Sticky & Sweet Tour

This article covers the tour. For the music album see Sticky & Sweet Tour (album) .

Sticky & Sweet Tour

from Madonna

Presentation album	Hard candy
Beginning of the tour	August 23, 2008
End of the tour	September 2, 2009
Concerts in total	42 in Europe 30 in North America 11 in South America 2 in Asia 85 total
revenue	$ 270 million (2008) $ 137 million (2009) $ 407 million (total)

Madonna Tour Chronology

Confessions Tour (2006)	Sticky & Sweet Tour (2008-2009)	The MDNA Tour (2012)

The Sticky & Sweet Tour was the eighth world tour by the American singer Madonna .

Opening act

• Robyn (Europe)
• Benny Benassi (Rome)
• Paul Oakenfold (Europe, Israel, North America & South America)
• Bob Sinclar (Paris)

Ticket sales & records

The Sticky & Sweet Tour is to this day (as of May 2014) the most successful tour by a solo artist of all time. A total of $ 408 million was grossed in 85 shows. In the summer months of 2008 and 2009, around 3.5 million viewers attended the tour. Madonna also set other visitor records:

• Swiss attendance record - 72,000 spectators at a concert,
• Swedish attendance record - 119,000 spectators with two concerts,
• Scandinavian audience record - 85,000 spectators at a concert.

Preparation and conception

The costumes were designed by Ariane Phillips. The NME website reported that there were 250 stagehands, 69 guitars, 12 trampolines and 100 knee pads for the tour. The stage itself consisted of a catwalk that led from the normal stage to a smaller B-stage. There were also multiple screens that changed shape and size during the show. There was also a screen cylinder above the B stage that could also move up and down. The show itself was divided into four sections - "Pimp", "Old School", "Gypsy", and "Rave". All four had different basic themes and costumes, were introduced by on-screen videos, and each contained five to six songs. Together with the video feeders, Madonna presented 24 songs.

Course of the show

The show was opened by a video clip. The screens initially had the shape of a cube before changing into a kind of “wall”. The video showed a gloomy 3D animation of a candy production. The screens then spelled the word "Candy" until a screen turned and Madonna presented herself with her legs apart, leather boots and a short black suit. She sang Candy Shop as the opening number with similarly dressed and bondage-inspired dancers. It was followed by Beat Goes on , while a white old-fashioned car rolled down the catwalk and Madonna and dancers danced in it. The screens showed casino-like color animations while Pharrell Williams and Kanye West could be seen on them. A rock version of Human Nature with electric guitar followed on stage B , which was played by Madonna herself. On the screens one saw US singer Britney Spears filmed by security cameras locked in an elevator. At the end of the first act, Madonna sang a new version of Vogue .

The second act, Old School , was introduced by a video showing Madonna as a bodybuilder in a dark basement, boxing matches and quick cuts. A remix of Die Another Day was played as accompanying music . Excerpts from the video were also used for the Sticky & Sweet Tour Book . Get Into the Groove opened the second act and Madonna showed herself jumping rope in a black and red and sports-suitable outfit. The screens showed colorful figures and colors, the video itself was produced by Keith Haring . In the following song, Heartbeat , Madonna danced robotically, and it seemed as if the other two dancers were controlling their steps. Then she sang Borderline as a rock version with a pink guitar. This was followed by She's Not Me , in which her dancers wore old Madonna clothes from the videos for Like A Virgin , Open Your Heart , Vogue and Material Girl . A remix to Music followed while the screens showed subway stations. Music contained elements from the songs Last Night a DJ Saved My Life and Put Your Hands up 4 Detroit .

For the third act Gypsy there was also a video that showed an animated figure hiding under a leaf during a rainstorm. There was also a mashup of Rain and Here Comes the Rain Again . This was followed by the ballad Devil Wouldn't Recognize You , in which Madonna wore a black raincoat. For Spanish Lesson she took it off and presented herself in a short black dress. During the Spanish Lesson she danced with monks. Then the monks took off their cloaks and presented themselves in short, colorful, Spanish clothes. Madonna then presented Miles Away on stage B with only guitar . This was followed by a fast and also Latin-inspired version of La Isla Bonita , which included elements of the song Lala Pute . With a small band as well as guitars and violins, You Must Love Me and Doli Doli followed as acoustic numbers, while Don't Cry for Me Argentinia was added to the setlist in Argentina .

This was followed by the video introduction Get Stupid for the final act, Rave . The video showed the consequences of global warming, global issues and the comparison of John McCain with Hitler and Barack Obama with Gandhi. In a black outfit, which had silver heels on the breasts and glittering shoulder pads, Madonna sang the song 4 Minutes with Justin Timberlake and Timbaland on the screens as the opening of the last act . For the song Like a Prayer , Madonna danced with similarly gloomy dancers on the catwalk and on a platform raised on the B-stage. The screens showed scriptures from the Bible and other holy books, while the song contained elements of Feels Like Home and had also been reworked. For Ray of Light Madonna sang again with electric guitar on the B-stage. Madonna then asked the audience for an a cappella song or sang Like a Virgin as an a cappella version. This was followed by Hung up with guitar as a rock version, while the screens showed an oversized chess set. Give It to Me followed as the finale , in which she sang along with the audience and danced wildly. Then she stood again on the screen, which turned around and ended the show with the words "Game Over".

Changes in 2009

After the extension was announced for 2009, some changes were made. The on-screen videos from Candy Shop now showed a tongue sucking on a piece of candy while the outfit was being redesigned. Hung up was replaced by an electronic version of Frozen , and a short Michael Jackson medley was played in homage to the recently deceased singer.

Song list

Tour dates

Madonna sings the song Candy Shop on the Sticky & Sweet Tour.

Madonna sings the song 4 Minutes on the Sticky & Sweet Tour.

Madonna sings the song Beat Goes On on the Sticky & Sweet Tour.

date	city	country	Venue
Europe
August 23, 2008	Cardiff	Wales	Millennium Stadium
August 26, 2008	Nice	France	Stade Charles-Ehrmann
August 28, 2008	Berlin	Germany	Olympic Stadium
August 30, 2008	Zurich	Switzerland	Military airfield
September 2, 2008	Amsterdam	Netherlands	Amsterdam arena
September 4, 2008	Dusseldorf	Germany	ESPRIT arena
September 6, 2008	Rome	Italy	Olympic Stadium Rome
September 9, 2008	Frankfurt	Germany	Commerzbank Arena
September 11, 2008	London	England	Wembley Stadium
September 14, 2008	Lisbon	Portugal	Parque da Bela Vista
September 16, 2008	Seville	Spain	Seville Olympic Stadium
September 18, 2008	Valencia		Circuit Ricardo Tormo
September 20, 2008	Paris	France	Stade de France
September 21, 2008
September 23, 2008	Vienna	Austria	Danube Island
September 25, 2008	Budva	Montenegro	Jaz
September 27, 2008	Athens	Greece	Olympic Stadium
North America
October 4, 2008	East Rutherford	United States	Izod Center
October 6, 2008	New York City		Madison Square Garden
October 7, 2008
October 11, 2008
October 12, 2008
October 15, 2008	Boston		TD Garden
October 16, 2008
October 18, 2008	Toronto	Canada	Air Canada Center
October 19, 2008
October 22, 2008	Montreal		Center Bell
October 23, 2008
October 26, 2008	Chicago	United States	United Center
October 27, 2008
October 28, 2008	Vancouver	Canada	BC Place Stadium
November 1, 2008	Oakland	United States	Oracle Arena
November 2, 2008
November 4, 2008	San Diego		PETCO Park
November 6, 2008	los Angeles		Dodger Stadium
November 8, 2008	Paradise		MGM Grand Garden Arena
November 9, 2008
November 11, 2008	Denver		Pepsi Center
November 12, 2008
November 16, 2008	Houston		Minute Maid Park
November 18, 2008	Detroit		Ford Field
November 20, 2008	Philadelphia		Wells Fargo Center
November 22, 2008	Atlantic City		Boardwalk Hall
November 24, 2008	Atlanta		Philips Arena
November 26, 2008	Miami		Sun Life Stadium
November 29, 2008	Mexico city	Mexico	Foro Sol
November 30, 2008
South America
December 4, 2008	Buenos Aires	Argentina	Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti
December 5, 2008
December 7, 2008
December 8, 2008
December 10, 2008	Santiago	Chile	Estadio Nacional de Chile
December 11, 2008
December 14, 2008	Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	Estádio do Maracanã
December 15, 2008
December 18, 2008	São Paulo		Estádio do Morumbi
December 20, 2008
December 21, 2008
Europe
4th July 2009	London	England	The O₂
July 5, 2009
July 7, 2009	Manchester		Manchester arena
July 9, 2009	Paris	France	Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy
July 11, 2009	Werchter	Belgium	Werchter Festival Park
July 14, 2009	Milan	Italy	San Siro
July 16, 2009	Udine		Friuli Stadium
July 21, 2009	Barcelona	Spain	Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys
July 23, 2009	Madrid		Estadio Vicente Calderón
July 25, 2009	Zaragoza		Recinto de la Feria de Zaragoza
July 28, 2009	Oslo	Norway	Valle Hovin
July 30, 2009
August 2, 2009	St. Petersburg	Russia	Palace Square
4th August 2009	Tallinn	Estonia	Tallinna lauluväljak
August 6, 2009	Helsinki	Finland	Jätkäsaari
August 8, 2009	Gothenburg	Sweden	Ullevi
August 9, 2009
August 11, 2009	Copenhagen	Denmark	Park
August 13, 2009	Prague	Czech Republic	Chodov amphitheater
August 15, 2009	Warsaw	Poland	Warsaw Babice Airport
August 18, 2009	Munich	Germany	Olympic Stadium Munich
August 22, 2009	Budapest	Hungary	Kincsem Park
August 24, 2009	Belgrade	Serbia	Ušće Park
August 26, 2009	Bucharest	Romania	Parc Izvor
August 29, 2009	Sofia	Bulgaria	Vasil Levski National Stadium
Asia
September 1, 2009	Tel Aviv	Israel	Yarkon Park
September 2, 2009

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Madonna breaks records with Sticky & Sweet Tour! Madonna Fan Club, September 6, 2009.