The unused potential of promo tours

[Justice 365]

Music promo tour

American Life promo tour

COADF promo tour

Hard Candy promo tour

These shows should have had more songs. She could have performed certain album songs and classics that she didn't plan to perform on world tours.

Post your setlists. The maximum is 15 songs on setlist. One or two segments. 

 

BTW Her concert setlist for Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation Gala in 2017 was thoughtful. She performed 4 Minutes, Ray of Light, Ghosttown, Open Your Heart and La Isla Bonita. This is really a nice setlist that, aside from La Isla Bonita, focused on songs  that she didn't performed  a lot or recently, or songs that weren't on a world tour.

[Justice 365]

You can base your setlists on the official ones.

 

Music promo tour 

Impressive Instant, Runaway Lover, Don't Tell Me, What It Feels Like for a Girl, Holiday, Music.

American Life promo tour

American Life, Hollywood, Nothing Fails, X-Static Process, Mother and Father, Like a Prayer, Don't Tell Me, Like a Virgin.

COADF promo tour

Hung Up, Get Together, I Love New York, Let It Will Be, Everybody, Jump.

Hard Candy promo tour

Candy Shop, Miles Away, 4 Minutes, Hung Up, Give It 2 Me, Music.

[Inco 11,019]

I think a promo tour is supposed to be short and focus on the songs that are new, 1 or 2 old songs is enough imo.

Don't Tell Me promo tour and American Life promo tour are just perfect. 

[Anapausis 6,583]

1 hour ago, Inco said:

I think a promo tour is supposed to be short and focus on the songs that are new, 1 or 2 old songs is enough imo.

Don't Tell Me promo tour and American Life promo tour are just perfect. 

I 2ND THAT - plus COADF and HC promo tours were much satisfactory for their goals as nobody would expect her to perform something like Deeper and Deeper in 2005 nor I'd Rather Be Your Lover in 2008.

[Would You Like To Try 9,408]

I was PISSED after learning that the Confessions Everybody promo tour mix wasn't in the main tour!

[Would You Like To Try 9,408]

1 hour ago, Inco said:

I think a promo tour is supposed to be short and focus on the songs that are new, 1 or 2 old songs is enough imo.

Don't Tell Me promo tour and American Life promo tour are just perfect. 

I could do with learning more about her tours since I am practically very ignorant about them since I only became a fan in 2022, I'd rather start with audio first..

[Alpha 1,890]

3 hours ago, Anapausis said:

I 2ND THAT - plus COADF and HC promo tours were much satisfactory for their goals as nobody would expect her to perform something like Deeper and Deeper in 2005 nor I'd Rather Be Your Lover in 2008.

...but she did D&D in 2004 and was planning it again in 2006! Lol

[Alpha 1,890]

3 hours ago, Would You Like To Try said:

I could do with learning more about her tours since I am practically very ignorant about them since I only became a fan in 2022, I'd rather start with audio first..

If you've seen the world tours, you're not missing anything.

[littlestartman 171]

Dont agree with that.

The promo tour were testing grounds for the official tours and big shows. See how Hung Up evolved from Promo tour to Confessions Tour.

And it would make no sense for Madonna and dancers and musicis to rehearse a song and dont perform it during the tour.  Only AL she managed to perform almost the whole album since it was more acoustic based. But for example a performance of SKIN would clearly require a big production.

Edited July 18 by littlestartman (see edit history)

[GregVsMatt 3,894]

Promo shows are meant to be short - a few new songs and one or two classics

[Blue Jean 16,732]

3 hours ago, Alpha said:

...but she did D&D in 2004 and was planning it again in 2006! Lol

Yes and Deeper and Deeper would have been great in the Confessions era 

[itzjak 168]

Bedtime Story Pajamá Party

1. Secret 

2. Human Nature 

And maybe Forbidden Love just like the Ray Of Light Promo Tour were she performed Ray Light, Skyfits Heaven and Shanty/Ashtangi

[Anapausis 6,583]

12 hours ago, Alpha said:

...but she did D&D in 2004 and was planning it again in 2006! Lol

Afaik she was adamant to not repeat anything she did back for Re-Invention Tour again for anything related to COADF era, hence why Hollywood got scrapped from tour rehearsals during early stages as well as the snippet off Nothing Fails inserted into Drowned World.

Music the song however was a whole different situation obviously.

EDIT: regarding D&D for Confessions Tour, I believe someone told here on forum that Erotica/You Thrill Me were always the first, early choice, and D&D would replace it only if Erotica mashed-up to Final Demo 2 would sound too "wtf?" to 2006 listeners, which wasn't so obviously got kept in the setlist. I also heard rumours of Stuart trying do something with Rain instead but M wasn't any fond of that.

[MPowered 7,780]

Let me think of something for this cause I really miss these cute promo tours she used to do...

MDNA Promo Tour:

1. Girl Gone Wild
2. Gang Bang
3. Papa Don't Preach / Like A Prayer (with samples from DHS' "House of God")
4. I'm Addicted
5. Lucky Star / Impressive Instant (mashup)
6. Turn Up The Radio (with samples from Martin Solveig's "Hello")

Rebel Heart Promo Tour

Intro: Revolution Of Love

1. Living For Love
2. Deeper And Deeper
3. Devil Pray
4. Ghosttown
5. Veni Vidi Vici
6. Take A Bow

Special: Madonna on MTV's Unplugged

1. Hold Tight
2. Ghosttown
3. Devil Pray
4. Swim
5. Love Profusion
6. Joan Of Arc
7. Ray Of Light
8. Don't Tell Me
9. Who's That Girl
10. Rebel Heart
11. Encore: Holiday 

 

[Anapausis 6,583]

58 minutes ago, MPowered said:

Let me think of something for this cause I really miss these cute promo tours she used to do...

MDNA Promo Tour:

1. Girl Gone Wild
2. Gang Bang
3. Papa Don't Preach / Like A Prayer (with samples from DHS' "House of God")
4. I'm Addicted
5. Lucky Star / Impressive Instant (mashup)
6. Turn Up The Radio (with samples from Martin Solveig's "Hello")

Rebel Heart Promo Tour

Intro: Revolution Of Love

1. Living For Love
2. Deeper And Deeper
3. Devil Pray
4. Ghosttown
5. Veni Vidi Vici
6. Take A Bow

Special: Madonna on MTV's Unplugged

1. Hold Tight
2. Ghosttown
3. Devil Pray
4. Swim
5. Love Profusion
6. Joan Of Arc
7. Ray Of Light
8. Don't Tell Me
9. Who's That Girl
10. Rebel Heart
11. Encore: Holiday 

 

THIS IS GOLD, VIELE DANKE SCHÖNER!!!

In retribution to you, here's something for you that you ACTUALLY WORSHIP FOR:

And the promise that I won't bring the "accidental singer" when I tag you anymore, fine???

[madgefan 10,229]

I've always thought she should've never stopped doing this kind of shows before the big tours! However, it's easy to understand that every album she recorded and released under the Interscope's management was conditioned by her contract with Live Nation; hence, just a few live performances between the actual release of the album and the beginning of the world tour that was planned to promote it so she could make the big bucks.

Rebel Heart is the album that got more performances before the beginning of the tour in September 2015. Maybe that was her way of diminishing the damage of the leaks. Still, no single from that period managed to have a real impact.

[TheGoth 671]

Can you imagine though if Like A Prayer had had a promo tour back in 1989 before the BA tour? With her brunette hair, pre DT, and trying out those songs. 

Something like this I'd imagine:

Like A Prayer, Express Yourself, Cherish, Keep It Together, La Isla Bonita, Spotlight, Holiday 

[Adonna 20,351]

2 hours ago, TheGoth said:

Can you imagine though if Like A Prayer had had a promo tour back in 1989 before the BA tour? With her brunette hair, pre DT, and trying out those songs. 

Something like this I'd imagine:

Like A Prayer, Express Yourself, Cherish, Keep It Together, La Isla Bonita, Spotlight, Holiday 

It would have been cool as you described, but by the time LAP was released, she was back to blonde hair because she was heading into Dick Tracy.  At the most, we would have gotten the Pepsi video hair look.  But the RollingStones magazine interview that took place in late 1988, already stated she was soon to cut and die her hair blonde for the DT role.   At the time of that interview, she already had a blonde strip in her hair like we see in PEPSI commercial.

[NRMX 5,517]

On 7/18/2024 at 1:35 PM, Would You Like To Try said:

I was PISSED after learning that the Confessions Everybody promo tour mix wasn't in the main tour!

The final stab at the back, just watched the performance yesterday and wondered the same thing… (without having read this thread I mean) 

That Koko performance and remix was 🔥🔥🔥

 

[Would You Like To Try 9,408]

3 hours ago, TheGoth said:

Can you imagine though if Like A Prayer had had a promo tour back in 1989 before the BA tour? With her brunette hair, pre DT, and trying out those songs. 

Something like this I'd imagine:

Like A Prayer, Express Yourself, Cherish, Keep It Together, La Isla Bonita, Spotlight, Holiday 

Nice, but I'd miss Promise To Try and Oh Father or Spanish Eyes

[Adonna 20,351]

14 hours ago, Would You Like To Try said:

Nice, but I'd miss Promise To Try and Oh Father or Spanish Eyes

I mean c'mon?  Really?  Nice fan tracks, but they aren't really songs that would interest the public which is what many promotional gigs and spots are aiming for.

 

[Justice 365]

On 7/19/2024 at 12:51 AM, littlestartman said:

The promo tour were testing grounds for the official tours and big shows. See how Hung Up evolved from Promo tour to Confessions Tour.

And it would make no sense for Madonna and dancers and musicians to rehearse a song and dont perform it during the tour.  Only AL she managed to perform almost the whole album since it was more acoustic based. But for example a performance of SKIN would clearly require a big production.

I disagree about it . She didn't really need testing grounds. She didn't do it before Music or after HC era. It was just a new way of promotion around album release. Plus, she repeated Candy Shop from promo tour on a world tour, which was disappointing. 

Madonna actually does that - rehearses songs and later decides not to perform them if they don't fit the vibe of the show.

10 hours ago, Adonna said:

I mean c'mon?  Really?  Nice fan tracks, but they aren't really songs that would interest the public which is what many promotional gigs and spots are aiming for.

Yes, but Madonna does that. And don't say promo tour and world tour aren't the same. Both are used as a promotion of a new album.

The only difference is that Madonna has started to exaggerate with new album songs since 2001. In the 80s and the 90s she did pretty much singles, which is a shame. 

It is important to present the content of an album, but the amount should be reasonable and there should always be a balance with classic stuff.

[Anapausis 6,583]

12 hours ago, NRMX said:

The final stab at the back, just watched the performance yesterday and wondered the same thing… (without having read this thread I mean) 

That Koko performance and remix was 🔥🔥🔥

 

And to think she did it at Coachella which was just one-two months before the tour kicked off!!!

[NRMX 5,517]

3 hours ago, Anapausis said:

And to think she did it at Coachella which was just one-two months before the tour kicked off!!!

What a performance it was!!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥

[TheGoth 671]

21 hours ago, TheGoth said:

Can you imagine though if Like A Prayer had had a promo tour back in 1989 before the BA tour? With her brunette hair, pre DT, and trying out those songs. 

Something like this I'd imagine:

Like A Prayer, Express Yourself, Cherish, Keep It Together, La Isla Bonita, Spotlight, Holiday 

Following up on my LAP promo tour (let's add Supernatural to it!), let's try the Evita promo tour 🙂 building on the idea that they were originally going to release a remix EP, but also updating a couple of previous hits for the sound that was current then:

1) Don't Cry For Me Argentina (Remix),

2) Buenos Aires (Remix),

3) Another Suitcase In Another Hall (Remix),

4) You'll See (Remix),

5) La Isla Bonita (Remix),

6) Who's That Girl (Remix)

 

Now let's imagine she did a short promo tour (although she didn't need to) for The Immaculate Collection. There's no way I can imagine her doing Justify My Love so I'm skipping it. 

1) Rescue Me 

2) Vogue

3) Like A Prayer 

4) Open Your Heart

5) Into The Groove 

 

A Bedtime Stories promo tour? Gearing up for what would have been the cancelled tour, I imagine something like this:

1) Secret

2) Don't Stop 

3) Survival 

4) I'll Remember 

5) Bedtime Story 

 

Given that the ROL tour was cancelled as well, I imagine a different kind of promo tour that was a bit more fleshed out and focusing on ambient/clubby/trip hop elements with her post-Evita vocals that would give us a rendition of Rescue Me:

1) Ray of Light (Twilo Mix)

2) Shanti 

3) Skin

4) Sky Fits Heaven

5) Frozen

6) Bedtime Story (Orbital Mix)

7) Justify My Love (Orbit Mix)

8) Rescue Me (Titanic Vocal Mix)

 

Or what if there was an Erotica promo tour that was focused on showcasing some of the mixes that could've gone onto the tour:

1) Deeper And Deeper (Klub Mix)

2) Fever (Edit 1)

3) Rain (Remix)

4) Vogue

5) Express Yourself (Remix)

 

What if there could've been a promo tour for Something to Remember? Something a bit more unplugged and showcasing her balladeering at that time 🙂

1) You'll See

2) I'll Remember 

3) This Used To Be My Playground 

4) Forbidden Love

5) Love Don't Live Here Anymore

6) Something to Remember 

 

A promo tour for You Can Dance might have given us a live version of Spotlight!

1) Spotlight 

2) Holiday 

3) Over And Over

4) Into the Groove

5) Physical Attraction 

6) Where's The Party

 

And lastly, pre-BA, what might a promo tour for I'm Breathless looked like? Would it have been necessary then for her to include a Dick Tracy section on the BA tour then? Something that brought to life authentically the sound of the 1920s big band period she was evoking at the time:

1) He's A Man

2) Cry Baby

3) More

4) Hanky Panky 

5) I Surrender Dear

6) Express Yourself