Reality Tour (Jessica Simpson concert tour)

Reality Tour

Promotional poster for 2004 tour
Tour by Jessica Simpson
Associated album In This Skin
Start date June 4, 2004 (2004-06-04)
End date October 2, 2004 (2004-10-02)
Legs 2
Shows 50 in North America
Jessica Simpson tour chronology
DreamChaser Tour
(2001)		 Reality Tour
(2004)

The Reality Tour is the second concert tour by American recording artist, Jessica Simpson. Predominately visiting the United States, the tour supported Simpson's third studio album, In This Skin.[1] According to the singer, the title derives from her recent success on the reality TV series, Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, while showcasing her music on a natural level. The excursion began in New Orleans in June. It traveled the country over the next two months, visiting over 30 cities, ending August 1 in Paso Robles. Despite early reports of poor ticket sales,[2] Simpson's tour became one of the biggest summer tours in North America, prompting the singer to add an additional leg for the U.S.[3] Eleven concerts were planned for September and October. As of July 2011, the tour serves as Simpson's last major concert tour. The tour ranked 87th on Pollstar's "Top 100 Tours 2004", earning over seven million dollars.[4]

Contents

Background

While promoting the re-release of her album, Simpson stated in several interviews the possibility of a tour, wanting to break away from filming her TV series and connect with her fans. The tour was officially announced in May 2004 through various media outlets,[5] with sponsorship from Ice Breakers[6] and Proactiv Solution.[7] Due to the popularity of the album, Simpson would play in arenas and amphitheatres, in contrast to her first tour performing in malls and festivals. With the outing, the singer's states she was happy to take a break from cameras following her every moves. With the success of the TV show, Simpson designed the tour as if the audience were watching her on television.

During an interview with the Associated Press, the singer says she wanted the concerts to focus on her music and her personality.[8] Onstage, Simpson was joined by a seven-piece band, with no dancers or choreography for the show. Simpson would perform songs from her three current albums, while providing anecdotes about her life and the songs. Unseen footage from her reality series and variety show (entitled The Nick and Jessica Variety Hour) were included in the show as well. Each night, the singer dedicated "I Have Loved You" to the American armed forces and conduct a Q&A session with contest winners.[9]

Before the tour commenced, Simpson performed at several radio-sponsored music festivals including: Your Show,[10] Wango Tango,[11] Summer Music Mania,[12] Zootopia,[13] Kiss Concert,[14] and Play Safe in the Park.[15]

To introduce the tour, Simpson stated:

"This is definitely a big tour for me. I'm a little nervous. It's like you're a little shaky about will I sell tickets to such a big market? […] But it's cool to put together such a huge production. And we're calling it the 'Reality Tour', from the show ['Newlyweds']. And there'll be all kinds of stuff showing never-seen clips and just kind of putting my personality into the tour, which will be a lot of fun."[16]

Opening acts

Set list

  1. "Jess TV: Before the Show" (Video Introduction)
  2. "I Think I'm in Love with You"
  3. "A Little Bit"
  4. "Forbidden Fruit"
  5. "I Have Loved You"
  6. "She Works Hard for the Money"
  7. "Jess TV: One Year Anniversary" (Video Interlude) (contains footage from Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, along with elements of "Jump Around", "You Are My Sunshine" and "Pieces of Me")
  8. "Take My Breath Away"
  9. "Angels"
  10. "Be"
  11. "Everyday See You"
  12. "You Don't Have To Let Go"
  13. "My Way Home"
  14. "Jess TV: Jessica at Home" (Video Interlude) (contains footage from Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, along with elements of "Take My Breath Away", "I Swear", "She's a Lady", "A Little Less Conversation", "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!", "Low Rider" and "It's Oh So Quiet")
  15. "Loving You"
  16. "Sweetest Sin"
  17. "I Wanna Love You Forever"1
  18. "Irresistible"
Encore
  1. "With You"

1Performed at select dates

Additional notes

Tour dates

Date City Country Venue
North America—Leg 1[18][19]
June 4, 2004 New Orleans United States New Orleans Arena
June 5, 2004 Pelham Oak Mountain Amphitheatre
June 6, 2004 Jacksonville Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena
June 8, 2004 Nashville Starwood Amphitheatre
June 11, 2004 Orlando TD Waterhouse Centre
June 12, 2004 West Palm Beach Sound Advice Amphitheatre
June 13, 2004 Tampa St. Pete Times Forum
June 15, 2004 Charlotte Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
June 17, 2004 Uncasville Mohegan Sun Arena
June 18, 2004 New York City Radio City Music Hall
June 19, 2004 Bristow Nissan Pavilion at Stone Ridge
June 20, 2004 Raleigh Alltel Pavilion
June 25, 2004 Clarkston DTE Energy Music Theatre
June 26, 2004 Columbus Germain Amphitheater
June 27, 2004 Noblesville Verizon Wireless Music Center
June 29, 2004[A] Milwaukee Marcus Amphitheater
June 30, 2004 Cincinnati Riverbend Music Center
July 2, 2004 Hershey Star Pavilion
July 3, 2004 Burgettstown Post Gazette Pavilion
July 4, 2004[B] Camden Tweeter Center at the Waterfront
July 6, 2004 Tinley Park Tweeter Center
July 7, 2004 Maryland Heights UMB Bank Pavilion
July 8, 2004 Bonner Springs Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
July 10, 2004 Dallas Smirnoff Music Centre
July 11, 2004 Oklahoma City Ford Center
July 14, 2004 Houston Toyota Center
July 16, 2004 San Antonio SBC Center
July 17, 2004 Lubbock United Spirit Arena
July 18, 2004 Albuquerque Journal Pavilion
July 20, 2004 Denver Universal Lending Pavilion
July 21, 2004[C] West Valley City USANA Amphitheatre
July 23, 2004 Vancouver Canada General Motors Place
July 24, 2004 Auburn United States White River Amphitheatre
July 25, 2004 Ridgefield Amphitheater at Clark County
July 27, 2004 Mountain View Shoreline Amphitheatre
July 28, 2004 Wheatland Sleep Train Amphitheatre
July 30, 2004 Los Angeles Universal Amphitheatre
July 31, 2004[D] Costa Mesa Pacific Amphitheatre
August 1, 2004[E] Paso Robles Main Grandstand Arena
North America—Leg 2
September 9, 2004[F] Jacksonville United States Metropolitan Park
September 11, 2004 Pensacola Pensacola Civic Center
September 12, 2004 Jackson Mississippi Coliseum
September 15, 2004 Memphis Mud Island Amphitheater
September 17, 2004 Cleveland Plain Dealer Pavilion
September 19, 2004 Fairfax Patriot Center
September 21, 2004 Atlanta Chastain Park Amphitheater
September 27, 2004 Manchester Verizon Wireless Arena
September 28, 2004 Providence Dunkin' Donuts Center
September 30, 2004 Boston Bank of America Pavilion
October 2, 2004 Bridgewater Township Commerce Bank Ballpark
Festivals and other miscellaneous performances
A This concert was a part of "Summerfest"[20]
B This concert was a part of "Q Concert"[21]
C This concert was a part of "97.1 ZHT Birthday Bash"[22]
D This concert was a part of the "Orange County Fair"[23]
E This concert was a part of the "Budweiser Grandstand Concert Series"[24]
F This concert was a part of the "'NFL Opening Kickoff' Concert Series"[25]
Cancellations and rescheduled shows
June 22, 2004 Providence, Rhode Island Dunkin' Donuts Center Postponed; Rescheduled to September 28, 2004[26]
June 23, 2004 Manchester, New Hampshire Verizon Wireless Arena Postponed; Rescheduled to September 27, 2004[27]

Box office score data

Venue City Tickets Sold / Available Gross Revenue
Oak Mountain Amphitheatre Pelham 5,773 / 10,456 (55%) $135,088[28]
Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena Jacksonville 5,035 / 7,113 (71%) $117,819[28]
Starwood Amphitheatre Nashville 3,547 / 10,165 (35%) $83,000[28]
TD Waterhouse Centre Orlando 4,232 / 8,106 (52%) $99,029[28]
DTE Energy Music Theatre Clarkston 11,418 / 15,129 (75%) $343,486[29]
Post Gazette Pavilion Burgettstown 6,937 / 9,150 (76%) $159,084[30]
Tweeter Center at the Waterfront Camden 7,695 / 14,934 (51%) $183,180[30]
Tweeter Center Tinley Park 14,393 / 28,636 (50%) $318,177[30]
UMB Bank Pavilion Maryland Heights 6,449 / 9,135 (71%) $154,063[30]
Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Bonner Springs 4,517 / 7,000 (64%) $162,405[30]
Ford Center Oklahoma City 7,317 / 8,224 (89%) $275,117[29]
Toyota Center Houston 4,801 / 17,416 (27%) $136,819[29]
SBC Center San Antonio 4,676 / 5,547 (84%) $136,222[29]
TOTAL 86,790 / 151,011 (57%) $2,303,489

Broadcasts and recordings

Rehearsals and select performances from the tour were seen on Simpson's MTV show and her sister's show, The Ashlee Simpson Show. The tour was filmed at the Universal Amphitheatre for DVD release. The DVD was released in November 2004 and omitted the performances of "Little Bit", 'She Works Hard for the Money" and "I Wanna Love You Forever". The set featured the music video for "Angels" along with a behind the scenes look at the making of the video.[31] The DVD showed strong sales within its first week[32] and was certified platinum by the RIAA, recognizing shipments exceeding 100,000 copies.

Critical reception

Overall, the tour received mixed reviews from music critics. Many applaud Simpson's onstage persona but felt the show itself felt unfinished. Jim Farber (New York Daily News) felt Simpson's vocals during her show at the Radio City Music Hall were "overdramatic". He followed with, "Not that Simpson didn't give it her all as a singer. Pulling a Mariah Carey, she belted every note to the rafters. While she clearly lacks Ms. Carey's pipes, a gross excess of amplification, and some apparently recorded vocal helper, allowed her to simulate diva-status. Too bad the songs from her three CDs all sound like pieces fished out of Britney Spears slush pile".[33] Dustin J. Seibert (The Cincinnati Enquirer) felt the singer's concert at the Riverbend Music Center was "honest and warm" He elaborates, "Simpson's reliance on her high-octane voice and bubbly personality set her apart from some of her pop counterparts. Her shows featured no pyrotechnics or funky choreography, just her butter-melting octave range over a smooth six-piece band and two backup singers".[34]

Neva Chonin (San Francisco Chronicle) criticized Simpson's vocal performance at the Shoreline Amphitheatre. She writes, "A rendition of Berlin's 'Take My Breath Away', dedicated to her husband, sounded like an ode to autoerotic asphyxiation. [...] With her band successfully drowning out her tuneful but wispy vocals, Simpson led sing-alongs for anesthetized funk number 'The Sweetest Sin' and an encore of 'With You'".[35] Joey Guerra (Houston Chronicle) admired Simpson's personality during her performance at the Toyota Center; but felt the singer's concert was "uneven". He explains, "Her material is also a bit thin to sustain a full concert. Many album tracks began to sound alike after a while, and her few certifiable hits popped up late in the evening. 'Irresistible' came at the end of the show, and the feel-good anthem 'With You' was the expected encore. Even odder was the omission of 'I Wanna Love You Forever', Simpson's breakthrough single."[36]

References

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  2. ^ Trakin, Roy. "MADONNA, PRINCE SIZZLE, BUT MOST SUMMER TOURS FIZZLE". Hits Daily Double. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/607IZfy38. Retrieved 11 July 2011. 
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  4. ^ "2004 Top 100 Tours". Pollstar Online. Pollstar, Inc.. 7 March 2005. Archived from the original on 8 March 2005. http://web.archive.org/web/20050308032632/http://www.pollstaronline.com/sf-ye2004-top100.asp. Retrieved 15 July 2011. 
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  30. ^ a b c d e "Billboard Boxscore - Concert Grosses". Billboard (Nielsen Business Media, Inc.) 116 (31): 21. 31 July 2004. ISSN 0006-2510. http://books.google.com/books?id=eRAEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA1&pg=PA21#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved 11 July 2011. 
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External links

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