The Voodoo World Tour Explained

Concert Tour Name:The Voodoo World Tour
Artist:D'Angelo
Album:Voodoo
Start Date:March 1, 2000
End Date:October 20, 2000
Number Of Legs:4
Last Tour:Brown Sugar Tour
(1996)
This Tour:The Voodoo World Tour
(2000)
Next Tour:Occupy Music Tour
(2012)

The Voodoo World Tour was a concert tour by American R&B/neo soul singer D'Angelo in support of his Platinum selling album, Voodoo. The tour started March 1, with the first of five nights in Los Angeles, CA at the House of Blues.[1] The singer's itinerary included two North American legs,[2] as well as dates throughout Europe and South America.

Background

Following Voodoos release, D'Angelo embarked on his second international tour in support of the album. The tour was sponsored by the clothing company Levi Strauss & Co., and it featured D'Angelo promoting an end to gun violence.[3] After signing an initiative on June 7, 2000, at Hamilton High School in West Los Angeles to collect a million signatures by November 7 in support of "common-sense solutions" to end gun violence, the anti-gun violence organization PAX agreed to sponsor the tour.[3] The tour was also set to feature a wall composed of denim by Levi's, made available for fans to sign in support of anti-gun violence.[3] Consisting of a group assembled and directed by Questlove, the Soultronics, composed mostly of session personnel, the tour became one of the most attended shows of the year. According to a July 2000 issue of Jet magazine, the tour's first half "sold out in every city."[4] It began on March 1, 2000, at the House of Blues in Los Angeles,[5] The tour lasted nearly eight months, while performances went for up to three hours a night.[6] [7] "The Voodoo Tour" was taken internationally to venues including Paris Olympia, Trump Taj Mahal, Brixton Academy, the Montreux Jazz Festival, the North Sea Jazz Festival and the Free Jazz Festival in Brazil.[8] Tour manager Alan Leeds, who previously headed James Brown's late 1960s and early 1970s outings, as well as Prince's Purple Rain tour in the mid-1980s, cited "The Voodoo Tour" as his most memorable gig.[6] J Dilla's group Slum Village opened on several dates, while R&B singer Anthony Hamilton sang backup within the Soultronics on occasion.[9] [10]

The show

In contrast to D'Angelo's supporting tour for Brown Sugar, which presented him performing behind his keyboard on stage, he exhibited a different style of showmanship and energy. Rolling Stone magazine called him "confident and worldly" in his performance, while also stating "No wonder he's alive onstage now, dancing, touching the audience, slamming his microphone down, lying on the ground at the lip of the stage to sing 'One Mo' Gin' while girls grab his legs, his stomach, his crotch."[11] D'Angelo's wardrobe during the tour included tank tops, black leather pants, and boots.[11] On one of the live outings, Rolling Stone described the appearance of the performers, stating "The Soultronics begin each show in all black, but beyond that one requirement, each looks completely distinct. One man is in a deacon's robe, another in a long cape with a knit ski cap that says FBI. There’s a feather boa, a few badass leather coats, and Questlove's mighty Afro. There's a P-Funkish freaky flair to the Soultronics' look."[11]

In a review of D'Angelo's tour-opening performance at the House of Blues, The Hollywood Reporters David Wollock described it as a "three-hour old-school soul marathon that was part 'Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine', part 'Let's Get It On', part 'Move on Up' gospel exuberance ... with call-and-response and other crowd-rousing church conventions".[12] Wollock praised D'Angelo for his energy and display of showmanship, and wrote that "like the best hip-hop emcees who can rock a crowd with two turntables and a microphone, D moved the crowd with pure voice and charisma."[12] A staff writer for the Chicago Defender lauded his performance at the Chicago Theatre, calling it "an explosive mixture of R&B, soul and funk."[13]

With ticket prices ranging from $49 to $79,[14] the tour became one of the most attended shows of 2000.[4] The tour began on March 1, 2000, at the House of Blues in Los Angeles,[5] while other venues included Paris Olympia, Trump Taj Mahal, Brixton Academy, the Montreux Jazz Festival, and the Essence Jazz Festival in New Orleans.[3] By July, the tour's first half had sold out in each city.[4] The tour lasted nearly eight months, while performances went for up to three hours a night.[6] [7] The Voodoo Tour was taken internationally, with one of the most notable performances being the Free Jazz Festival in Brazil.[8]

Critical reception

Performances earned rave reviews from critics and publications, who praised D'Angelo's energy and "charisma as a live performer", as well as the Soultronics group,[15] [16] and received comparisons to outings by the legendary funk bands Parliament and Sly & the Family Stone.[14] Tanya Bell of The Gazette wrote that the group "displayed enormous talent as it took them two hours to play 11 songs."[14] A staff writer for the Chicago Defender lauded his performance at the Chicago Theatre, calling it "an explosive mixture of R&B, soul and funk."[13] Rolling Stone called him "abundantly gifted, eye-poppingly spectacular", "confident and worldly" in his performance at the House of Blues in Los Angeles.[11] It compared the performance to his past concerts, stating "he's alive onstage now, dancing, touching the audience, slamming his microphone down, lying on the ground at the lip of the stage to sing 'One Mo' Gin' while girls grab his legs, his stomach, his crotch."[11]

In a review of D'Angelo's tour-opening performance at the House of Blues, David Wollock of The Hollywood Reporter called it a "three-hour old-school soul marathon that was part 'Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine', part 'Let's Get It On', part 'Move on Up' gospel exuberance [...] with call-and-response and other crowd-rousing church conventions".[12] He added that, "like the best hip-hop emcees who can rock a crowd with two turntables and a microphone, D moved the crowd with pure voice and charisma."[12] Kaia Shivers of the Los Angeles Sentinel commented that his Los Angeles tour stop placed the city "under a spell that it seems hard pressed to shake."[17]

Reviewing his March performance at New York City's Radio City Music Hall, rock critic Robert Christgau dubbed D'Angelo "R&B Jesus" and proclaimed himself a "believer".[18] Christgau praised D'Angelo's delivery and compared the concert to a 1981 P-Funk outing at the Apollo Theater, stating "D'Angelo sang and danced and preached and flexed and crooned and humped the floor and covered Roberta Flack and snapped a mike stand in two and danced and sang and sang some more. Everything meshed; all stops were pulled out. It was already the greatest concert I'd seen in years when Redman and Method Man propelled the climactic 'Left and Right' through the vaulted ceiling. I flashed on P-Funk's 'Sadie', Apollo 1981. What a privilege to experience such a thing again."[19] He also compared it to Marvin Gaye in concert, writing that "I saw Marvin Gaye at this venue shortly before he was murdered, and it was no contest. Gaye was fine, but self-indulgent and riddled with blank spots."[19]

Opening acts

Set list

  1. "Voodoo" (intro)
  2. "Devil's Pie"
  3. "Send It On"
  4. "Smooth"
  5. "Chicken Grease"
  6. "How Does it Feel?" (teaser)
  7. "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine"
  8. "Me and Those Dreamin' Eyes of Mine"
  9. "Sh*t, Damn, Motherf*cker"
  10. "One Mo' Gin"
  11. "The Root" (teaser)
  12. "Feel Like Makin' Love"
  13. "Left & Right"
  14. "Left & Right (pt. 2)"
  15. Interlude
  16. "Brown Sugar"
  17. "Jonz in my Bonz"
  18. "Lady"
  19. "Fall in Love"
  20. "Untitled (How Does It Feel)"
  21. "Funk Jam"

Band

Tour dates

DateCityCountryVenue
North America[22]
March 1, 2000Los AngelesUnited StatesHouse of Blues
March 2, 2000
March 3, 2000
March 5, 2000
March 6, 2000
March 16, 2000New York CityRadio City Music Hall
March 18, 2000
March 20, 2000Radio City Music Hall (rescheduled from March 17)
March 21, 2000PhiladelphiaTower Theater
March 22, 2000
March 24, 2000Washington, D.C.DAR Constitution Hall
March 25, 2000
March 26, 2000BostonWang Center (rescheduled from March 20)[23]
March 28, 2000ClevelandPalace Theatre
March 29, 2000TorontoCanadaMassey Hall
March 31, 2000ChicagoUnited StatesArie Crown Theater
April 1, 2000
April 3, 2000DenverParamount Theatre
April 5, 2000OaklandParamount Theater
April 6, 2000
April 7, 2000Los AngelesGibson Amphitheatre
April 8, 2000
April 10, 2000San DiegoOpen Air Theatre
April 11, 2000Las VegasThe Joint
April 12, 2000PhoenixCelebrity Theatre
April 14, 2000DallasMajestic Theatre
April 15, 2000HoustonAerial Theater
April 16, 2000
April 18, 2000NashvilleTennessee Performing Arts Center
April 19, 2000Kansas CityMidland Theatre
April 20, 2000St. LouisFox Theater
April 22, 2000DetroitFox Theatre
April 23, 2000
April 25, 2000NewarkNew Jersey Performing Arts Center
April 26, 2000Washington, D.C.DAR Constitution Hall
April 28, 2000RichmondLandmark Theater
April 29, 2000GreensboroSpecial Events Center
April 30, 2000CharlotteOvens Auditorium
May 2, 2000MiamiJames L. Knight Center
July 2, 2000New OrleansSuperdome
July 4, 2000MilwaukeeMarcus Amphitheater
Europe
July 7, 2000KristiansandNorwayQuart Festival
July 8, 2000StockholmSwedenCirkus
July 10, 2000HamburgGermanyGruenspan
July 12, 2000ParisFranceLe Grand Rex
July 14, 2000MontreuxSwitzerlandMontreux Jazz Festival
July 15, 2000ZeebruggeBelgiumAxion Beach Rock
July 16, 2000The HagueNetherlandsNorth Sea Jazz Festival
July 19, 2000LondonEnglandBrixton Academy
North America
July 28, 2000CincinnatiUnited StatesCoors Light Festival
July 29, 2000ChicagoChicago Theatre
July 30, 2000Kansas CityMidland Theatre
August 1, 2000DenverParamount Theatre
August 3, 2000PhoenixCelebrity Theatre
August 4, 2000Las VegasHouse of Blues
August 5, 2000San DiegoOpen Air Theater
August 7, 2000Los AngelesGreek Theatre
August 8, 2000Universal Amphitheater
August 9, 2000ConcordChronicle Pavilion
August 10, 2000SacramentoMemorial Auditorium
August 12, 2000PortlandArlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
August 13, 2000SeattleThe Pier
August 16, 2000MinneapolisOrpheum Theatre
August 18, 2000IndianapolisMurat Temple
August 19, 2000DetroitChene Park
August 20, 2000ClevelandState Theater
August 22, 2000PittsburghIron City Light Amphitheater
August 23, 2000BuffaloShea's Performing Arts Center
August 24, 2000Atlantic CityTrump Taj Mahal
August 27, 2000WallingfordOakdale Theatre
August 28, 2000BostonFleet Boston Pavilion
August 29, 2000Holmdel TownshipPNC Bank Arts Center
August 31, 2000BaltimorePier Six Concert Pavilion
September 2, 2000Fort PierceSunrise Theatre
September 3, 2000OrlandoBob Carr Performing Arts Centre
September 4, 2000AtlantaChastain Park
South America
October 20, 2000São PauloBrazilFree Jazz Festival

Notes and References

  1. http://www.billboard.com/#/news/billboard-bits-d-angelo-will-smith-q-tip-871348.story billboard bits-d'angelo tour
  2. https://archive.today/20120905122451/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1427446/dangelo-eyes-qtip-common-others-us-tour.jhtml d'angelo eyes q-tip, mosdef and common for u.s. tour
  3. Rosen, Craig. D'Angelo Wants To End Gun Violence. Yahoo! Music. Retrieved on 2008-11-01.
  4. Columnist. "Hot Singer D'Angelo". Jet: 58–62. July 3, 2000.
  5. Evan, Rob. Chart-Topper D'Angelo Sets Tour Plans . LiveDaily. Retrieved on 2010-08-09.
  6. "Peisner"
  7. Rosen, Craig. D'Angelo Recalls The Artist's Influence on Him. Yahoo! Music. Retrieved on 2008-11-01.
  8. http://video.aol.com/video-detail/dangelo-brown-sugar-live-in-brazil/3143231809 Video: Brown Sugar Live in Brazil
  9. Nelson, Trevor. Ayia Napa 2000 Slum Village Interview. BBC Radio 1. Retrieved on 2008-11-30.
  10. Collar, Matt. Biography: Anthony Hamilton. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2008-11-30.
  11. "Touré"
  12. "Wollock, David". "Concert Review: D'angelo House of Blues, West Hollywood". The Hollywood Reporter: March 3, 2000.
  13. Columnist. "D'Angelo Wows Crowd in Return Concert". Chicago Defender: August 3, 2000.
  14. Bell, Tanya. "D'Angelo Serves Up Pure Unadulterated Soul". The Gazette: August 3, 2000.
  15. Columnist. Corner(s)tones of Neo-Soul: D'Angelo ... A Story So Far, Part 1 . JazzandSoul. Retrieved on 2008-12-20.
  16. Hilburn, Robert. At Midyear, Shining Gems in a Dull Season. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on 2008-12-20.
  17. Shivers, Kaia. "D'Angelo Puts Los Angeles Under a Spell". Los Angeles Sentinel: March 15, 2000.
  18. http://www.umusicpub.com/spotlight.aspx?id=229 Spotlight: D'Angelo
  19. Christgau, Robert. Jesus Saves: D'Angelo. The Village Voice. Retrieved on 2008-12-20.
  20. https://web.archive.org/web/20120210065015/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1427790/dangelo-lucy-pearl-donate-funds-charity.jhtml d'angelo-lucy pearl donate funds to charity
  21. https://newspapers.library.in.gov/cgi-bin/indiana?a=d&d=INR20000811-01.1.19&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------
  22. https://web.archive.org/web/20140407142708/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1427796/dangelos-throat-woes-postpone-shows.jhtml d'angelo's throat woes postpone shows
  23. https://archive.today/20130202143046/http://www.soundspike.com/story2/517/dangelo-back-in-action-after-suffering-throat-problems/ dangelo back in action after suffering throat problems