My Full Ranking of Madonna's Tours and Why!

[Future Lover 1,010]

Madonna's tours are...dare I say...Iconic (pun intended by the way) and ranking them is a massive feat that many people undertake but never fully understand why this show is better than that or the other way around. I am going to give my rankings and the why's as to where they are in the list. This isn't a conventional fan list and you may be surprised by the top 3 placement!

 

 

10. Drowned World Tour (2001)

 

This was Madonna's return to the stage after nearly eight years of being absent from the touring circuit. Many fans were extremely pumped and the tickets went quickly. When the show began and Madonna took the stage, it was exhilarating. But, as the minutes ticked by, the quality began to diminish little by little. The first act of the show is by far the best. The opening five songs showcased what was the best of the show. The vocal was fantastic and the entire arena was engulfed in the sound of Madonna's return. Then, things started to get less and less perfect. The Geisha section was very out of the blue and totally unexpected. It was so different from the opening and felt very forced in it's transition. Then came perhaps the strangest and most out of place performance Madonna has put on. The Cowgirl segment. 'Nuff said. The setlist of the show was very heavy on the "Ray of Light" and "Music", which was to be fully expected after her absence, but there was next to NO pre-Ray of Light songs. For first time fans, this was a fairly large letdown.

 

 

​9. Who's That Girl World Tour (1987)

 

The biggest gripe of this show is that it is honestly boring. This was the second tour Madonna embarked on, and it was clear that things had not been fully developed. Madonna was in peak condition but the performance was really subpar. The stage was cutting edge but the performance severely lacked in comparison to the amazing set up. The main problem in the show lies in the fact that there is no real cohesion when it comes to the song order and the performance. The setlist of the show was one of the better variations Madonna put to the stage, but it just wasn't enough to deserve a place as one of Madonna's bigger and better shows.

 

 

8. The Virgin Tour (1985)

 

To be fair, this was her first tour. But still, for Madonna there was always a sense of perfection and sometimes I can't believe this is what opened her world of serious touring. The biggest thing about this show is that it is boring. There isn't really a truly exciting moment in the show. Madonna doesn't really dance and her singing is...subpar. It seemed that she was trying to be to many things at once and it just didn't transfer well from idea to conception. That is my only real gripe about the show, but it is more than enough to bring it down this low. 

 

 

7. Sticky and Sweet Tour (2008-2009)

 

This show is all over the place. It has little to no flow and is just a mess. Granted, the album that the source material was coming from wasn't amazing. The best thing about the show was Madonna herself. The dancers couldn't really keep up with Madonna's energy. The set list was just overwhelming. She was trying to include some of her older hit songs as per the request of the fans, but these inclusions seemed forced and out of place. It might have been a little different if they were performed in the original arrangement, however that may be part of the allure. It is so different and that could be a very good thing. But in the grand scheme of the tour's performance, it just didn't work out the way it maybe was intended to. 

 

 

6. The Girlie Show Tour (1993)

 

This tour gives me mixed feelings. I love a lot about it, but also feel a little turned off from it. I guess it lies in the fact that the source record gave me the same feeling. What I don't like about the show is the whole unpredictable nature of the show. Now, hear me out. Madonna is all about unpredictability and I tend to love it. But here, the shows different sections are so unrelated and out of the blue, it left me confused as some points. Despite popular opinion, I didn't really enjoy the Caberet section of the show. I did however enjoy the performance of Like a Virgin so you can see my problem. Overall, the show is really good, but it just gives me mixed thoughts and feelings. 

 

 

5. MDNA World Tour

 

This tour is special to me, and I can't quite place why. I honestly don't know why I love this show as much as I do, but I do. I love the triangle stage and really love Madonna's attitude on stage. This show actually flowed rather well and the songs from the album translated beautifully to the stage. The opening section of the show is my favorite due to Madonna commanding attention from all eyes in the venue. The show did however lack cohesion and was a little overly violent and I will be honest and say that yea...the vocals were fairly weak. But small price. Small price. 

 

4. Re-Invention World Tour (2004)

 

We are getting into the cream of the crop here. After what Drowned World gave us, this was a welcome return to form. The show has the distinction of having the perhaps the greatest show opening of all time. The show was just full of spectacular moments and was just nearly perfect. The only thing weighing this show down is the somewhat sluggish nature of the show. It was understated. It was INTENDED to be understated. But somehow, at certain points, it became to much.

 

 

3. Rebel Heart Tour (2015-2016)

 

I have have the honor of seeing this show in full, in person. I walked into the arena not sure what to expect after MDNA. As soon as the opening video began, I knew that was going to be something totally different. The show is so tight, so perfectly planned, executed, and choreographed. The setlist actually is really expansive even though it does focus a lot on Rebel Heart, the old songs she does play spans years. Not to mention she looks perfect. Bitch she's amazing. Bitch she's perfection. Bitch, she's Madonna!

 

 

2. Blonde Ambition World Tour (1990)

 

A lot of you must be dumbstruck that this took number two. But be very clear in this is my opinion. This show is the peak definition of iconic. When you think Madonna, you are most likely thinking of a moment from this show. My favorite Madonna concert moment is in this show. The Religious segment with "Like a Prayer", "Live to Tell/Oh Father" , and "Papa Don't Preach". This segment ins amazing. Just so amazing. The show just has one weigh down and it is very, very, VERY minor. The show girl segment just...was a little much is all. 

 

 

1. Confessions Tour (2006)

 

Now listen to me here. Let's just look at the pieces of this show. The disco ball flower. The parkor of Jump. The cross of Live to Tell. The gang dance of Sorry. The guitar solo of Ray of Light. The dance extravaganza of Let it Will Be. The roller skating of Music/Disco Inferno. The latin dance explosion of La Isla Bonita. And the sing along chant of Hung Up. So much perfection packed into one show. Madonna I feel looked the best she ever has over the course of this tour. This show is just magical. The ONLY gripe on this show is the acoustic section. 

 

Thats all for me! Feel free to argue in the comments! 

 

 

[AModSquad 514]

this is fair and we are mostly in agreement.  Havent seen RH live so wont count that but dont love what ive seen online.

 

Here's how im feeing right now:

 

Blond

Reinvention

Confessions

Girlie Show

Whos that Girl

MDNA

Drowned

Virgin

Sticky Sweet

[ITG 3,323]

You lost me at The Virgin Tour being boring, she doesn't really dance, & her singing is subpar. Um, have you seen it?

[Future Lover 1,010]

You lost me at The Virgin Tour being boring, she doesn't really dance, & her singing is subpar.Um, have you seen it?

I have indeed. I love the tour and I love the show, but her singing wasn't good in this tour, and yes she danced, but it was more flash than substance. For example, the dancing in WTG was really large and expansive and bold. In VT, it was confined and under confident.

[Yung Rapunxel 2,174]

Confessions in #1 and Drowned in #10

 

[Fighter 28,798]

This my list

 

Confessions Tour - One of my favourite Pop albums ever, and a great tour. She was happy and beautiful. Even the more quiet numbers had something interesting to them. The costumes were excellent and the performing was confident and on point without the trying-too-hard of more recent years. Just like the album it was the about perfect balance of serious/dark and light/fun. The release is also her best live release so far in terms of packaging, quality and creativity (Thank you Jonas and Stuart, etc).

 

MDNA Tour - This tour was very innovative and creative, especially considering the album it was attached to, and the performing was so high energy that it just wows you. All performances have something interesting, meaningful or political to them, or at least great visuals. It was Madonna with a lot to say and getting it all out of her system powerfully in that way only she can do it. The staging was very exciting and dangerous looking. The product release was a mess, but we've gotten used to terrible releases in recent years lol, I still appreciate the cute creativity she had of playing with color filters and the cover being a blurry selfie, it's cool that she tried to do something different.

 

Re-Invention Tour - Classic tour. One of her most innovative and refined. Most of the costumes were works of art and the art-installation-like simplicity of the staging is extremely refreshing to this day. She also performed some of the best live re-inventions of her career. It was the perfect adjustment after the heavy handed DWT. Even the staging is iconic.

 

Blond Ambition Tour - The RIT of the classic tours I suppose. Now some things seem a bit cheesy but overall it was a monumental moment in her career. So iconic. Shame we don't have a proper release, but glad we don't have a bad release. What more can I say? its a masterpiece of live entertainment.

 

Sticky & Sweet Tour - The 2008 version was depressing mostly because it was depressing to see Madonna looking so .. different, and sickly. By the end of the tour she recovered her smile and when the tour was relaunched in 2009 she was sparkling and healthy looking again. My favourite version of this show is the 2009 one with the new Candy Shop visuals by Marilyn Minter and Holiday, Dress You Up, Frozen included, the new costumes were also very cool. A lot of the visuals were fun, it was also high energy, and colorful. The intro/interludes were also very cool and exciting. The perfect stadium show. And the stage was like watching a live transformer, couldnt believe that cube intro. 

 

Rebel Heart Tour - I feel a lot more could've been done with this album, and the tour feels rather old-fashioned in its themes. The costumes aren't very memorable and we're missing visuals big time, it's very "ive seen it all before", perhaps on purpose cos she intends to take a bit of every 2000s tour to Australia to make it up to them???. It has the same stage as MDNA but with less interesting things going on in terms of technology, and way less refined backdrop visuals. The best thing about this tour is her attitude and how much fun she's having. Even tho the first date worried me because she didn't seem into it, she has improved a hell of a lot and now seems to be truly giving it her all, even tho it's not her most confident tour.

 

Virgin Tour - Where it all began. It shows how talented she is to put a show together that flows well, and you can't help but love her innocence and youthful glow. This is her "teen" show, and it's ovbiously very memorable and an iconic moment in time.

 

Girlie Show Tour - Not amongst my favourites, but there are some great fun performances and Madonna was having lots of fun. It's missing something that truly stands out to make it Iconic... One of her most dated tours. Overall just...fine.

 

Drowned World Tour - This tour feels extremely overcooked. The staging is frankly ugly and very dated already. Song selection was wonky and her look was baddddd. It's still good cos its a Madonna show but I don't really watch it very often. It's missing - good, fresh, minimal - creativity. Maybe a big part of it is that the DVD is not very good.

 

Who's That Girl Tour - Probably her most uncreative tour cos everything's bare. The songs are great, her moves are fun (even if a bit overdone), and she had a new fit body and shiny new granny ass hair. It's a cute show. Dated to hell and back but ok. I guess this is her most "rock show" type of live show she's ever done.

[Enrico 15,823]

Virgin Tour is very simple, but M was very young, it wasn't a world tour, probably it was less expensive. It is just Madonna singing in front of a live audience. It's kind of a preparation.

 

I need to defend Who's That Girl. In the Eighties it was all about rock concerts, so Madonna was changing the way a rock concert was conceived. Everyone was so shocked. Taking out her underwear during a song? Background images of Reagan and the Pope in Papa don't preach? She was making it theatrical, not just music but political messages: it is, again, an anticipation of what Blond Ambition was going to be. BA is iconic, real theatre, but to make it this way in a certain way they had to give up with live music. A lot of lipsynch and poor musical arrangements (with great exceptions). Listen back to Holiday 1987: Pat Leonard did a great job. But of course there are better tours.

 

Girlie Show is musically very interesting: Everybody is the finest example, with all his black music citations, but also Rain and Like a virgin.

I love the stripped-down finale with Madonna taking out her mask... The Circus concept gives a thematic unity to the different segments.

And I love those moments with Donna and Nicky, I miss them so much. Maybe the two background girls went too far, too noticed??

 

DWT is so dark. I disagree, the first section is not the best. There are boring moments everywhere, and some great songs such as Frozen and La isla bonita. The cowboy still is Music's leitmotiv, so of course it's included and many fans in the audience wore cowboy hats, it was like the wannabes in the Eighties, very nice.

 

Re-Invention: I expected more songs to be reinvented, though, as the wonderful Deeper and Deeper. Madonna tried a show with less dancing but the public didn't seem to appreciate. Pity, because she was singing live. If they did, her career could have gone to a more mature, adult-oriented direction. I appreciate the acoustic part even if it's not as spectacular; exactly as I do for Rebel Heart Tour.

I think of M as something more than a disco queen: but then we had Confessions, which is perfect in its presentation (costume, music, coreography) even if I wouldn't vote it number one.

 

S&S let me down: just a tour-de-force, where nobody cares too much about music. Even You must love me, although very emotional, was often badly sung. The new songs in the 2009 leg were awful imo (sorry, Fighter!!). The Michael Jackson tribute was soooo poor. No real singing: better Billie Jean in 1985!! Nice to have the fans request, though. But nothing compared to the setlist variations she is giving us at the moment!

 

MDNA Tour is between my favourite because I watched it in the triangle, so it was special being so close. The stage was incredible, too many things to see... maybe too many.

[#unapologeticbitch 12]

1. Confessions. Literally PERFECTION. So many iconic moments, beautiful costumes, amazing remixes, spectacular stage etc. To me this is THE magnum opus of her career

 

2. Blond Ambition. The definition of ICONIC. 'nuff said. Some of the costumes were a mess though

 

3. Rebel Heart. Her warm attitude and interaction is what makes this tour. brilliant song choices too. Production-wise it's a bit underwhelming for a Madonna concert in 2015 but I guess it was intentional since MADONNA herself is the focus of this show.

 

4. MDNA. Hands down her best stage production. The middle sections drag way too long and the cheerleader part feels so out of place.

 

5. Who's That Girl. Her peak in terms of physicality and dancing. I also love her husky vocals

 

6. Re-invention. The geisha section is one of my favorite sets of all time but unfortunately the second half of the show is very forgettable.

 

7. Sticky & Sweet. Her most energetic show and the crowds were great. But she looked horrendous in 2008 and that quarterback costume is such an abomination. Borderline/Hung Up/4 Minutes sound AWFUL. I live for the Vogue/4 Minutes mix though!

 

8. Girlie Show. I love the setlist but I'm just not a big fan of Dita in general.

 

9. Re-invention. Just a few highlights (Vogue, Nobody Knows Me, Lament, Like A Prayer) and everything else is just okay. Awful lighting and stage. I'm still sad that she paid Love Profusion/Intervention/Xstatic Process/Easy Ride dust.

 

Haven't watched the Virgin Tour

[wtg1987 10,169]

1 Whos That Girl - perfect set list imo and i love leonards arrangements -plus the intro is soooo cool - the way she appears from behind the stage ) i still get goosebumps when i watch this  -PLUS - its all live people ? Live vocals, live musicians - none of this backing tracks crap that she has used since 2001 - THIS is my biggest complaint with all her tours post Girlie Show !!

2 Blond Ambition - A very close second - Iconic tour in every way - its just the dick tracy segment that lets it down for me but i love the opening, prayer section and vogue and keep it together are so amazingly choreagraphed(Vincent Patterson is a legend - watch MJ's Bad25 documentary too)

3 Confessions Tour - Discoball and klein opening - perfect - good set list and i loved Stuarts remixes of La isla, Erotica and Lucky Star

4 Girlie Show - This tour has gone up in my estimations in the fact that its LIVE - I love JML and Everybody arrangements on this one

5 Re-Invention - Another winner in the set list and that Beast Within intro rocks plus the Vogue segue into NKM is great too

6 Drowned World - Love the intro and the dark feel to this tour plus I deserve It and Music the most(Paradise backdrop sublime too)

7 Virgin Tour - Again its LIVE and the setlist is great too 

8 Sticky And Sweet - Sorry but i hate this tour - Kevin Antunes is no Stuart Price or Pat Leonard - his mixes were awful - Only Devil and that amazing rotating stage did much for me on this tour plus here comes the rain again - her grinding during ITG sucks too :((

9 MDNA - Bad in every way - setlist, costumes, only the NKM backdrop did it for me - sorry :((

10 Rebel Heart(Sorry )

[o_g_c_x 2,786]

Rebel Heart is in the top 3 for sure. This tour is amazing and leaves you wanting more.

[skyfitswim 906]

so hard when there are so manny tours but here you go 

 

1) confessions tour: first time i seen madonna so close and see her getting out the ball whas amazing !!!

i love the confessions album , video's and the tracklist of the tour is so amazing what she has done with it

costumes where so beautiful and the hair too.

i went so fast because is flows so good together unbelievable 

i got the balloon in the end , just a mazing show i would like to have on blue ray !!!!

 

2) blond ambition tour: i love everything about this tour no screens but stage whas amazing , never saw this wonderfull show live 

so much energie and great tracklist , confessions tops it because i saw it live !!

hope it will come out on blue ray someday.

madonna at her best energie ever !!

 

3) rebel heart tour : Just wow !!! on the first row ever and so close to MainStage and catwalk !!!

my second best sen her live show ever !!!

Great tracklist but i miss inside out and she played don't tell me and i wish it whas like a prayer, frozen or ghoasttown in belgium.

she is so relaxed and playful , she looks great and costume are amazing !!!!!

hope for the blue ray this year

 

4) re- invention: i saw her for the first time in londen.

fantastic tour i love the energie , tracklist whas great but the acoustic thing whas boring and too long 

i had bad seats for expensive places so i whas disappointed 

but in first row this wold be amazing !!!!

hope it will come to official dvd 

 

 

5) sticky and sweet : i did see her live 4 times in this show and very close !!!

great tour but the re invention song list is better 

but i seen her verry close and had amazing time !!!

 

6) drowned world tour / looks like a great show live , but never saw it live 

but the aquatic thing is also boring and too much music tracks , i wanted more ray of light tracks 

 

7) mdna tour : saw this live but i hated that day , waiting so long that bitch kelly turned arrogant in fronton my voice for the special section contest while i whas there so long and pressed together between the other fans 

it whas raining and my pictu

[Guest]

To this day I STILL don't understand why "Here Comes The Rain Again" was included in Sticky & Sweet.

 

Does anyone know? It's the actual Eurythmics track, no cover. Why? That tour made NO sense. Some great moments here and there, but overall a mess. Not a surprise considering the album it came from.

[Bat-Fan 1,168]

what was so bad about S&S? I kind of enjoyed it