Live Performances
Björk performed the song in a few TV appearances. On February 12, 1994, she performed the song in the French show Nulle Part Ailleurs, and on March 17, 1994, she performed "Violently Happy" on Top of the Pops. She further performed it on MTV show 3 From 1, along "Venus as a Boy". The song was part of Björk MTV Unplugged performance, which was released on her DVD MTV Unplugged / Live and on Debut Live, included in Live Box
The song was performed during her first three tours. The performance during the Debut Tour was released on Vessel, where she wears a dress similar to the one wore in the music video. The performance of the song during the Post Tour, where "Violently Happy" was usually the encore was heavily praised by critics. Nick Coleman of The Independent stated that during "Violently Happy" "Björk formed a stubby pencil shape and bounced herself silly". During its review of Björk's performance at The Academy, MTV Online complimented the singer's energy and wrote that "during "Violently Happy", I thought maybe someone might have snuck something into the coffee I had before the show", on a similar note, Barry Walters of The San Francisco Examiner stated that "a relatively low-key track like "Violently Happy" was turned into the evening’s pounding peak".
Its performance during the Homogenic Tour was praised by James Sullivan of the San Francisco Chronicle, who wrote that "As the string section sat motionless during the dance track "Violently Happy", Björk raced back and forth in bare feet to the syncopated thump. She’s an irrepressible dust devil, a former child star who knows how to command attention."
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