Drowned World Tour - Concert Synopsis

Concert Synopsis

The show was divided into five sections: Cyber-Punk, Geisha, Cowgirl, Spanish and Ghetto. It began with a dramatic performance of "Drowned World/Substitute For Love"; Madonna entered amidst billows of dry ice, dressed in a sleeveless black top, crossover top with one net sleeve, jeans with zips and bondage straps, a studded dog collar and a tartan kilt. She performed the song standing on the middle platform of the stage. Afterwards a chaotic cyberpunk-themed performance of "Impressive Instant" started, with dancers in gasmasks and headlights. She then played guitar for "Candy Perfume Girl", leading to the performance of "Beautiful Stranger" featuring a lost stage technician. Backdrops displayed scenes from the movie Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and psychedelic fluorescent whirls. The first section finished with "Ray of Light" where Madonna danced energetically across the stage. The second segment opened with a video interlude of "Paradise (Not for Me)" and had nearly naked dancers hanging upside down from the ceiling. As the video ended, the dancers stood in front of the stage opening their mouth which was lit from inside. Madonna appeared on the stage wearing a short black wig and a hand-painted kimono with fifty-two-feet long sleevespan, to sing "Frozen". The backdrops display silhouettes of burning trees against racing, blood-red clouds. A short intro of "Open Your Heart" lead to "Nobody's Perfect" where Madonna was portrayed to be sacrificed for her sins. This was followed by "Mer Girl" which turned into the fast-action, ninja/samurai martial arts battle performance of "Sky Fits Heaven", transforming back into the slow-tempo "Mer Girl". This section was inspired by the Chinese film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). Madonna's battered and bruised face is shown in the backdrops as she emerged with a shotgun from the battle on stage and shot her dancer. As Madonna disappeared into the floor, a violent, sexually explicit Japanese animation dance remix interlude of "What It Feels Like for a Girl" was shown, featuring footage from the Japanese Anime Film Perfect Blue.

Madonna appeared as a cowgirl, wearing a stars and stripes vest, for an acoustic guitar performance of "I Deserve It" and dedicated it to her then husband Guy Ritchie. This was followed by line dancing with her dancers dressed as cowboys during "Don't Tell Me" wear she accessorized herself with a raccoon's tail. For "Human Nature", she rode a mechanical bull. After the performance, she addressed the audience in a mocking southern accent and sang a macabre themed song titled "The Funny Song". The next song was "Secret", which featured scenes of riverside baptism, Sufi dervish ceremonies and Buddhist prayers in the backdrops. She finished off the segment with "Gone", which was replaced with "You'll See" on some select U.S. venues. Dancers started the Evita tango interlude of "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina". A number of candles were lit along the side of the stage. Madonna appeared in a half-dress and performed the Spanish version of "What it Feels Like For a Girl" titled "Lo Que Siente La Mujer". She finished the segment with an acoustic version of "La Isla Bonita" accompanied by flamenco dancing.

Madonna appeared on stage, in a halter D&G t-shirt that read "Mother" on the front and "F*cker" on the back and a fur coat, singing a mash-up of Stardust's "Music Sounds Better With You" and "Holiday". She and her entourage finished the show with a ghetto-themed "Music", introduced by Ali G, as her music video images flashed onscreen behind her. The song was mashed up with Kraftwerk's song "Trans-Europe Express". The phrase "The End" appeared on the backdrops, and signified the show was over.

Several changes were made to the final shows in Los Angeles after the September 11 attacks: Madonna wore an American flag kilt during the show's opening segment as a display of patriotism, the closing of "Mer Girl" (part II) was altered to remove the staged shooting of a character; Madonna instead put the gun down, hugged him and they left the stage together. The macabre cannibalism-themed "Funny Song" was removed. Additionally, as a surprise for Madonna at the final concert date, her husband at the time, Guy Ritchie, appeared as the lost technician at the end of "Beautiful Stranger", the Samurai during "Sky Fits Heaven" wore Los Angeles Lakers jerseys. Also, all of the dancers joined in for the final dance section of "Holiday", which usually only featured Madonna and her two backing singers. During the New York City performance of "Secret", she dedicated the song to its inhabitants.