#3: Everybody from The Girlie Show 1993

As noted in #5, Madonna knows how to close a show. This is yet another example. It’s important to mention that Madonna has referenced the '70s funk group, Sly & The Family Stone in her concert performances. For the finale of the Blond Ambition show, Madonna sings a verse of Family Affair before her song Keep It Together. Three years later, featured here in 1993, she sings a verse of Everybody is a Star before singing her 1982 song Everybody. Madonna’s opening vocal is strong and one of the first times I felt she was gaining ownership of her role as an actual singer. 

This fun performance also finds Madonna interacting with her dancers and band members, showcasing that it takes a lot of people to put on a show, and she lets, well, everybody, have their moment in the spotlight. Madonna’s band introductions reference Sly & The Family Stone’s Dance to the Music. It’s a chance to see and appreciate the talent on that stage. As mentioned in earlier posts, the drummer Omar Hakim, the guitarist Paul Pesco, and the percussionist Luis Conte rise to the occasion. Yet it’s Madonna's interaction with the bassist Victor Bailey that gives me the chills every time I watch this performance. Madonna shouts, “Go ‘head Victor Bailey!” and the camera catches Madonna, almost lost in the moment, moving to Bailey’s super-cool, quiet-confident “bottom” bass notes. Funky, groovy, sexy… Madonna. BSo