OMG Tour was the fourth concert tour by American recording artist Usher. Visiting North America, Asia, Europe and Australia, the tour accompanies his sixth studio album, Raymond v. Raymond (2010), as well as his first extended play, Versus (2010). At the conclusion of 2011, the tour placed seventh on Billboard's annual, "Top 25 Tours", earning nearly $75 million with 73 shows.[1]

OMG Tour
Tour by Usher
Promotional poster for the tour
Associated albumRaymond v. Raymond, Versus
Start dateNovember 10, 2010 (2010-11-10)
End dateJune 1, 2011 (2011-06-01)
Legs4
No. of shows92
Usher concert chronology

Background

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In the summer of 2010, Usher competed in a dance battle against fellow R&B artist Chris Brown at the Reggae Sumfest. The battle sparked an Internet rumor of the two possibly going on tour. This was further pushed by producer Jermaine Dupri alluding that the two artist may be unaware of this upcoming tour. The singers later took to Twitter to ask who the fans would like to see them perform with.[2] On September 8, 2010, the singer announced his touring trek (and revealed it was solo) for North America. Due to demand, many additional stops in Europe and Australia were added. It is Usher's first arena tour since The Truth Tour in 2004.[3] To introduce the tour, Usher stated,

"Live performance has always been my thing. It's my purpose to master and capture the moment every time I have you connected. For me, I wanted to make sure that it was state of the art. I wanted to make sure that, in comparison to the other shows that are going on around the world, you get the type of experience that leave you saying, 'OMG.' [...] The look of the tour, it's a little futuristic but enough to capture your attention and leave you saying, 'OMG.' That's the whole point. With an incredible record, I wanted to also leave a great impression.[4]

Concert synopsis

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The show began with Usher descending to the stage and then performing "Monstar", "She Don't Know" and "Yeah!" while wearing a helmet-like headpiece.[5] During "Caught Up" he sang into a gold gun-shaped microphone, with which he performed tricks.[5] The choreography of "More" included break dancing.[5] While Usher sang "OMG", fireworks and confetti were set off.[5]

Critical reception

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The Dallas Morning News Mario Tarradell enjoyed the show, writing that "splash and flash are[Usher's] key ingredients."[6] Jim Harrington of San Jose Mercury News commended Usher's dancing ability, but criticized the show for over-using "distracting" theatrical effects, saying that "the best parts of the big-budget 'OMG' show came when the bells and whistles stopped and the fans were allowed to concentrate all their attention on Usher".[7]

Broadcast and recordings

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The DVD of the OMG Tour was filmed on February 21, 2011, at The O2 Arena in London, directed by Dick Carruthers. The DVD was released as OMG Tour: Live From London on October 31, 2011.[8][9]

Set list

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Usher performing at the Toyota Center
  1. "Monstar"
  2. "She Don't Know"
  3. "Yeah!"
  4. "U Remind Me"
  5. "U Don't Have to Call"
  6. Michael Jackson Tribute Medley: "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough"/ "Rock with You"/ "Billie Jean"
  7. "You Make Me Wanna"
  8. "Mars vs. Venus"
  9. "Nice & Slow"
  10. "Love 'Em All"
  11. "Trading Places"
  12. "Love in This Club"
  13. "Lil Freak"
  14. "Hot Tottie"
  15. "There Goes My Baby"
  16. "Burn"
  17. "Bad Girl"
  18. "Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home)"
  19. Medley: "Confessions Part II" / "My Boo" / "I Need a Girl (Part One)" / "Lovers and Friends"
  20. "Caught Up"
  21. "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love"
  22. "More"
Encore
  1. OMG

Source:[4][10]

Tour dates

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List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, opening act, tickets sold, number of available tickets and amount of gross revenue
Date City Country Venue Opening act Attendance Revenue
Asia
July 3, 2010 Seoul South Korea Olympic Gymnastics Arena
July 7, 2010 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia Bukit Jalil National Stadium
July 9, 2010 Pasay Philippines Mall of Asia Concert Grounds
July 11, 2010 Beijing China Beijing Wukesong Culture & Sports Center
July 13, 2010 Macau Venetian Arena
North America[11]
November 10, 2010 Seattle United States KeyArena Trey Songz
Miguel
13,179 / 13,179 $900,792
November 12, 2010 Oakland Oracle Arena 15,613 / 15,613 $1,095,085
November 13, 2010 Las Vegas Mandalay Bay Events Center 78,398 / 78,398 $926,907
November 14, 2010 Anaheim Honda Center 11,354 / 11,354 $851,717
November 17, 2010 San Diego Valley View Casino Center 10,218 / 10,218 $655,930
November 18, 2010 Los Angeles Staples Center 14,607 / 14,607 $1,181,485
November 19, 2010 Glendale Jobing.com Arena 11,086 / 11,086 $818,907
November 23, 2010 Houston Toyota Center 12,812 / 12,812 $996,189
November 24, 2010 Dallas American Airlines Center 13,492 / 13,492 $937,622
November 26, 2010 St. Louis Scottrade Center 11,616 / 11,616 $777,678
November 27, 2010 Kansas City Sprint Center 14,291 / 14,291 $963,888
November 29, 2010 Toronto Canada Air Canada Centre 16,100 / 16,100 $1,291,800
November 30, 2010 Montreal Bell Centre 15,260 / 15,260 $1,175,933
December 2, 2010 Detroit United States Joe Louis Arena 15,860 / 15,860 $1,037,999
December 3, 2010 Rosemont Allstate Arena 13,811 / 13,811 $1,065,640
December 5, 2010 Atlanta Philips Arena 14,137 / 14,137 $1,201,311
December 7, 2010 Greensboro Greensboro Coliseum 8,612 / 8,612 $519,616
December 8, 2010 Baltimore Royal Farms Arena 11,104 / 11,104 $795,628
December 10, 2010 Newark Prudential Center 14,410 / 14,410 $1,142,535
December 13, 2010 New York City Madison Square Garden 29,462 / 29,462 $2,567,864
December 14, 2010
December 16, 2010 Philadelphia Wells Fargo Center 11,049 / 11,049 $889,097
December 17, 2010 Washington, D.C. Verizon Center 15,452 / 15,452 $1,226,629
December 18, 2010 Hartford XL Center 11,198 / 11,198 $674,877
December 21, 2010 Boston TD Garden 12,226 / 12,226 $901,581
December 27, 2010 Nashville Bridgestone Arena 12,219 / 12,219 $888,709
December 28, 2010 New Orleans Smoothie King Center 14,988 / 14,988 $937,802
December 29, 2010 Memphis FedExForum 11,350 / 11,350 $743,770
December 31, 2010 Miami American Airlines Arena 12,992 / 12,992 $1,235,545
Europe[12][13][14]
January 18, 2011 Lyon France Halle Tony Garnier
January 20, 2011 Marseille Le Dôme de Marseille
January 21, 2011 Zürich Switzerland Hallenstadion
January 23, 2011 Strasbourg France Zénith de Strasbourg
January 24, 2011 Paris [15] AccorHotels Arena
January 26, 2011 Manchester England Manchester Arena Tinchy Stryder 26,010 / 29,348 $1,335,360
January 27, 2011 Birmingham Barclaycard Arena
January 29, 2011 Glasgow Scotland Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre
January 30, 2011 Liverpool England Echo Arena Liverpool
February 2, 2011 London The O2 Arena Tinchy Stryder 69,761 / 70,260 $4,656,200
February 3, 2011
February 15, 2011 Paris France AccorHotels Arena
February 17, 2011 London England The O2 Arena Tinchy Stryder [a] [a]
February 18, 2011
February 20, 2011 Manchester Manchester Arena [b] [b]
February 21, 2011 London The O2 Arena [a] [a]
February 23, 2011 Sheffield Sheffield Arena
February 24, 2011 Liverpool Echo Arena Liverpool
February 26, 2011 Dublin Ireland 3Arena
February 27, 2011
March 1, 2011 Rotterdam Netherlands Rotterdam Ahoy
March 2, 2011 Antwerp Belgium Sportpaleis 31,248 / 31,812 $1,739,160
March 4, 2011 Munich Germany Olympiahalle
March 5, 2011 Hamburg Barclaycard Arena 11,778 / 12,469 $732,505
March 6, 2011 Rotterdam Netherlands Rotterdam Ahoy
March 7, 2011 Antwerp Belgium Sportpaleis [c] [c]
Asia[16][17]
March 10, 2011 Dubai United Arab Emirates Dubai Media City Amphitheatre
March 12, 2011 Shanghai China Mercedes-Benz Arena
Oceania[18]
March 15, 2011 Perth Australia Burswood Dome Trey Songz
The Potbelleez
18,560 / 18,560 $2,469,060
March 18, 2011 Adelaide Adelaide Entertainment Centre 9,155 / 9,155 $1,292,119
March 19, 2011 Melbourne Rod Laver Arena 62,075 / 62,075 $7,544,120
March 20, 2011
March 22, 2011 Newcastle Newcastle Entertainment Centre 6,941 / 6,989 $1,028,240
March 23, 2011 Sydney Qudos Bank Arena 55,792 / 60,148 $7,530,500
March 24, 2011
March 26, 2011 Brisbane Brisbane Entertainment Centre 11,482 / 11,482 $1,681,740
March 28, 2011 Sydney Qudos Bank Arena [d] [d]
March 29, 2011
March 31, 2011 Melbourne Rod Laver Arena [e] [e]
April 1, 2011
April 2, 2011
April 5, 2011 Auckland New Zealand Vector Arena The Potbelleez 11,510 / 11,510 $1,019,420
North America[19]
April 27, 2011 Sunrise United States BB&T Center Akon
Tinie Tempah
10,039 / 10,039 $657,126
April 28, 2011 Orlando Amway Center Akon
Dev and the Cataracs
9,807 / 9,807 $588,373
April 30, 2011 Charlotte Time Warner Cable Arena 10,602 / 10,602 $644,240
May 1, 2011 Columbia Colonial Life Arena 10,733 / 10,733 $629,370
May 4, 2011 Providence Dunkin' Donuts Center 7,876 / 7,876 $479,703
May 6, 2011 Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall 12,198 / 12,198 $861,681
May 7, 2011 Newark Prudential Center 11,783 / 11,783 $890,168
May 8, 2011 Uniondale Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum 9,502 / 9,502 $747,516
May 11, 2011 Pittsburgh Consol Energy Center 13,044 / 13,044 $815,557
May 12, 2011 Cleveland Quicken Loans Arena 11,501 / 11,501 $632,022
May 14, 2011 Toronto Canada Air Canada Centre 15,984 / 15,984 $1,310,834
May 15, 2011 Auburn Hills United States The Palace of Auburn Hills 11,689 / 11,689 $810,800
May 18, 2011 Columbus Jerome Schottenstein Center 11,601 / 11,601 $735,854
May 20, 2011 Rosemont Allstate Arena 10,766 / 10,766 $734,451
May 21, 2011 Minneapolis Target Center 12,711 / 12,711 $804,713
May 22, 2011 Omaha CenturyLink Center Omaha 14,424 / 14,424 $977,494
May 25, 2011 Vancouver Canada Rogers Arena 14,133 / 14,133 $1,180,892
May 26, 2011 Portland United States Moda Center 10,099 / 10,099 $667,846
May 28, 2011 Sacramento Sleep Train Arena 10,798 / 10,798 $574,199
May 29, 2011 San Jose SAP Center at San Jose 10,725 / 10,725 $614,277
June 1, 2011 Los Angeles Staples Center Akon
Tinie Tempah
12,614 / 12,614 $1,087,547
TOTAL 855,903 / 865,399 (99%) $70,212,894
Cancellations and rescheduled shows
December 11, 2010 Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk Scope Cancelled[20]
January 12, 2011 Berlin, Germany Mercedes-Benz Arena Initially postponed to January 13, 2011, however, the concert was cancelled 45 minutes into the show[21]
January 14, 2011 Rotterdam, Netherlands Rotterdam Ahoy Postponed then rescheduled to March 1, 2011[21]
January 15, 2011 Oberhausen, Germany König-Pilsener Arena Cancelled[22]
January 16, 2011 Antwerp, Belgium Sportpaleis Postponed then rescheduled to March 2, 2011[21]
March 29, 2011 Auckland, New Zealand Vector Arena This concert was moved to April 5, 2011

Personnel

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  • Director – Barry Lather[23]
  • Choreography – Anwar "Flii Stylz" Burton,[24] Aakomon "AJ" Jones, Todd Sams, Ed Moore and David "SuperDave" Royster
  • Musical Direction – Johnny "Natural" Najera, Josh Thomas and Usher Raymond IV
  • Art/Creative – Barry Lather, Josh Thomas, Anwar "Flii Stylz" Burton, Usher Raymond IV, Ed Moore and Aakomon "AJ" Jones
  • Dancers – Devin Jamieson, Marc "Marvelous" Inniss, Saidah Nairobi, Eyal Layani, Eddie Morales, and Todd Sams

Source:[25]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d The score data is representative of the five shows in London, England at The O2 Arena on February 2, February 3, February 17, February 18, and February 21 respectively.
  2. ^ a b The score data is representative of the two shows in Manchester, UK at the Manchester Evening News Arena on January 26 and February 20 respectively.
  3. ^ a b The score data is representative of the two shows in Antwerp, Belgium at the Sportpaleis on March 2 and March 7.
  4. ^ a b The score data is representative of the four shows in Sydney, Australia at the Acer Arena on March 23, March 24, March 28, and March 29 respectively.
  5. ^ a b The score data is representative of the five shows in Melbourne, Australia at the Rod Laver Arena on March 19, March 20, March 31, April 1, and April 2 respectively.

References

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  1. ^ "Top 25 Tours of 2011". Billboard. 8 December 2011. Archived from the original on 27 December 2011. Retrieved 27 December 2011.
  2. ^ Concepcion, Mariel (2010-08-17). "Usher and Chris Brown to Tour Together?". Billboard. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
  3. ^ Kennedy, Gerrick D. (2010-09-08). "Usher announces his 'OMG Tour,' teams with AEG Live for 25 dates". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
  4. ^ a b Fuoco-Karasinski, Christina (2010-11-22). "Usher goes all out on his "OMG Tour"". Sound Spike. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
  5. ^ a b c d Reid, Poppy (March 24, 2011). "Live review: Usher". The Music Network. Peer Group Media. Retrieved June 19, 2011.
  6. ^ Tarradell, Mario (November 27, 2010). "Concert review: Usher brings an eye-popping show to American Airlines Center". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved November 28, 2010.
  7. ^ Harrington, Jim (13 November 2010). "Review: Usher in Oakland". San Jose Mercury News. MediaNews Group. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
  8. ^ "OMG Tour - Live from London". Amazon UK. 31 October 2011.
  9. ^ "OMG Tour - Live from London". Amazon UK. 31 October 2011.
  10. ^ Finn, Timothy (November 28, 2010). "Review | Usher at the Sprint Center". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved November 29, 2010.
  11. ^ North America box score:
  12. ^ Europe box score:
  13. ^ "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. 9 April 2011. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
  14. ^ "Billboard Boxscore: Current Scores". Billboard. 16 April 2011. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  15. ^ "OMG Tour in Paris". ParisgayZine (in French).
  16. ^ Conroy, Erin (2010-12-23). "Usher to play Dubai in March". The National. Mubadala Development Company. Retrieved 2010-12-23.
  17. ^ "Usher Shanghai Concert". Piao. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
  18. ^ Oceania box score:
  19. ^ "Billboard Boxscore: Current Scores". Billboard. 18 June 2011. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
  20. ^ Ollison, Rashod (2010-12-16). "Usher cancels plans for makeup concert". Hampton Roads. Retrieved 2010-12-23.
  21. ^ a b c Anholt, Karen Nickel (14 January 2011). "Usher Walks Off Stage During Berlin Concert". People. Retrieved 8 February 2011.
  22. ^ "R&B-Star Usher sagt Konzert in Oberhausen am Samstag ab" [R & B star Usher cancels concert in Oberhausen on Saturday]. Der Westen (in German). 14 January 2011. Retrieved 8 February 2011.
  23. ^ Barry Lather
  24. ^ "Flii Stylz: Sleep Is For The Meek | New Culture Society". newculturesociety.com. Archived from the original on 2012-05-03.
  25. ^ OMG Tour Program. USA. 2010.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)