The Onyx Hotel Tour
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| The Onyx Hotel Tour | ||
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| Tour by Britney Spears | ||
| Dates | 2 March 2004 - 6 June 2004 | |
| Legs | 2 | |
| Shows | 110 (55 canceled)
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| Britney Spears tour chronology | ||
| Dream Within a Dream Tour (2002) |
The Onyx Hotel Tour (2004) |
The M+M's Tour (2007) |
The Onyx Hotel Tour was Britney Spears’ tour in support of her fourth #1 album In the Zone.
Before the tour even began Spears made surprise appearances in New York in November 2003.(Being featured on MTV in a show titled "Britney Spears: In The Zone and Out All Night") Spears performed 3 surprise shows at three different nightclubs.[citation needed]
Beginning in San Diego, California on March 2, 2004, the tour featured futuristic postmodern architecture supposedly inspired by Tokyo. The show didn't feature as much lavish routines as her last tour in favor of a more intimate setting. The tour was canceled after the second leg due to Spears' knee injury on the set of her "Outrageous" music video. Immediately after what was supposed to be her last show, Spears married Kevin Federline. The Onyx Hotel Tour, grossed over $34 million dollars and was seen by over 600,000 fans in North America and Europe.
Her Miami show was televised on Showtime to huge ratings. No official DVD has been released, although there are many bootlegs. Parts of the European Leg were chronicled in Britney and Kevin: Chaotic. The Lisboa Festival in Lisbon, Portugal aired and broadcasted live on SIC Radical, a Portuguese TV channel. The Miami show was also aired on Channel 4 in the U.K
Contents |
[edit] The announcement
Britney’s set design was based on the mysterious theory of the Onyx stone:
An "onyx" by definition is a precious black gemstone that emits various colors of light depending on the light you shine into it. The ONYX HOTEL is a unique, mysterious hotel powered by an onyx stone. Each guest who enters this hotel shines their own light into the onyx, and in return, makes their fantasies come to life. It's a vibrant, whimsical place where wondrous dreams are realized, and the darkest of secrets are revealed.
Britney expressed, "I'm especially looking forward to bringing my tour to new markets and performing in front of fans that may not have had the opportunity to see any of my previous tours."
Kelis served as an opening act for several shows before the tour was canceled. Said Britney, "'Milkshake' is one of my favorite new songs, and I am so excited that Kelis, who is so talented, has agreed to open the Onyx Hotel Tour for me."
[edit] The show
While Britney's last tour, Dream Within A Dream was Vegas-style theatrical, The Onyx Hotel Tour was more New York-style theatrical. This show was purposely less lavish than the previous tour and featured little pyrotechnics or other visual effects, as compared to Dream Within A Dream, apparently to make the show more intimate and focused more on the songs and dancing. However, Spears' production team spared no expense on the show's setup. They were reportedly inspired by the city of Tokyo, with its futuristic, postmodern architecture, and designed their stage based on it, with state-of-the-art video screens and set pieces. Most of the songs performed were from her then-current album, In the Zone, but a few of her earlier efforts did appear on the set list, in remixed form. Spears also played piano briefly during her fan-favorite ballad "Everytime".
Spears had eight costume changes throughout the show, with various outfits ranging from a black catsuit during the show's opener to a pair of bikini underwear. The clothes came courtesy of several designers such as Roberto Cavalli and Dsquared, who also designed costumes for Dream Within a Dream Tour.
The March 28 show in Miami was filmed for a special that aired on Showtime and attracted huge ratings. The show was rerun several times that year and still drew significantly large numbers. [1] Unlike Spears' previous televised concerts, this show has not been released to DVD.
During the show in Moline, Illinois (18 March 2004), Spears suffered a fall during "(I Got That) Boom Boom" and injured her knee, which caused the show to come to a halt without an encore. Spears went on stage and told the audience "I hurt my leg really bad, sorry I cannot finish the show. But thank you, Moline". Shows in Chicago and Detroit were postponed to the end of the first leg of the tour. The show in Cleveland was postponed to the summer leg because of illness, and canceled altogether when the summer shows were scrapped.
The third leg of the tour, which would have been a second North American trek, as well as Asia and Australia, was canceled because of the injury resulting from a fall on the set of Britney's video shoot for "Outrageous" in Queens, NY. She underwent arthroscopic knee surgery at a New York hospital to remove floating cartilage. Spears would not perform onstage again until The M+Ms Tour in 2007.
The June 5th show in Lisbon was part of the Rock in Rio Festival (which Spears had performed at in 2001 in Rio de Janeiro). Since the show was nestled between already scheduled dates in Dublin, Ireland, the full set was not built. Screens were mounted on the main stage and staircases were assmbled resembling the original stage set up. Props such as "the bus" were used. "Oops!...I Did It Again" and "Touch of My Hand" were not performed.
Opening acts were Skye Sweetnam in the US and Europe, Kelis in the US and the final show in Dublin, JC Chasez in Europe, and Wicked Wisdom in Europe, and Toronto based rock/reggae band Dodger filling in for five dates that Kelis canceled due to illness.
[edit] Performances and controversies
The 2004 Onyx Hotel Tour brought new criticism for Spears, for in certain routines she and her dancers were seemingly nude and performing explicit routines simulating sex, orgies, and masturbation during "Touch of My Hand" and "Breathe on Me". Given that many underage fans were in the audience there was some outrage about the performances, and there were reports of adult chaperones angrily storming out with young children they brought to the concert.
During the performance of "Touch of My Hand", Spears emerged onstage in a white robe, then after the second verse, removed it, revealing a tight flesh-colored suit covered in crystals (an obvious homage to her diamond-encrusted nude body in her "Toxic" video).
In Denver, Colorado, during the performance of "Everytime," Britney's microphone goes out right before she begins to sing. Britney continued to sing live (one of the songs where she sang completely without any backup track songs), but a backup track was turned on. She is notified after the first chorus, as you can see her acknowledge someone off-stage, and she then begins lip-syncing. She can be visually seen singing like she sings the song live, but it of course does not match up. This can be seen on a video shot by an atendee on youtube by searching for "Britney Spears Everytime Denver" (the video's tracking is not off).
At her Toronto performance in April of 2004, her music equipment malfunctioned on two occasions. Britney continued to sing as if nothing was happening.
[edit] Opening acts
- Kelis (First Leg)
- Skye Sweetnam (First Leg, Second Leg)
- JC Chasez (Second Leg)
- Wicked Wisdom (Second Leg)
- Eamon (Was to open Third Leg)
[edit] Set list
Video Introduction: The Onyx Hotel Lobby
- "Toxic"
- "Overprotected"
- "Boys"
- "Showdown"
Video Interlude: The Mystic Lounge
Video Intelrude: The Mystic Garden
- "Everytime"
- "The Hook Up"
- "I'm A Slave 4 U"
Video Interlude: The Onyx Zone
- "Shadow"
Video Interlude: The Onyx Hotel's Security Cameras
In The Club
- "(I Got That) Boom Boom
Check Out Hotel
[edit] Tour Dates
The Onyx Hotel Tour", which grossed over $34 million dollars and was seen by over 600,000 fans in North America and Europe.[1]
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Bold Text = Canceled Show
[edit] Cancelled Shows
(Canceled Due To Knee Injury)
- 06/22/04 - Hartford, Connecticut - Meadows Music Theatre
- 06/23/04 - Mansfield, Massachusetts - Tweeter Center
- 06/25/04 - Scranton, Pennsylvania - Montage Mountain Performing Arts Center
- 06/26/04 - Darien Center, New York - Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
- 06/27/04 - Toronto, Ontario - Molson Amphitheatre
- 06/29/04 - Cleveland, Ohio - Gund Arena (replay of canceled date)
- 06/30/04 - Noblesville, Indiana - Verizon Wireless Music
- 07/01/04 - Milwaukee, Wisconsin - Marcus Amphitheatre
- 07/03/04 - Columbus, Ohio - Germain Amphitheater
- 07/04/04 - Hershey, Pennsylvania - Hersheypark Stadium
- 07/08/04 - Wantagh, New York - Tommy Hilfiger at Nikon Jones Beach Theater
- 07/09/04 - Wantagh, New York - Tommy Hilfiger at Nikon Jones Beach Theater
- 07/10/04 - Bristow, Virginia - Nissan Pavilion at Stone Bristow
- 07/12/04 - Camden, New Jersey - Tweeter Center at the Waterfront
- 07/13/04 - Holmdel, New Jersey - PNC Bank Arts Center
- 07/14/04 - Burgettstown, Pennsylvania - Post-Gazette Pavilion
- 07/16/04 - Minneapolis, Minnesota - Target Center
- 07/17/04 - Tinley Park, Illinois - Tweeter Center
- 07/19/04 - Maryland Heights, Missouri - UMB Bank Pavilion
- 07/20/04 - Antioch, Tennessee - Starwood Amphitheatre
- 07/22/04 - Raleigh, North Carolina - ALLTEL Pavilion at Walnut Creek
- 07/23/04 - Charlotte, North Carolina - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Charlotte
- 07/24/04 - Virginia Beach, Virginia - Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Virginia Beach
- 07/27/04 - West Palm Beach, Florida - Sound Advice Amph
- 07/28/04 - Tampa Bay, Florida - Tampa Bay Amphitheater
- 07/30/04 - New Orleans, Louisiana - New Orleans Arena
- 07/31/04 - The Woodlands, Texas - Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
- 08/02/04 - Dallas, Texas - Smirnoff Music Centre
- 08/03/04 - San Antonio, Texas - Verizon Wireless Amphithatre
- 08/05/04 - Alburquerque, New Mexico - Journal Pavilion
- 08/07/04 - Irvine, California - Verizon Wireless
- 08/08/04 - Concord, California - Chronicle Pavilion
- 08/10/04 - Marysville, California - Sleep Train Amphitheatre
- 08/11/04 - Mountain View, California - Shoreline Amphitheatre
- 08/13/04 - Chula Vista, California - Coors Amphitheatre
- 08/14/04 - Las Vegas, Nevada - MGM Grand Garden Arena
- 08/15/04 - Bakersfield, California - Centennial Garden
[edit] Unannounced Rumored Canceled Dates
Cancelled Asia Dates
- 08/20/04 - Manila, Philippines - The Fort Bonifacio Open Field
- 08/22/04 - Shanghai, China - Shanghai Arena
- 08/23/04 - Shanghai, China - Shanghai Arena
- 09/01/04 - Bangkok, Thailand - Impact Arena
- 09/02/04 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Merdeka Stadium
Cancelled Australia Dates
- 09/09/04 - Brisbane - Entertainment Centre
- 09/10/04 - Brisbane - Entertainment Centre
- 09/12/04 - Sydney - Entertainment Centre
- 09/13/04 - Sydney - Entertainment Centre
- 09/15/04 - Sydney - Entertainment Centre
- 09/17/04 - Melbourne - Rod Laver Arena
- 09/18/04 - Melbourne - Rod Laver Arena
- 09/20/04 - Melbourne - Rod Laver Arena
- 09/22/04 - Adelaide - Entertainment Centre
- 09/23/04 - Adelaide - Entertainment Centre
- 09/26/04 - Perth - Burswood Dome
- 09/27/04 - Perth - Burswood Dome
