POLL: Favorite LIVE TO TELL Concert Performance?

[BADonna 27,210]

Madonna's "Live to Tell" has been included on four of Madonna's concert tours: Who's That Girl (1987), Blond Ambition (1990), Confessions (2006), and Celebration (2023―2024).   With Madonna showcasing her Celebration Tour Performance of "Live To Tell" for World Aids Day, I thought it would be a great time to take a poll on which LIVE performance you prefer most?  Feel free to share your thoughts or experiences on your choice or any of the other performances.  If you need a reminder of the performances, here they are for your viewing pleasure:

 

 

[mirtillo 2,751]

It's very hard! The night will bring advice...

[Dita 3,278]

It's between Confessions and Celebration for me. The staging and meaning of the Celebration performance is a bit stronger for me, but The vocals and the instrumental on the Confessions Tour are just next level, so I ultimately went with that. 

[True Blue 84 2,627]

Celebration! With Confessions as a close 2nd... 

But seeing the Celebration performance in person in Amsterdam really had me crying like a child in the arena... such a beautiful performance..

 

 

[scion 3,163]

Confessions, she was at her best vocally for this song.

Celebration made me cry in Stockholm.

Who's That Girl she sounded terrific and the band were on fire.

Blond Ambition looked good.

[Tony Fortin 2,565]

 

1 Who's That Girl? my choice........pure and naked simplicity of the song and the woman

2 Celebration....the greatest moment of the concert and a grandiose staged tribute....those who were lucky enough to be in the room will understand

3 Blond Ambition....a short but iconic LTT that fits perfectly into the religious segment of the concert

4 Confessions.....undeniable visual effect in this version...musically a little pompous but very good all the same

 

in short I like everything

[MDNA22 1,414]

Blond Ambition  - can't be beaten for that moment in the song where she is standing there with her back to the audience and head back and the music hangs and almost stops to silence before going into 'If I ran away' line  - just an incredible moment and feels the same on every show recorded Japan, Barcelona, Nice and Paris and amazing moment live  

[scion 3,163]

14 minutes ago, Tony Fortin said:

 

1 Who's That Girl? my choice........pure and naked simplicity of the song and the woman

2 Celebration....the greatest moment of the concert and a grandiose staged tribute....those who were lucky enough to be in the room will understand

3 Blond Ambition....a short but iconic LTT that fits perfectly into the religious segment of the concert

4 Confessions.....undeniable visual effect in this version...musically a little pompous but very good all the same

 

in short I like everything

Pompous? The inclusion of Tears to replace the main riff was absolute genius.

[Tony Fortin 2,565]

5 minutes ago, scion said:

Pompous? The inclusion of Tears to replace the main riff was absolute genius.

and yet the least moving version of the four in my opinion

[BADonna 27,210]

I agree all four performances were pretty great, but each of them had their flaws as well.

4. Who's That Girl: While very emotional and raw, the vocals were that great.

3. Blond Ambition: Vocals were really good, but something was amiss with this version. It may just because it was an abridged version of the song.

2. Celebration: Vocals were pretty messy, but I also blame it on the way they tried to blend her vocals with the backing vocals. But of course, live it sounds much better and the message is so moving and touching.

1.  Confessions:  Vocals sounded beautiful and while the Celebration Tour's presentation may have been more personally moving, I just love everything about this performance.

[True Blue 84 2,627]

12 minutes ago, Adonna said:

I agree all four performances were pretty great, but each of them had their flaws as well.

4. Who's That Girl: While very emotional and raw, the vocals were that great.

3. Blond Ambition: Vocals were really good, but something was amiss with this version. It may just because it was an abridged version of the song.

2. Celebration: Vocals were fine, but I also blame it on the way they tried to blend her vocals with the backing vocals. But of course, live it sounds much better and the message is so moving and touching.

1.  Confessions:  Vocals sounded beautiful and while the Celebration Tour's presentation may have been more personally moving, I just love everything about this performance.

Ive seen almost every date of this tour online and went to it in person and live to tell at Celebration doesn't sound messy to me at all... Plenty of videos out there where her vocals can be heard loud singing over the backing track and sounding fine. 

But we had this discussion before and we will never agree on it lol... 

If i had to rank them it would be 

1 Celebration 

2 Confessions 

3 Blond Ambition 

4 Who's that girl 

 

But i agree with you that Confessions had the best vocals on this song.

[BADonna 27,210]

4 minutes ago, True Blue 84 said:

Ive seen almost every date of this tour online and went to it in person and live to tell at Celebration doesn't sound messy to me at all... Plenty of videos out there where her vocals can be heard loud singing over the backing track and sounding fine. 

But we had this discussion before and we will never agree on it lol... 

If i had to rank them it would be 

1 Celebration 

2 Confessions 

3 Blond Ambition 

4 Who's that girl 

 

 

You're right! We aren't going to agree, but out of the four, it is the messiest to me because in the others, you just hear her vocals without backing always trying to take over. Anyway,  thanks for your opinion.

[True Blue 84 2,627]

@Adonna i really like the sound in this one 🥰

 

 

[BADonna 27,210]

9 minutes ago, True Blue 84 said:

@Adonna i really like the sound in this one 🥰

 

 

I agree; it sounds better than most videos of it I've heard.  Again, being there live really changes everything as well. Everything just hits you and of course it's extremely moving.  Still, her vocals are very poor here.  Ordinarily I wouldn't care because I think the same with the Who's That Girl tour as well.  It's just the Confessions Tours she to be right on target especially vocal wise.  I can see why people gravitate to the Celebration performance because it really cuts deep regarding the Aids epidemic and how personal the performance is to Madonna.  And to be quite frank, you really do feel the sadness and vulnerability in her live vocals when you can hear them in this performance. 

[True Blue 84 2,627]

9 minutes ago, Adonna said:

I agree; it sounds better than most videos of it I've heard.  Again, being there live really changes everything as well. Everything just hits you and of course it's extremely moving.  Still, her vocals are very poor here.  Ordinarily I wouldn't care because I think the same with the Who's That Girl tour as well.  It's just the Confessions Tours she to be right on target especially vocal wise.  I can see why people gravitate to the Celebration performance because it really cuts deep regarding the Aids epidemic and how personal the performance is to Madonna.  And to be quite frank, you really do feel the sadness and vulnerability in her live vocals when you can hear them in this performance. 

We have such a different meaning of what poor vocals sound like 😅

Eurovision = poor vocals 

That video = o.k vocals, not at her best ( well she's 66 and never bin Whitney ) but poor is the opposite imo lol... 

Anyway, let's keep it with that, because the discussion is going to start again and i appreciate your opinion 🥰

[BADonna 27,210]

1 minute ago, True Blue 84 said:

We have such a different meaning of what poor vocals sound like 😅

Eurovision = poor vocals 

That video = o.k vocals, not at her best ( well she's 66 and never bin Whitney ) but poor is the opposite imo lol... 

Anyway, let's keep it with that, because the discussion is going to start again and i appreciate your opinion 🥰

I'm only comparing Live to Tell. Not anything else you brought up.  IMO, she sounded best vocally on The Confessions Tour.  Nothing on the Celebration Tour comes close! 

[True Blue 84 2,627]

21 minutes ago, Adonna said:

I agree; it sounds better than most videos of it I've heard.  Again, being there live really changes everything as well. Everything just hits you and of course it's extremely moving.  Still, her vocals are very poor here.  Ordinarily I wouldn't care because I think the same with the Who's That Girl tour as well.  It's just the Confessions Tours she to be right on target especially vocal wise.  I can see why people gravitate to the Celebration performance because it really cuts deep regarding the Aids epidemic and how personal the performance is to Madonna.  And to be quite frank, you really do feel the sadness and vulnerability in her live vocals when you can hear them in this performance. 

"And to be quite frank, you really do feel the sadness and vulnerability in her live vocals when you can hear them in this performance."

 

That reminds me of one of the dutch reviews, they said almost the same thing.

"The emotional highlight of the evening was the song Live to Tell. Madonna also dedicated this song to friends who had lost her. And the penetrating way she sang the song gave me goosebumps. She has never sounded so moving live. Never before has she managed to move so much during a show. It was a moment of brilliant stillness."

[PedroNNA 7,798]

Confessions just shook the arena to the core, you could hear a grasp of the audience when the cross started raising up 

Celebration close to our community in a very heartfelt and sincere way 

[BADonna 27,210]

5 minutes ago, True Blue 84 said:

That reminds me of one of the dutch reviews, they said almost the same thing.

"The emotional highlight of the evening was the song Live to Tell. Madonna also dedicated this song to friends who had lost her. And the penetrating way she sang the song gave me goosebumps. She has never sounded so moving live. Never before has she managed to move so much during a show. It was a moment of brilliant stillness."

It almost took me there. For me, it's the damn vocal track carrying her, and I say that for a lot of the performances on the Celebration Tour.  At times, you knew she was singing live, but then all of sudden you could hear her vocals being sucked in by the backing track. 

5 minutes ago, PedroNNA said:

Confessions just shook the arena to the core, you could hear a grasp of the audience when the cross started raising up 

Celebration close to our community in a very heartfelt and sincere way 

This really sums it up for me!!  Both really had an impact, but necessarily for the same reasons, but all in a good way!! 

[True Blue 84 2,627]

5 minutes ago, PedroNNA said:

Confessions just shook the arena to the core, you could hear a grasp of the audience when the cross started raising up 

Celebration close to our community in a very heartfelt and sincere way 

So, wich one you voted for?

[PedroNNA 7,798]

6 minutes ago, True Blue 84 said:

So, wich one you voted for?

Confessions 

[True Blue 84 2,627]

2 minutes ago, Adonna said:

It almost took me there. For me, it's the damn vocal track carrying her, and I say that for a lot of the performances on the Celebration Tour.  At times, you knew she was singing live, but then all of sudden you could hear her vocals being sucked in by the backing track. 

This really sums it up for me!!  Both really had an impact, but necessarily for the same reasons, but all in a good way!! 

I tought Celebration was a great balance between live vocals over a backing track with that kind of concert, especially for a 66 yo who moves allot.. 

But..... the spot in the arena itself could make a huge difference because the loudness in vocals are so different in different spots ( same night) 

But i have no hard time hearing her most of the time, i really think it was done fine. Also at the date i went I could hear everything just fine, all blended really nice imo 🥰

The only songs i think the backing over took her live vocals are Vogue and Everybody ( verses)

[BADonna 27,210]

28 minutes ago, True Blue 84 said:

I tought Celebration was a great balance between live vocals over a backing track with that kind of concert, especially for a 66 yo who moves allot.. 

But..... the spot in the arena itself could make a huge difference because the loudness in vocals are so different in different spots ( same night) 

But i have no hard time hearing her most of the time, i really think it was done fine. Also at the date i went I could hear everything just fine, all blended really nice imo 🥰

The only songs i think the backing over took her live vocals are Vogue and Everybody ( verses)

Awesome. Thanks for your input.

[Burroughs 1,167]

The crucified one. Anyway, I'd love Madonna to sing Crucified by Army of Lovers. It's such a classic.

[Burroughs 1,167]

1 hour ago, Adonna said:

Celebration: Vocals were pretty messy, but I also blame it on the way they tried to blend her vocals with the backing vocals. But of course, live it sounds much better and the message is so moving and touching.

I hate the "double" vocals in this one.