#8: Dress You Up from The Virgin Tour 1985

There’s something pleasantly green about Madonna’s first big concert outing—The Virgin Tour. It’s the mid-eighties; Madonna is about 27 years old; and judging by the roar of the crowd, all of Detroit’s teenage girls are there to welcome her home—now that’s a 10-year high-school reunion!

Madonna opens the show with Dress You Up from the album, Like a Virgin. As she walks down the steps to the main stage, you can almost see her counting to the beat. Regardless, she’s home.

There seems to be an unaffected quality here—everything seems, well, “shiny and new.” From the bracelets and the bows to the lace and the mole, Madonna created a style emulated by girls everywhere. Toward the end of the performance, she peels off her jacket a bit to reveal her purple lace top and just a hint of her purple bra. A trailblazer is born.

In an earlier post, I spoke of Madonna definitely being talented. There have been different levels of it throughout her career. This is that X-factor, raw-talent phase. Not a classically trained voice, but holding her own; not Ginger Rogers, but can dance well and return live to the mic. I would take all of that over someone with the best vocal ability and the most beautiful lines.

Other notes: The young-looking, short-haired guitarist Paul Pesco, who has a solo in the performance, rejoined Madonna eight years later on The Girlie Show, donning a different look—long, waist-length hair. The drummer Jonathan Moffett continued with Madonna on two more consecutive tours (’87; ’90) and was recently seen performing in the brilliant concert documentary, Michael Jackson: This Is It. BSo