long white robe and his face was covered by a loose mask with scarlet stripes. She was ordered to get up and dress which she did at once and then admitted to her room the captain and lieutenant who in addition to the usual disguise had long horns on their heads and a sort of device in front. The lieutenant had a pistol in his hand and he and the captain sat down while eight or ten men stood inside

4368-449: A lot of costs, time, and energy. It is very common for musicians to not see family members for over a year during their touring. British singer Adele expressed her unhappiness of concert tours, saying "Touring is a peculiar thing, it doesn't suit me particularly well. I'm a real homebody and I get so much joy in the small things." A concert residency concept is offered as an alternative to performers who just need to stay in one venue and

4524-419: A major fashion moment" when she performed on tour wearing the corset. For Harold Koda , the singer's use of the corset, an undergarment, as outerwear suggested that "an explicit control of one's image might transform, or at least destabilize, the patriarchal relationships of voyeuristic male and sexually objectified female". For Adam Geczy and Vicki Karaminas , the conical corset over a male suit represented both

4680-458: A modern business system of using full-time, paid recruiters and it appealed to new members as a fraternal organization, of which many examples were flourishing at the time. The national headquarters made its profit through a monopoly on costume sales, while the organizers were paid through initiation fees. It grew rapidly nationwide at a time of prosperity. Reflecting the social tensions pitting urban versus rural America, it spread to every state and

4836-451: A pop star in control. Hess concluded that its most lasting influence is that it allowed female pop performers "to channel their sexuality through the outfits they choose to wear without shame, and on their own terms". The synthetic ponytail the singer wore during the Asian and American legs became a fashion trend among the youth, with People magazine reporting that many fans were showing up at

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4992-508: A repeat of her line "Keep people together forever and ever". The tour received generally positive reviews from critics. In his book Madonna: An Intimate Biography , J. Randy Taraborrelli wrote that, "brazenly sexual dance numbers and religious imagery commingled in a fast-paced, tightly choreographed unforgettable extravaganza ". Similar thoughts were shared by Rolling Stone ' s Barry Waters. The Los Angeles Times said it highlighted "just how deep Madonna's repertoire has become over

5148-447: A special on HBO ; afterwards it was released exclusively on LaserDisc under the title Blond Ambition World Tour Live . Directed by Alek Keshishian , Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991) was a documentary film chronicling the tour. Blond Ambition has been noted by critics and authors for its theatricality and fashion, which have left its mark on the work of subsequent pop acts. In January 1989, Pepsi-Cola announced that they had signed

5304-483: A success in terms of "restoring order, reinvigorating the morale of Southern Republicans, and enabling Blacks to exercise their rights as citizens". Historian George C. Rable argues that the Klan was a political failure and therefore was discarded by the Democratic Party leaders of the South. He says: The Klan declined in strength in part because of internal weaknesses; its lack of central organization and

5460-509: A video camera'". The tour has also influenced the fashion world. In her book Fashion Details: 1,000 Ideas from Neckline to Waistline, Pockets to Pleats , Macarena San Martin called the Gaultier conical corset "an emblematic symbol of fashion in the early 90s ". Billboard ' s Gregory DelliCarpini Jr. stated that the corset "redefined the female silhouette and moved many designers to add some edge to their undergarments". Entertainment Weekly ' s Nina Terrero said that Madonna "birthed

5616-569: A widespread aspect of the early Klan; for example in 1870–71 in Limestone Township (now Cherokee County ), South Carolina, of 77 documented attacks, "four were shot, sixty-seven whipped and six had had their ears cropped ." Klan members adopted masks and robes that hid their identities and added to the drama of their night rides, their chosen time for attacks. Many of them operated in small towns and rural areas where people otherwise knew each other's faces, and sometimes still recognized

5772-519: Is a nod to the conical bra corset of the Blond Ambition tour but reinterpreted in 3-D, in patent leather on the outside with metallic leather on the inside. It's all about masculine and feminine", the designer recalled. While reviewing the tour on its 30th anniversary, Liam Hess from Vogue wrote that the conical corset "is so embedded within the canon of both pop music and fashion that it now requires little introduction", and that it represented

5928-435: Is how to move the performance's logistics from one venue to another venue, especially for a transcontinental tour. Tour logistics should be very organized and everything has to happen on time and in the right order as planned. Autoweek magazine estimated 30 to 50 trucks were required by Taylor Swift 's The 1989 World Tour to bring all the stage, sound equipment, instruments, props, and clothes. When Beyoncé visited

6084-480: The Blond Ambition World Tour 90 program. Concert tour Different segments of longer concert tours are known as "legs". The different legs of a tour are denoted in different ways, dependent on the artist and type of tour, but the most common means of separating legs are dates (especially if there is a long break at some point), countries and/or continents, or different opening acts. In

6240-904: The Civil War , during the Reconstruction of the South. The group was known for a short time as the "Kuklux Clan". The Ku Klux Klan was one of a number of secret, oath-bound organizations using violence, which included the Southern Cross in New Orleans (1865) and the Knights of the White Camelia (1867) in Louisiana . Historians generally classify the KKK as part of the post-Civil War insurgent violence related not only to

6396-512: The Confederate army : Frank McCord, Richard Reed, John Lester, John Kennedy, J. Calvin Jones, and James Crowe. It started as a fraternal social club inspired at least in part by the then largely defunct Sons of Malta . It borrowed parts of the initiation ceremony from that group, with the same purpose: "ludicrous initiations, the baffling of public curiosity, and the amusement for members were

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6552-705: The Dick Tracy act, calling it "the least dynamic part of the show". Blond Ambition won the award for Most Creative Stage Production at the 1990 Pollstar Concert Industry Awards, and was also nominated in the Major Tour of the Year category. The tour was attended by 800,000 people around the world, with initial reports of a US$ 19 million gross. The first three concerts at Japan's Chiba Marine Stadium were attended by 35,000 people each, grossing US$ 4.5 million. All her Japanese concerts had sold out within days of

6708-539: The Holy See , immediately protested against, what they saw as, blasphemous use of Christian imagery and called for a boycott of Pepsi and PepsiCo's subsidiaries. As a result, Pepsi withdrew the commercial and canceled Madonna's sponsorship contract. Sire Records officially announced the Blond Ambition World Tour on November 16, 1989; Madonna's performance of the single " Express Yourself " at

6864-510: The KKK or the Klan , is the name of an American white supremacist , far-right terrorist organization and hate group . Various historians, including Fergus Bordewich , have characterized the Klan as America's first terrorist group. There have been three distinct iterations with various targets relative to time and place, including African Americans , Jews , and Catholics . Each iteration of

7020-684: The MTV Video Music Awards was deemed a "preview". She described the tour as "much more theatrical than anything I've ever done [...] I know that I'm not the best singer and I know that I'm not the best dancer. But, I can fucking push people's buttons and be as provocative as I want. This tour's goal is to break useless taboos". The tour promoted Madonna's fourth album Like a Prayer and the Dick Tracy soundtrack I'm Breathless . According to author J. Randy Taraborrelli , Madonna had "complete control over virtually every aspect of

7176-612: The Prescript , which espoused white supremacist belief. For instance, an applicant should be asked if he was in favor of "a white man's government", "the reenfranchisement and emancipation of the white men of the South, and the restitution of the Southern people to all their rights". The latter is a reference to the Ironclad Oath , which stripped the vote from white persons who refused to swear that they had not borne arms against

7332-769: The Red Shirts , which started in Mississippi and developed chapters in the Carolinas. For instance, the Red Shirts are credited with helping elect Wade Hampton as governor in South Carolina. They were described as acting as the military arm of the Democratic Party and are attributed with helping white Democrats regain control of state legislatures throughout the South. In 1915, the second Klan

7488-633: The Walt Disney Studios in Burbank , California. When Madonna first called me in 1989, it was two days before my ready-to-wear show, and I thought my assistant was joking. I was a big fan. She asked me if I would do the tour. She knew what she wanted – a pinstripe suit, the feminine corsetry. Madonna likes my clothes because they combine the masculine and the feminine. It was, that no, that yes, no, yes, no. —Designer Jean Paul Gaultier , for The New York Times , talking about working with

7644-610: The Yokohama dates was also recorded and released exclusively in Japan under the title Blond Ambition – Japan Tour 90 . In addition to these releases, Spanish broadcaster TVE recorded the concert in Barcelona and aired it in 30 countries. L’Osservatore Romano felt the broadcast was a violation of "good sense, good taste and decency". In England, BBC Radio 1 broadcast the full show from Wembley Stadium , which led to controversy over

7800-611: The pop-culture landscape". The fact that the show was divided into different thematic acts represented, according to the author, "not only a level of creative planning unusual for concerts at the time but also the sheer volume of material Madonna had to work with". Lucy O'Brien noted that the singer had previously explored "conceptual musical theatre as concert" on 1987's Who's That Girl World Tour , but it wasn't until Blond Ambition that "art, spectacle and dance really came together". Courtney E. Smith wrote in her book Record Collecting for Girls: Unleashing Your Inner Music Nerd, One Album at

7956-470: The profanity Madonna used live on air. The documentary film which chronicled the tour, Madonna: Truth or Dare (known as In Bed with Madonna outside of North America), was directed by Alek Keshishian and released in theaters on May 10, 1991, grossing over US$ 15 million. The singer approached Keshishian about doing an HBO special on her and the tour; the director, who found the backstage scene to be "a Fellini -esque dysfunctional family", persuaded

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8112-577: The "Most Creative Stage Production" award at the Pollstar Concert Industry Awards and grossed over US$ 62.7 million ($ 146.23 million in 2023 dollars). Madonna was named the second most successful solo touring act at the time, behind Michael Jackson . The tour generated controversy due to its use of Catholic imagery and sexual content. Pope John Paul II urged the general public and the Christian community not to attend

8268-503: The "sexy" chatter. Greg Kot from the Chicago Tribune felt that, "though the music certainly offered a few shake-your-booty thrills, it was Madonna the performer, dancer, rogue philosopher and smart-mouthed comic who made the evening memorable". He praised the singer's stage presence and pointed out the performance of "Like a Virgin" for being "both seductive and hilarious". Kot concluded his review: "nothing about this production

8424-779: The 1940s. Klan organizers also operated in Canada , especially in Saskatchewan in 1926–1928, where Klansmen denounced immigrants from Eastern Europe as a threat to Canada's "Anglo-Saxon" heritage. The "Ku Klux Klan" name was used by numerous independent local groups opposing the civil rights movement and desegregation , especially in the 1950s and 1960s. During this period, they often forged alliances with Southern police departments, as in Birmingham, Alabama ; or with governor's offices, as with George Wallace of Alabama . Several members of Klan groups were convicted of murder in

8580-487: The 2018 European leg of her Joanne World Tour , signed for a Las Vegas residency to help manage her fibromyalgia illness, which can be exacerbated by touring. The 2015 study by charity Help Musicians found that over 60% of musicians suffered from depression or other psychological issues, with touring an issue for 71% of respondents. Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan ( / ˌ k uː k l ʌ k s ˈ k l æ n , ˌ k j uː -/ ), commonly shortened to

8736-496: The 40,000 tickets were sold. The single concert at Gothenburg's Eriksberg Docks attracted 55,000 people, one of the biggest crowds for a concert in Gothenburg at the time. Upon completion, the tour was reported to have grossed a total of US$ 62.7 million ($ 146.23 million in 2023 dollars) from 57 concerts. Billboard reported that a percentage of ticket proceeds would be donated to the charity organization Cities In Schools,

8892-485: The Blond Ambition Tour changed the way artists present and perform in stadiums and arenas. According to Christopher Rosa from VH1 , the tour solidified Madonna's status as a "cultural tour-de-force and groundbreaking pop artist". Gina Vivinetto from The Advocate named it Madonna's best tour and wrote that, "until [Blond Ambition] came along, we had no idea what a live concert could be". Spin deemed it

9048-557: The Blond Ambition Tour is the blueprint – the mother of the modern pop concert. The show infamously found Madonna exorcising herself of the guilt of her Catholic upbringing. The Religious segment, which began with the singer simulating masturbation and ended with her facing the judgment of the male authority figures in her life (her father, the Pope, God), is among the most audaciously conceived and impeccably executed moments of stagecraft in touring history". —Sal Cinquemani commenting on

9204-576: The Klan had no membership rosters, no chapters, and no local officers, so it was difficult for observers to judge its membership. It had created a sensation by the dramatic nature of its masked forays and because of its many murders. In 1870, a federal grand jury determined that the Klan was a " terrorist organization" and issued hundreds of indictments for crimes of violence and terrorism. Klan members were prosecuted, and many fled from areas that were under federal government jurisdiction, particularly in South Carolina. Many people not formally inducted into

9360-454: The Klan had used the Klan's costume to hide their identities when carrying out independent acts of violence. Forrest called for the Klan to disband in 1869, arguing that it was "being perverted from its original honorable and patriotic purposes, becoming injurious instead of subservient to the public peace". Historian Stanley Horn argues that "generally speaking, the Klan's end was more in the form of spotty, slow, and gradual disintegration than

9516-467: The Klan has an "unknown number of associates and supporters". The name was probably formed by combining the Greek kyklos ( κύκλος , which means circle) with clan . The word had previously been used for other fraternal organizations in the South such as Kuklos Adelphon . Six Confederate veterans from Pulaski, Tennessee , created the original Ku Klux Klan on December 24, 1865, shortly after

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9672-432: The Klan is defined by non-overlapping time periods, comprising local chapters with little or no central direction. Each has advocated reactionary positions such as white nationalism , anti-immigration and—especially in later iterations— Nordicism , antisemitism , anti-Catholicism , right-wing populism , anti-communism , homophobia , anti-atheism , and Islamophobia . The first Klan, founded by Confederate veterans in

9828-571: The Ku Klux Klan , on which the film was based. When the film was shown in Atlanta in December of that year, Simmons and his new klansmen paraded to the theater in robes and pointed hoods – many on robed horses – just like in the film. These mass parades became another hallmark of the new Klan that had not existed in the original Reconstruction-era organization. Beginning in 1921, it adopted

9984-444: The Like a Prayer World Tour, it was supposed to be sponsored by soft drink manufacturer Pepsi . However, the company cancelled the contract following the controversy surrounding the music video of " Like a Prayer ". The concert was divided into five thematic acts: Metropolis , inspired by the 1927 German Expressionist film of the same name and the " Express Yourself " music video; Religious , by Catholic themes ; Dick Tracy , by

10140-618: The Republican Party because they were being hoodwinked by the Loyal Leagues. One Alabama newspaper editor declared "The League is nothing more than a nigger Ku Klux Klan." Despite Gordon's and Forrest's work, local Klan units never accepted the Prescript and continued to operate autonomously. There were never hierarchical levels or state headquarters. Klan members used violence to settle old personal feuds and local grudges, as they worked to restore general white dominance in

10296-584: The South that adopted similar goals. Klan chapters promoted white supremacy and spread throughout the South as an insurgent movement in resistance to Reconstruction. Confederate veteran John W. Morton founded a KKK chapter in Nashville, Tennessee . As a secret vigilante group, the Klan targeted freedmen and their allies; it sought to restore white supremacy by threats and violence, including murder. "They targeted white Northern leaders, Southern sympathizers and politically active Blacks." In 1870 and 1871,

10452-615: The Southern Poverty Law Center puts it at 6,000 members total. The second and third incarnations of the Ku Klux Klan made frequent references to a false mythologized perception of America's " Anglo-Saxon " blood, hearkening back to 19th-century nativism . Although members of the KKK swear to uphold Christian morality , Christian denominations widely denounce them. The first Klan was founded in Pulaski, Tennessee , on December 24, 1865, by six former officers of

10608-523: The Spheres World Tour became the second tour to gross $ 1 billion in revenue. In third place is Elton John 's Farewell Yellow Brick Road , with a total gross of $ 939 million from 2018–2023. On fourth place is Ed Sheeran 's ÷ Tour , with a gross of $ 776.2 million. On fifth place is U2 's 360° Tour , with $ 736.4 million. Global touring revenue reported to Billboard Boxscore exceeded $ 5.5 billion in 2016. Due to

10764-585: The Union. Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest was elected the first grand wizard , and claimed to be the Klan's national leader. In an 1868 newspaper interview, Forrest stated that the Klan's primary opposition was to the Loyal Leagues , Republican state governments, people such as Tennessee governor William Gannaway Brownlow , and other " carpetbaggers " and " scalawags ". He argued that many Southerners believed that Black people were voting for

10920-508: The United Kingdom with her 2016 The Formation World Tour , it took seven Boeing 747 air freighters and a fleet of more than 70 trucks to get her stage set and other gear to the venues. The logistics phase of that tour did not include transportation of the backstage staff, musicians, performers, and the singer herself. The majority of concert tours are part of a promotional campaign to support an album release. Hence, new songs from

11076-427: The actors' expressions up close, filmmakers working on James Cameron 's Avatar (2009) had them wear black headsets with small square cameras positioned in front of their mouths ―similar to the microphones used by Madonna on the tour; producer Jon Landau explained that, "if [Madonna] can be bouncing around with a microphone in her face and give a great performance [...] we thought, 'Let’s replace that microphone with

11232-555: The attackers by voice and mannerisms. "The kind of thing that men are afraid or ashamed to do openly, and by day, they accomplish secretly, masked, and at night." The KKK night riders "sometimes claimed to be ghosts of Confederate soldiers so, as they claimed, to frighten superstitious Blacks. Few freedmen took such nonsense seriously." The Klan attacked Black members of the Loyal Leagues and intimidated Southern Republicans and Freedmen's Bureau workers. When they killed Black political leaders, they also took heads of families, along with

11388-399: The breasts and the phallus . They concluded that "in the interval of a decade, she transmogrified from virgin to dominatrix to Übermensch [...] Until then, only Bowie had multi-morphed; Madonna was the first woman to do so". Rebecca Dana from The Daily Beast stated that the corset's "genius" lied in its subversion of traditional femininity: "Soft becomes hard; curvy becomes phallic;

11544-554: The broadest sense, for it sought to affect power relations, both public and private, throughout Southern society. It aimed to reverse the interlocking changes sweeping over the South during Reconstruction: to destroy the Republican party's infrastructure, undermine the Reconstruction state, reestablish control of the Black labor force, and restore racial subordination in every aspect of Southern life. To that end they worked to curb

11700-803: The civil rights provisions for individuals under the constitution. The Klan refused to voluntarily dissolve after the 1871 Klan Act, so President Grant issued a suspension of habeas corpus and stationed federal troops in nine South Carolina counties by invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807 . The Klansmen were apprehended and prosecuted in federal court. Judges Hugh Lennox Bond and George S. Bryan presided over South Carolina Ku Klux Klan Trials in Columbia, S.C., during December 1871. The defendants were given from three months to five years of incarceration with fines. More Black people served on juries in federal court than on local or state juries, so they had

11856-534: The collapse of record sales in the 21st century, concert tours have become a major source of income for recording artists. Besides the tickets, touring also generates money from the sales of merchandise and meet-and-greet packages. However, the touring business suffered in the early 2020s because of the COVID-19 pandemic . Pollstar estimated the total lost revenue for the industry in 2020 at more than $ 30 billion. The mobility of concert tours requires

12012-403: The concert by asking the crowd "do you believe in artistic expression and freedom of speech?", and later issued a statement saying she was willing to be arrested to protect her freedom to "express myself as an artist". Frank Bergen, a Toronto police officer at the time, recalled that the claims were led by a retired police officer and a crown attorney with a "strong position" against Madonna and

12168-494: The concert, calling it "one of the most satanic shows in the history of humanity". The Vatican 's newspaper L'Osservatore Romano deemed it "sinful, blasphemous" and "a complete disgrace", while the Famiglia Domani , a private association of conservative Catholics, criticized its eroticism and called it "shameful". Madonna held a press conference in Rome's Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport defending herself and

12324-506: The concerts with similar hairdos. One of the performances of the Celebration Tour (2023–2024) sees Madonna "cuddled up" in a red velvet bed with a dancer dressed in a Blond Ambition attire, with "ponytail and everything", as noted by Billboard ' s Joe Lynch. Of the singer's look with the corset and ponytail, Mark Elliott from website UDiscoverMusic expressed that, "no other artist would ever inhabit an image so immortal from

12480-413: The crew received a visit from the local police who threatened to arrest the singer for "lewd and indecent display", specifically the masturbation scene during the performance of "Like a Virgin". However, according to Rolling Stone , no charges were made after the tour's manager gave the police an ultimatum: "Cancel the show, and you'll have to tell 30,000 people why." The show was unaltered and Madonna began

12636-472: The crowd. The next song performed was " Cherish ". It featured Madonna playing the harp and her male dancers dressed up as mermen . Madonna ended the section with " Into the Groove ", performed with leather-clad dancers, and "Vogue". The latter featuring various cutouts of Tamara de Lempicka's paintings as backdrops, with the singer and the dancers wearing black spandex and doing the original choreography from

12792-588: The deaths of civil rights workers in Mississippi in 1964 and of children in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham in 1963. The United States government still considers the Klan to be a "subversive terrorist organization". In April 1997, FBI agents arrested four members of the True Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in Dallas for conspiracy to commit robbery and for conspiring to blow up

12948-493: The disrupted postwar society. The historian Elaine Frantz Parsons describes the membership: Lifting the Klan mask revealed a chaotic multitude of anti-Black vigilante groups, disgruntled poor white farmers, wartime guerrilla bands, displaced Democratic politicians, illegal whiskey distillers, coercive moral reformers, sadists, rapists, white workmen fearful of Black competition, employers trying to enforce labor discipline, common thieves, neighbors with decades-old grudges, and even

13104-531: The door and the porch was full. They treated her "gentlemanly and quietly" but complained of the heavy school-tax, said she must stop teaching and go away and warned her that they never gave a second notice. She heeded the warning and left the county. By 1868, two years after the Klan's creation, its activity was beginning to decrease. Members were hiding behind Klan masks and robes as a way to avoid prosecution for freelance violence. Many influential Southern Democrats feared that Klan lawlessness provided an excuse for

13260-456: The education, economic advancement, voting rights , and right to keep and bear arms of Black people. The Klan soon spread into nearly every Southern state, launching a reign of terror against Republican leaders both Black and white. Those political leaders assassinated during the campaign included Arkansas Congressman James M. Hinds , three members of the South Carolina legislature, and several men who served in constitutional conventions." In

13416-399: The engine of maternity transforms into a weapon—it's a Freudian nightmare". The conical corset has inspired and been recreated by many contemporary artists, including Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Rihanna. In 2001, one of the corsets was sold at an auction for US$ 21,105. The corset was reinvented by Gaultier for Madonna's 2012 MDNA Tour in a cage-like leather style; "what I have done this time

13572-423: The episode, W Magazine's Brooke Marine argued that, "as much as that tour is known for Madonna's famous Jean-Paul Gaultier cone bra, it was her dancers who made the whole spectacle culturally relevant [...] If it weren’t for the queer men of color who danced on the tour, Blond Ambition would not have been as effective or as subversive". Mark Beaumont expressed that the main taboo Madonna broke with Blond Ambition

13728-571: The failure of its leaders to control criminal elements and sadists. More fundamentally, it declined because it failed to achieve its central objective – the overthrow of Republican state governments in the South. After the Klan was suppressed, similar insurgent paramilitary groups arose that were explicitly directed at suppressing Republican voting and turning Republicans out of office: the White League , which started in Louisiana in 1874; and

13884-584: The fans come to see them. The concept has been revitalized in the 21st century by Canadian superstar Céline Dion with the success of her A New Day... residency (2003–2007). Her residency introduced a new form of theatrical entertainment, a fusion of song, performance art, innovative stage craft, and state-of-the-art technology. She managed to popularize the Las Vegas residency as a desirable way for top artists to essentially tour in place, letting their fans come to them. American singer Lady Gaga , who cancelled

14040-520: The federal government passed the Enforcement Acts , which were intended to prosecute and suppress Klan crimes. The first Klan had mixed results in terms of achieving its objectives. It seriously weakened the Black political leadership through its use of assassinations and threats of violence, and it drove some people out of politics. On the other hand, it caused a sharp backlash, with passage of federal laws that historian Eric Foner says were

14196-666: The federal government to retain its power over the South, and they began to turn against it. There were outlandish claims made, such as Georgian B. H. Hill stating "that some of these outrages were actually perpetrated by the political friends of the parties slain." Union Army veterans in mountainous Blount County, Alabama , organized "the anti-Ku Klux". They put an end to violence by threatening Klansmen with reprisals unless they stopped whipping Unionists and burning Black churches and schools. Armed Black people formed their own defense in Bennettsville, South Carolina , and patrolled

14352-430: The film of the same name and cabaret ; Art Deco , inspired by early Hollywood movies and featuring paintings by Polish artist Tamara de Lempicka ; and finally, an encore . The art direction was by Madonna's brother Christopher Ciccone , while the costumes were created by French fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier . The tour garnered positive reviews from contemporary critics and was a commercial success. It received

14508-494: The first six months of the Association's national recruitment campaign, Klan membership had increased by 85,000. At its peak in the mid-1920s, the organization's membership ranged from three to eight million members. In 1923, Simmons was ousted as leader of the KKK by Hiram Wesley Evans . From September 1923 there were two Ku Klux Klan organizations: the one founded by Simmons and led by Evans with its strength primarily in

14664-406: The flesh color, the salmon satin, the lace. The gold conical bra was just an extension of that idea". Other costumes created included a pin-striped suit, a green and white striped vaudeville -style corset, a black mini-dress trimmed and stitched with a stuffed West African stork called the marabou , a black clergyman's robe with a neon crucifix and a cage vest. To avoid any incidents, every piece

14820-633: The form of localized and isolated groups that use the KKK name. They have focused on opposition to the civil rights movement , often using violence and murder to suppress activists. This manifestation is classified as a hate group by the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center . As of 2016 , the Anti-Defamation League puts total KKK membership nationwide at around 3,000, while

14976-541: The high number of veterans in the population, but also to their effort to control the dramatically changed social situation by using extrajudicial means to restore white supremacy. In 1866, Mississippi governor William L. Sharkey reported that disorder, lack of control, and lawlessness were widespread; in some states armed bands of Confederate soldiers roamed at will. The Klan used public violence against Black people and their allies as intimidation. They burned houses and attacked and killed Black people , leaving their bodies on

15132-808: The highest grossing musical event of all time in the history of the arena. The proceeds of the last American date in New Jersey , over US$ 300,000, were donated to the nonprofit organization amfAR ; the show was dedicated to Madonna's friend Keith Haring who died of AIDS. The tour proved to be successful in Europe as well. The single concert in Rome was attended by 30,000 people. In Spain, tickets went on sale on 11 June 1990; prices ranged from 1,200 to 4,000 pesetas . The single concert at Madrid 's Vicente Calderón Stadium attracted 50,000 fans, while in Vigo only 23,000 of

15288-439: The largest concert tours, it has become more common for different legs to employ separate touring production crews and equipment, local to each geographical region. Concert tours are often administered on the local level by concert promoters or by performing arts presenters . Usually, small concert tours are managed by a road manager whereas large concert tours are managed by a tour manager . The main challenge in concert tours

15444-474: The late 1860s, assaulted and murdered politically active Black people and their allies in the South . The second iteration of the Klan originated in the late 1910s, and was the first to use cross burnings and white-hooded robes. The KKK of the 1920s had a nationwide membership in the millions and reflected a cross-section of the native-born white English-speaking and Protestant population. The third Klan formed in

15600-522: The leaders of churches and community groups, because these people had many roles in society. Agents of the Freedmen's Bureau reported weekly assaults and murders of Black people. "Armed guerrilla warfare killed thousands of Negroes; political riots were staged; their causes or occasions were always obscure, their results always certain: ten to one hundred times as many Negroes were killed as whites." Masked men shot into houses and burned them, sometimes with

15756-445: The live vocals". Writing for The Guardian , professor Sarah Churchwell wrote that the tour allowed Madonna to "catapult[ed] herself into megastardom, shaping the music industry" and establishing herself as "the mother of today’s multimedia concert extravaganzas". "With its elaborate costumes (courtesy of French designer Jean-Paul Gaultier), Broadway-style sets (designed by Madonna's brother Christopher Ciccone) and quasi-narrative arc,

15912-415: The mid 20th century, largely as a reaction to the growing civil rights movement . It used murder and bombings to achieve its aims. All three movements have called for the "purification" of American society, and are all considered far-right extremist organizations. In each era, membership was secret and estimates of the total were highly exaggerated by both allies and enemies. The first Klan, established in

16068-456: The most gloriously dynamic pop force on the planet. [...] Blond Ambition, her third major tour, was acknowledged as the first-ever global pop tour to use Broadway theatre production values with sets and a narrative 'arc'". On a similar note, Billboard ' s Jon O'Brien commented that, "no longer were audiences content to watch their pop idol simply play the hits. Elaborate production values and strong narrative arcs soon became just as integral to

16224-492: The music video. The first encore, " Holiday ", had Madonna dressed in a polka-dotted blouse with matching flounces at the bottom of white trousers. The tour's final performance was " Keep it Together "; it featured lyrical samples of Sly and the Family Stone ' s " Family Affair " (1971). It started with dancers appearing on the stage, with chairs on their back. Madonna came on dressed in an all-black ensemble involving

16380-514: The occupants still inside. They drove successful Black farmers off their land. "Generally, it can be reported that in North and South Carolina, in 18 months ending in June 1867, there were 197 murders and 548 cases of aggravated assault." Klan violence worked to suppress Black voting, and campaign seasons were deadly. More than 2,000 people were killed, wounded, or otherwise injured in Louisiana within

16536-458: The only objects of the Klan", according to Albert Stevens in 1907. The manual of rituals was printed by Laps D. McCord of Pulaski. The origins of the hood are uncertain; it may have been appropriated from the Spanish capirote hood, or it may be traced to the uniform of Southern Mardi Gras celebrations. According to The Cyclopædia of Fraternities (1907), "Beginning in April, 1867, there

16692-412: The phrase "Oh my God" several times. Next, she performed " Live to Tell " on a prie-dieu . Halfway through the song, she started singing " Oh Father " while Carlton Wilborn in a black frock played the role of a priest. An energetic performance of " Papa Don't Preach " closed this section. " Sooner or Later " opened the Dick Tracy act. Madonna sat atop a grand piano and wore a cabaret -themed corset under

16848-499: The production and said it was "an imaginative take of the staging of a stadium gig". Montgomery Brower and Todd Gold, from People , called it a "105-minute hullabaloo amazing for its breadth of controversy". For Gay Times magazine's Scott Anderson, "despite all that's happening on the stage it still felt like a concert, and despite the precession of the choreography, it had a certain rawness to it, it felt playful and spontaneous". Richard Harrington from The Washington Post , hailed

17004-425: The protests had effect and a planned second show in the city's Stadio Flaminio was canceled due to low ticket sales and a threatened general strike by labor unions. Roman newspaper Il Messaggero dismissed the controversy with a lukewarm review; "A lot of noise over nothing", read the headline. In Toronto , the tour's explicit overtone also caused problems. During the first show at the city's SkyDome on May 27,

17160-580: The radical right-wing's perception of the Klan as outdated and unfashionable. The Southern Poverty Law Center reported that between 2016 and 2019, the number of Klan groups in America dropped from 130 to just 51. A 2016 report by the Anti-Defamation League claims an estimate of just over 30 active Klan groups existing in the United States. Estimates of total collective membership range from about 3,000 to 8,000. In addition to its active membership,

17316-455: The respective album are included on its tour's setlist . Some tours are known as "greatest hits tours" or "reunion tour" without any new material or specific album release, such as Fleetwood Mac 's 2009 Unleashed tour and No Doubt 's 2009 Summer Tour . Taylor Swift 's The Eras Tour (2023–2024) is a retrospective of her career to that point, where each act of the concert represents one of her albums . In another case, artists embark on

17472-464: The roads. At an 1867 meeting in Nashville, Tennessee , Klan members gathered to try to create a hierarchical organization with local chapters eventually reporting to a national headquarters. Since most of the Klan's members were veterans, they were used to such military hierarchy, but the Klan never operated under this centralized structure. Local chapters and bands were highly independent. Former Confederate brigadier general George Gordon developed

17628-401: The same publication, John LeLand said that "the advance word was that it was shocking and outrageous [...] But what brought most of the crowd together at Nassau Coliseum Monday night, was that we weren't shocked. Amused, tickled, stimulated or diverted, maybe, but not shocked or outraged". Sujata Massey from The Baltimore Sun highlighted the "passionate" performances, Madonna's outfits and

17784-659: The scapegoat and the heretic." It preached "One Hundred Percent Americanism" and demanded the purification of politics, calling for strict morality and better enforcement of Prohibition . Its official rhetoric focused on the threat of the Catholic Church , using anti-Catholicism and nativism . Its appeal was directed exclusively toward white Protestants; it opposed Jews, Black people, Catholics, and newly arriving Southern and Eastern European immigrants such as Italians , Russians , and Lithuanians , many of whom were Jewish or Catholic. Some local groups threatened violence against rum runners and those they deemed "notorious sinners";

17940-438: The show unfolds like a kaleidoscope of sexual decadence". In a mixed review, Jon Pareles from The New York Times wrote: "Madonna might be testing taboos, but she's hardly breaking new ground in rock theatrics", also criticizing the use of lip sync ; "she would clearly rather lip-sync than risk a wrong note. It makes the concert airless and off-putting". Three years later, the same author said that, "with Blond Ambition she

18096-405: The singer approved of his designs. Tour backup singer and dancer Niki Haris later recalled that "with Madonna, it always comes down to clothes and shoes". The result were two corsets with conical-shaped cups, one was peach-colored and the other solid gold. Gaultier explained that the idea first came when, as a child, his grandmother took him to an exhibit where "they had a corset on display. I loved

18252-624: The singer on the Pepsi commercial and the "Express Yourself" music video, was appointed co-director and choreographer. Auditions for dancers took place in New York City and Los Angeles. An advertisement was put on Daily Variety magazine by choreographer Karole Armitage , it read: "Open auditions for fierce male dancers who know the meaning of troop style, beat boy and vogue. Wimps and Wanna-Bes need not apply!". Luis Camacho and Jose Gutierez Xtravaganza , who had previously worked with Madonna on

18408-409: The singer on the tour. For the wardrobe, the singer contacted French designer Jean Paul Gaultier ; she was attracted to the designer's "irreverence and humor" and sent him a handwritten letter asking him to design the tour's costumes. Gaultier happily accepted. He was already an admirer of Madonna and expressed admiration for the fact that "when she was not so famous, she made her clothes herself [...]

18564-468: The singer to do an actual film focused on that, with interspersed footage of some performances. It received generally positive reviews; Peter Travers from Rolling Stone wrote that "you may not leave Truth or Dare loving Madonna, but you'll respect her as a force of nature". In 2018, it was named by The Guardian as the greatest music documentary of all time, with Ryan Gilbey claiming that "[Alek] Keshishian couldn't have trained his cameras on Madonna at

18720-464: The sixth greatest concert of the last 35 years. Ilana Kaplan wrote that it "was more than just shock factor: It was meant to transform live pop music", and also that it helped Madonna "reclaim her narrative and power as the tabloids (wrongfully) deemed her a villain". Idolator ' s Mike Wass considered it the "blueprint for modern concerts [...] The Queen of Pop really shook things up by giving choreography, costumes and production as much attention as

18876-421: The song, while six other dancers in yellow trenchcoats did a kick line . The Art Deco act began with " Material Girl "; performed in a strong midwestern accent , Madonna, Haris and De Lory sat beneath beauty parlor hair dryers and wore fluffy pink dresses with dollar signs underneath bathrobes. Towards the end of the performance, they would take fake dollar bills from inside their bosoms and throw them to

19032-407: The south and northern states; it was funded by initiation fees and selling its members a standard white costume. The chapters did not have dues. It used K-words which were similar to those used by the first Klan, while adding cross burnings and mass parades to intimidate others. It rapidly declined in the latter half of the 1920s. The third and current manifestation of the KKK emerged after 1950, in

19188-571: The southern United States, and a breakaway group led by Grand Dragon D. C. Stephenson based in Evansville, Indiana with its membership primarily in the midwestern United States. Internal divisions, criminal behavior by leaders – especially Stephenson's conviction for the abduction, rape, and murder of Madge Oberholtzer – and external opposition brought about a collapse in the membership of both groups. The main group's membership had dropped to about 30,000 by 1930. It finally faded away in

19344-503: The special were bought by HBO for US$ 1 million, and was advertised as "America's No.   1 female pop star in a live-by-satellite performance of one of the summer's biggest pop music events". According to the Chicago Tribune , it was not a pay-per-view special as the channel wanted to distinguish itself from its pay-TV rival, Showtime . The transmission gave HBO a record for the highest ratings ever for an original program at

19500-471: The state. A riot and massacre occurred in a Meridian, Mississippi , courthouse, from which a Black state representative escaped by fleeing to the woods. The 1871 Civil Rights Act allowed the president to suspend habeas corpus . In 1871, President Ulysses S. Grant signed Butler's legislation. The Ku Klux Klan Act and the Enforcement Act of 1870 were used by the federal government to enforce

19656-399: The streets to protect their homes. National sentiment gathered to crack down on the Klan, even though some Democrats at the national level questioned whether the Klan really existed, or believed that it was a creation of nervous Southern Republican governors. Many southern states began to pass anti-Klan legislation. In January 1871, Pennsylvania Republican senator John Scott convened

19812-703: The superstar tour as the music itself". The Guardian ' s Mark Beaumont wrote that it "set a new bar for confrontational theatricality that only greater shock tactics could ever challenge". In 2022, Alim Kheraj from The Guardian , named the tour one of the 50 gigs that changed music, for "altering the blueprint for modern pop shows with this combination of narrative, choreography, high production values and fashion. A taboo-busting exploration of sexuality and religion only solidified its legacy". Ramona Liera Schwichtenberg, Deidre Pribram, Dave Tetzlaff and Ron Scott, authors of The Madonna Connection: Representational Politics, Subcultural Identities, And Cultural Theory , wrote that

19968-591: The tickets going on sale, earning the star US$ 37 million just from the Japanese leg of her tour. In North America, 482,832 tickets were sold in the first two hours during the pre-sale, grossing US$ 14 million. The first four dates alone were reported to have grossed almost US$ 1.5 million. In Los Angeles, the tour set a record at the Memorial Sports Arena ; tickets for the first three concerts were sold out in 45 minutes, and grossed US$ 456,720, becoming

20124-413: The time; around 4.5 million people tuned in. It was considered too racy for television, and during the concert Madonna told the cameras: "You know what I have to say to America? Get a fucking sense of humor, okay?". Soon after, the concert was released exclusively on LaserDisc , entitled Blond Ambition World Tour Live ; it earned Madonna her very first Grammy win for Best Long Form Music Video . One of

20280-512: The tour as "a roadshow version of the videos that have made her one of the world's biggest stars". Newsday ' s Frank DeCaro noted that, "in just over an hour and a half, [Madonna] juggles as many looks as she does a month's worth of international magazine covers", concluding that, "Blond Ambition is a night at the Roxy , the Pyramid and Studio 54 in its heyday, all rolled into one". From

20436-457: The tour for Billboard . Rolling Stone noted that Madonna had "reinvented the pop megatour itself"; in 2017, the magazine included Blond Ambition on their list of "The 50 Greatest Concerts of the Last 50 Years". Similarly, Q magazine named it one of the "10 Greatest Gigs of All Time"; Sylvia Patterson explained that, "in spring 1990, Madonna was not only the most regonisable woman on Earth, but

20592-558: The tour revealed the "underlying contradictory tensions within dominant American culture vis-à-vis sexuality", and that it violated too many "fragile, middle-class sexual codes and boundaries". It has also left its mark on the work of subsequent pop acts; NME ' s El Hunt wrote: "Think of the whips and chains of Rihanna 's ' S&M ', Ariana Grande 's ' Side to Side ' and countless other pop greats who emerged post-Madonna, and traces of Blond Ambition linger in their every move". The music video for Lady Gaga 's 2010 single " Alejandro "

20748-452: The tour". The singer's brother Christopher Ciccone was selected as the tour's art director . He wrote in his autobiography Life with My Sister Madonna that she called him and said, "I'm going on tour, and of course I want you to dress me, but you think you ought to design the stage and art-direct the show as well". The tour's troupe was made up of seven dancers, two backup singers and eight musicians. Vincent Paterson , who had worked with

20904-494: The tour, calling it "one of the most satanic shows in the history of humanity". The protests resulted in the cancelation of one Italian show. In Toronto, the police threatened to arrest Madonna over the performance of " Like a Virgin ", which featured her simulating masturbation . Nevertheless, Madonna continued the show unaltered. A number of concerts were recorded and broadcast, including the tour's final show in Nice, which aired as

21060-601: The tour. He also said despite the police being depicted as "real knobs" on the Madonna: Truth or Dare documentary, he felt they weren't acting that way. Kevin Stea, one of the dancers, said the troupe was willing to be arrested over the performance, calling it "the most powerful moment I ever felt with Madonna. As a team we were all together". The last concert in Nice , France, was recorded and broadcast on HBO as Live! Madonna: Blond Ambition World Tour 90 . The rights to

21216-406: The tour: "I am Italian American and proud of it   ... The tour in no way hurts anybody's sentiments. It's for open minds and gets them to see sexuality in a different way. Their own and others [...] Like theater, [Blond Ambition] asks questions, provokes thought and takes you on an emotional journey, portraying good and bad, light and dark, joy and sorrow, redemption and salvation". Nonetheless,

21372-401: The tour; "it's a great opportunity for me [...] Most people don't associate me with movies. But I know I have a much bigger following than Warren does and a lot of my audience isn't even aware of who he is", she recalled. The first section, which was inspired by Metropolis and the "Express Yourself" music video, featured several funnels billowing smoke, steel piping, cables hanging above and

21528-430: The tours end up not being the last tour, with frequent regroupings, or revivals of shows. Luciano Pavarotti 's 2004 tour and Kenny Rogers 's 2015–2017 tour are examples of farewell tours which were the last to be staged before their deaths. As of October 2024, the highest-grossing concert tour of all time is Taylor Swift 's Eras Tour , with $ 2.089 billion earned from 125 shows. In 2024, Coldplay 's Music of

21684-455: The video for her single " Vogue ", were the first to be selected. After sending a video tape to the singer, Madonna invited the pair to the Tracks nightclub for an informal audition. After his audition, dancer Carlton Wilborn was also asked by Madonna to meet her at a nightclub. He pointed out that she was "looking for very confident people – the best of the best – so I was acutely aware of how I

21840-507: The violent episodes generally took place in the South. The Red Knights were a militant group organized in opposition to the Klan and responded violently to Klan provocations on several occasions. The second Klan was a formal fraternal organization , with a national and state structure. During the resurgence of the second Klan in the 1920s, its publicity was handled by the Southern Publicity Association . Within

21996-509: The visible bra, the transparencies, the crucifixes as jewelry". Madonna and Gaultier took three months to finalize the details of the costumes; they first met at New York City's Carlyle Hotel , with additional meetings taking place in Paris' Bofinger restaurant, Balajo Club, Zoopsie nightclub and Théâtre Equestre Zingaro. Gaultier remembers this period as one of intense stress, claiming to have gotten through "350 aspirins and 1,500 sketches" before

22152-507: The wake of the Civil War , was a defining organization of the Reconstruction era . Federal law enforcement began taking action against it around 1871. The Klan sought to overthrow Republican state governments in the South, especially by using voter intimidation and targeted violence against African-American leaders. The Klan was organized into numerous independent chapters across the Southern United States. Each chapter

22308-512: The years". From the same publication, Robert Hilburn opined that, "Madonna's Blond Ambition show comes equipped with enough high-concept, Broadway-like choreography and stage design to satisfy the most demanding stargazer in a crowd equally populated by style-conscious wanna-be's and simply curious mainstream fans". The Pittsburgh Press ' s Ron Miller called it "big, glitzy and full of elaborate production numbers and costume changes". Also from The Pittsburgh Press , David Hinckley compared it to

22464-588: Was "that of feminine sexuality as strength rather than titillation, as something owned by the artist not cashed in by the svengalis ", while according to Vulture ' s David Goldberg, " everything Madonna can be traced down to this cultural convergence: fashion, religion, sex, spectacle, and, of course, controversy". Set list and samples adapted per Madonna's official website and the notes and track listing of Blond Ambition World Tour Live . Act 1: Metropolis Act 2: Religious Act 3: Dick Tracy Act 4: Art Deco Act 5: Encore Adapted from

22620-455: Was a gradual transformation. ... The members had conjured up a veritable Frankenstein. They had played with an engine of power and mystery, though organized on entirely innocent lines, and found themselves overcome by a belief that something must lie behind it all—that there was, after all, a serious purpose, a work for the Klan to do." The KKK had no organizational structure above the chapter level. However, there were similar groups across

22776-425: Was a huge hydraulic platform, in which Madonna ascended at the beginning of each concert. The show was split into different thematic sections, each one with its own specific settings, divided by a curtain going up and down. To come up with the designs of each section, Madonna and her brother studied fashion and architecture from the 1920s, 30s and 40s. It was the singer's idea to incorporate the movie Dick Tracy onto

22932-594: Was autonomous and highly secretive about membership and plans. Members made their own, often colorful, costumes: robes, masks and pointed hats , designed to be terrifying and to hide their identities. The second Klan started in 1915 as a small group in Georgia . It suddenly started to grow after 1920 and flourished nationwide in the early and mid-1920s, including urban areas of the Midwest and West . Taking inspiration from D. W. Griffith 's 1915 silent film The Birth of

23088-507: Was deemed a "visual love letter" to Madonna and the tour. Kylie Minogue 's 1991 Let's Get to It Tour was criticized for its similarities to Blond Ambition and branded a "parody". Further influence has been recognized by critics on Michael Jackson's 1992–93 Dangerous World Tour , as well as on the live performances of Pink , Beyoncé , Lady Gaga, Katy Perry , Miley Cyrus , Marilyn Manson , Nicki Minaj and Justin Bieber . In order to record

23244-457: Was double sewn with elastic threads. For the Asian and North American legs of the tour, the singer wore a synthetic ponytail clip on extension , which was replaced by a curly hairstyle on the European leg. Construction for the stage cost approximately US$ 2 million. The stage was 80 x 70 feet long and needed over a hundred crew members to mount it and 18 trucks to haul it around. The centerpiece

23400-495: Was founded atop Stone Mountain , Georgia, by William Joseph Simmons . While Simmons relied on documents from the original Klan and memories of some surviving elders, the revived Klan was based significantly on the wildly popular film The Birth of a Nation . The earlier Klan had not worn the white costumes and had not burned crosses; these aspects were introduced in Thomas Dixon 's book The Clansman: A Historical Romance of

23556-422: Was lowered from the ceiling. The fourth act, which featured scenic elements inspired by Art Deco skyscrapers, had a grand semicircular double staircase in the middle and backdrops that were cutout reproductions of Tamara de Lempicka 's paintings. Props included a grand piano and a huge cross lit with purple and orange lights. Belgian electronic music band Technotronic was signed as the opening act. The show

23712-464: Was pop's least flirtatious sex symbol", and deemed it "proudly uningratiating". In his review of the show in Gothenburg , Luis Hidalgo from El País expressed that, "the big question is knowing if Madonna sings live or not completely [...] The non-existence of natural gasping and agitated breaths reinforces this hypothesis, strongly denied by the organization". Author Lucy O'Brien was critical of

23868-436: Was presenting myself. When I made the cut, I knew it was a huge opportunity"; he described the rehearsals as being "like boot camp". The rest of the dancers selected were Oliver Crumes, Kevin Stea , Gabriel Trupin and Salim Gauwloos. Paterson stated that "instead of just presenting songs, Madonna and I wanted to combine fashion, Broadway , rock and performance arts". To allow greater movement while dancing and singing, she used

24024-482: Was prominent in many cities. Writer W. J. Cash , in his 1941 book The Mind of the South characterized the second Klan as "anti-Negro, anti-Alien, anti-Red, anti-Catholic, anti-Jew, anti-Darwin, anti-Modern, anti-Liberal, Fundamentalist, vastly Moral, [and] militantly Protestant. And summing up these fears, it brought them into focus with the tradition of the past, and above all with the ancient Southern pattern of high romantic histrionics, violence and mass coercion of

24180-410: Was second-rate. Each of the evening's 18 songs was expertly choreographed, and the lighting, staging and costuming were often spectacular". Writing for Maclean's , Brian D. Johnson expressed that, "[Madonna] performs with the ruthless, aerobic efficiency of a circus girl. As a singer, she has limited range. But she knows how to seduce a pop song [...] as she whips through her circus repertoire of poses,

24336-402: Was separated into five different sections: Metropolis , Religious , Dick Tracy , Art Deco , and an encore. It began with "Express Yourself", and included a lyrical sample from " Everybody " (1982) during the introduction. Seven bare-chested male dancers appeared from behind a steel structure and did a choreographed routine on the stage; towards the end Madonna appeared on a rising platform atop

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