The Sweet Escape Tour

The Sweet Escape Tour

Promotional poster for the Journal Pavilion
Tour by Gwen Stefani
Associated album The Sweet Escape
Start date April 21, 2007
End date November 3, 2007
Legs 5
Shows 6 in Asia
26 in Europe
57 in North America
8 in Oceania
1 in South America
98 Total
Gwen Stefani tour chronology
Harajuku Lovers Tour
(2005)		 The Sweet Escape Tour
(2007)

The Sweet Escape Tour was the second concert tour by American singer-songwriter Gwen Stefani. The tour began in April 2007 in support of her second solo album The Sweet Escape.

Contents

About the show

The tour was Stefani's follow up to her previous The Harajuku Lovers Tour. It went worldwide as compared to her previous tour which was constricted only to North America and had more than double the number of shows. It was Stefani's last solo effort as she rejoined her band No Doubt after the tour ended.[1] The main feature were usage of various props such as a prison for Stefani's opening act, a six - piece band and a large multimedia screen in the backdrop showing videos and animations.[2]

The tour had its own set of controversies. A group of students making up for The National Union of Malaysian Muslim Students, banned Stefani's concert that was slated to take place August 21 at Putra Indoor Stadium. The union's vice president, Abdul Muntaqim said, "Her performance and her attire are not suitable for our culture. It promotes a certain degree of obscenity and will encourage youth to emulate the western lifestyle. The concert should be stopped." The organizer of the vent, Maxis Communications later responded, "Stefani has confirmed that her concert will not feature any revealing costumes. She will abide by the Malaysian authorities' guidelines to ensure that her show will not be offensive to local sensitivities."[3] In April, Akon drew criticism for having on-stage dirty dancing with a fifteen-year-old preacher's daughter, at a club in Trinidad and Tobago, as part of a fake contest.[4][5] As a result, the tour's sponsor Verizon Wireless decided not to sponsor the tour.[6]

Stefani donated $166,000 from her 30 October concert in San Diego to "The San Diego Foundation" fire relief fund.[7] On her June 22 and June 23 concerts in Irvine, California, Stefani was joined onstage by her No Doubt bandmates. They performed their songs "Just a Girl," "Spiderwebs,""Sunday Morning","Hella Good" and their cover of Talk Talk's "It's My Life".[8]

Opening Acts

Set list

  1. "The Sweet Escape" (performed with Akon)
  2. "Rich Girl"
  3. "Yummy"
  4. "4 in the Morning"
  5. "Luxurious"
  6. "Early Winter"
  7. "Wind It Up"
  8. "Fluorescent" 1
  9. "Danger Zone"
  10. "Hollaback Girl"
  11. "Now That You Got It"
  12. Medley:
    1. "Don't Get It Twisted
    2. "Breakin' Up"
  13. "Cool"
  14. "Wonderful Life"
  15. "Orange County Girl"
  16. Encore:
    1. "The Real Thing" (Wendy and Lisa Slow Jam Mix)
    2. "U Started It" 1
    3. "What You Waiting For?"

1 Performed at select dates.

Tour dates

Date City Country Venue
North America[9][10][11][12][13][14]
April 21, 2007 Las Vegas United States Pearl Concert Theater
April 22, 2007 San Diego Coors Amphitheatre
April 24, 2007 Fresno Save Mart Center
April 25, 2007 Bakersfield Rabobank Arena
April 27, 2007 Los Angeles Gibson Amphitheatre
April 28, 2007 Phoenix Cricket Wireless Pavilion
April 30, 2007 West Valley City E Center
May 2, 2007 Denver Pepsi Center
May 3, 2007 Albuquerque Journal Pavilion
May 5, 2007 Dallas Smirnoff Music Centre
May 6, 2007 Houston Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
May 8, 2007 Tampa Ford Amphitheatre
May 9, 2007 West Palm Beach Sound Advice Amphitheatre
May 11, 2007 Atlanta HiFi Buys Amphitheatre
May 12, 2007 Charlotte Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
May 14, 2007 Raleigh Alltel Pavilion
May 15, 2007 Virginia Beach Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
May 17, 2007 Washington, D.C. Nissan Pavilion
May 18, 2007 Holmdel PNC Bank Arts Center
May 20, 2007 Wantagh Jones Beach Theatre
May 21, 2007 Uncasville Mohegan Sun Arena
May 23, 2007 Boston Tweeter Center
May 24, 2007 Camden Tweeter Center at the Waterfront
May 27, 2007 Atlantic City Borgata Events Center
May 29, 2007 Montreal Canada Bell Centre
May 30, 2007 Toronto Air Canada Centre
June 1, 2007 Detroit United States The Palace of Auburn Hills
June 2, 2007 Noblesville Verizon Wireless Music Center
June 4, 2007 Omaha Qwest Center
June 5, 2007 Saint Paul Xcel Energy Center
June 7, 2007 London Canada John Labatt Centre
June 8, 2007 Chicago United States First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
June 10, 2007 Winnipeg Canada MTS Centre
June 12, 2007 Edmonton Rexall Place
June 13, 2007 Calgary Pengrowth Saddledome
June 15, 2007 Vancouver GM Place
June 16, 2007 Seattle United States White River Amphitheatre
June 18, 2007 Sacramento Sleep Train Amphitheatre
June 19, 2007 Mountain View Shoreline Amphitheatre
June 22, 2007 Irvine Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
June 23, 2007
June 26, 2007 Santa Barbara Santa Barbara Bowl
June 27, 2007
June 29, 2007 Reno Reno Events Center
June 30, 2007 Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden Arena
July 13, 2007 Monterrey Mexico Arena Monterrey
July 15, 2007 Mexico City Palacio de los Deportes
July 18, 2007 San Juan Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum
South America[15]
July 21, 2007 Bogotá Colombia Simon Bolivar Park
Oceania[16][17][18]
July 26, 2007 Auckland New Zealand Vector Arena
July 28, 2007 Brisbane Australia Brisbane Entertainment Centre
July 30, 2007 Sydney Acer Arena
July 31, 2007
August 2, 2007 Melbourne Rod Laver Arena
August 3, 2007
August 5, 2007 Adelaide Adelaide Entertainment Centre
August 7, 2007 Perth Burswood Dome
Asia[19][20][21][22][23]
August 11, 2007[A] Tokyo Japan Chiba Marine Stadium
August 12, 2007[A] Osaka Maishima Arena
August 14, 2007 Kallang Singapore Singapore Indoor Stadium
August 16, 2007 Hong Kong China AsiaWorld Arena
August 19, 2007 Bangkok Thailand Impact Arena
August 21, 2007 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia Putra Indoor Stadium
North America[24][25]
August 24, 2007 Honolulu United States Neal S. Blaisdell Arena
August 25, 2007
Europe[26][23][27][14][28][25][29][30][13]
September 10, 2007 Hamburg Germany Color Line Arena
September 12, 2007 Munich Zenith Munich
September 14, 2007 Berlin Velodrom
September 15, 2007 Cologne Kölnarena
September 17, 2007 Paris France Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy
September 18, 2007 Rotterdam Netherlands The Ahoy
September 20, 2007 Glasgow Scotland Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre
September 22, 2007 Manchester England Manchester Evening News Arena
September 23, 2007 Newcastle Metro Radio Arena
September 25, 2007 Birmingham National Indoor Arena
September 26, 2007 Cardiff Wales Cardiff International Arena
September 28, 2007 London England Wembley Arena
September 29, 2007
October 1, 2007 Belfast Northern Ireland Odyssey Arena
October 2, 2007 Dublin Ireland RDS Simmons Court
October 4, 2007 Antwerp Belgium Sportpaleis
October 6, 2007 Zürich Switzerland Hallenstadion
October 7, 2007 Esch-sur-Alzette Luxembourg Rockhal
October 9, 2007 Oslo Norway Oslo Spektrum
October 10, 2007 Stockholm Sweden Stockholm Globe Arena
October 12, 2007 Helsinki Finland Hartwall Areena
October 14, 2007 Copenhagen Denmark Forum Copenhagen
October 16, 2007 Milan Italy Datch Forum
October 17, 2007 Vienna Austria Wiener Stadthalle
October 19, 2007 Budapest Hungary Budapest Sports Arena
October 20, 2007 Prague Czech Republic Sazka Arena
North America[31][32]
October 26, 2007 Las Vegas United States Pearl Concert Theater
October 27, 2007 Anaheim Honda Center
October 29, 2007 Tucson AVA Amphitheater
October 30, 2007 San Diego Cox Arena at Aztec Bowl
November 1, 2007 Stockton Stockton Arena
November 2, 2007 Oakland Oracle Arena
November 3, 2007 Santa Barbara Santa Barbara Bowl
Music festivals and other miscellaneous performances
A These concerts were a part of the Summer Sonic Festival.
Cancellations and rescheduled shows
April 21, 2007 Phoenix Cricket Wireless Pavilion Moved to April 28, 2007[33]
April 28, 2007 Las Vegas Pearl Concert Theater Moved to April 21, 2007[33]
June 7, 2007 Milwaukee Bradley Center Cancelled
November 8, 2007 Phoenix Dodge Theater Cancelled
November 9, 2007

Box office score data

Venue City Tickets Sold / Available Gross Revenue
The Pearl at The Palms Las Vegas 2,542 / 2,542 (100%) $476,250
Coors Amphitheatre Chula Vista 14,415 / 19,392 (74%) $638,109
Save Mart Center Fresno 9,418 / 11,558 (81%) $516,726
Rabobank Arena Bakersfield 8,008 / 8,888 (90%) $478,171
Gibson Amphitheatre Universal City 6,047 / 6,123 (99%) $429,825
Cricket Pavilion Phoenix 20,101 / 20,101 (100%) $637,247
E Center West Valley City 8,947 / 9,749 (92%) $433,820
Pepsi Center Denver 8,972 / 12,140 (74%) $448,292
Journal Pavilion Albuquerque 15,100 / 15,100 (100%) $450,132
Smirnoff Music Centre Dallas 15,348 / 19,972 (77%) $516,627
Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion The Woodlands 13,554 / 15,895 (85%) $481,640
Ford Amphitheatre Tampa 15,855 / 19,438 (82%) $384,518
Sound Advice Amphitheatre West Palm Beach 17,191 / 19,238 (89%) $372,561
HiFi Buys Amphitheatre Atlanta 11,192 / 18,821 (59%) $355,439
Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Charlotte 16,269 / 18,867 (86%) $341,408
Walnut Creek Amphitheatre Raleigh 17,997 / 19,998 (90%) $276,162
Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Virginia Beach 19,143 / 20,055 (95%) $379,448
Nissan Pavilion at Stone Ridge Bristow 11,860 / 22,527 (53%) $465,190
PNC Bank Arts Center Holmdel 16,905 / 16,905 (100%) $667,460
Nikon at Jones Beach Theater Wantagh 13,417 / 13,842 (97%) $753,637
Mohegan Sun Arena Uncasville 7,522 / 7,567 (99%) $447,395
Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts Mansfield 13,309 / 19,067 (70%) $632,915
Borgata Event Center Atlantic City 3,069 / 3,071 (99%) $254,185
Bell Centre Montreal 12,540 / 13,265 (95%) $826,489
Palace of Auburn Hills Auburn Hills 13,071 / 14,424 (91%) $657,504
Verizon Wireless Music Center Noblesville 24,298 / 24,298 (100%) $369,829
Qwest Center Omaha 8,063 / 8,336 (97%) $416,540
Xcel Energy Center St. Paul 11,692 / 15,482 (76%) $512,698
John Labatt Centre London 9,048 / 9,214 (98%) $711,714
First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre Tinley Park 21,229 / 28,630 (74%) $573,567
MTS Centre Winnipeg 8,893 / 11,274 (79%) $594,843
Rexall Place Edmonton 12,637 / 13,115 (96%) $874,964
Pengrowth Saddledome Calgary 13,957 / 13,957 (100%) $939,298
General Motors Place Vancouver 14,503 / 15,496 (94%) $996,582
White River Amphitheatre Auburn 14,588 / 19,532 (75%) $528,040
Palacio de los Deportes Mexico City 10,676 / 18,345 (58%) $542,426
Coliseo de Puerto Rico Jose Miguel Agrelot Hato Rey 3,850 / 5,715 (67%) $332,378
Neal S. Blaisdell Center Honolulu 13,661 / 13,661 (100%) $904,998
Cox Arena San Diego 7,686 / 8,594 (89%) $262,451
Stockton Arena Stockton 8,066 / 8,837 (91%) $399,074
Simon Bolivar Park Bogotá 30,000 / 35,000 (87%) $1,875,249
Santa Barbara Bowl Santa Barbara 4,805 / 4,805 (100%) $348,228
TOTAL 529,444 / 622,836 (85%) $23,504,029

Critical reception

The Sweet Escape tour was generally well received by critics. Christina Fuoco-Karasinski of Livedaily said, "The show's pacing was impeccable. Instead of silence or banter between songs, Stefani's band played musical interludes, or the dancers entertained."[34] Katrina-Kasey Wheeler on PopMatters appreciated the props saying, "everything from the set list to the visuals and props displayed a larger-than-life aura" and that "... years after Gwen Stefani first emerged as a major presence in the world of pop music, she’s finally got a show to match".[35] Chris Macias of Sacbee also appreciated the concert and described the show as "It's part pep rally, part Broadway musical, plus a whole lot of breakdancing from Stefani's sidekicks".[36] Though some critics differed. Joan Anderman of Boston.com said, "... her bad notes were hers, part of a real personality rather than a standard-issue pop star."[37] T. Michael Crowell of Sign On San Diego also agreed and said, "Her vocal range is narrow, and her pitch is not always dead-on."[38]

The tour was a commercial success. The tour was the twenty-third most successful tour in the United States in 2007. The tour grossed $30,511,669 through the 55 shows in the U.S with 53 sold-out shows.[39]

Broadcasts and recordings

Gwen announced in both the October 30 concert at the Cox Arena at Aztec Bowl and the November 1 concert at the Stockton Arena that she was filming her Sweet Escape Tour DVD. Only one concert of the Cox Arena, and Stockton Arena can be chosen for the Sweet Escape Tour DVD.

For the Special occasion, Gwen did a special performance of the song "U Started It" which had only been seen at a few shows. During the concert she ran out into the audience to sing "Cool".

References

General
Specific
  1. ^ Greene, Andy "No Doubt Hit the Studio;Gwen Stefani Oversees Proceedings From Afar" Rolling Stone Retrieved on 2007-12-28
  2. ^ Davis, Aaron "Gwen Stefani puts on pop performance at arena" Recornet Retrieved on 2008-01-07
  3. ^ "Malaysian group urges ban on Gwen Stefani concert" Reuters Retrieved on 2007-12-22
  4. ^ Telesford, Nigel. Akon 'cons' Trinidad, Trinidad Express, 2007-04-14
  5. ^ Ramnarine, Kristy. Zen owner: Age limit 21 for club, Trinidad Express, 2007-04-20
  6. ^ Leeds, Jeff. Verizon Drops Pop Singer From Ads, New York Times, 2007-05-10
  7. ^ "Gwen Stefani Creates Wildfire Scholarship Fund" ET Retrieved on 2007-12-22
  8. ^ Kaufman, Gil "Gwen Stefani And No Doubt Surprise Fans With Hometown Reunion" MTV Retrieved on 2007-12-22
  9. ^ "News : The Sweet Escape Tour Announcement". Gwen Stefani. 2007-01-23. http://www.gwenstefani.com/news/default.aspx?nid=6948. Retrieved 2011-12-11. 
  10. ^ "News : Reno Tour Date Added". Gwen Stefani. 2007-02-24. http://www.gwenstefani.com/news/default.aspx?nid=7409. Retrieved 2011-12-11. 
  11. ^ "News : Santa Barbara Dates Added". Gwen Stefani. 2007-03-21. http://www.gwenstefani.com/news/default.aspx?nid=7603. Retrieved 2011-12-11. 
  12. ^ "News : New Las Vegas Date Added To Tour". Gwen Stefani. 2007-04-23. http://www.gwenstefani.com/news/default.aspx?nid=7807. Retrieved 2011-12-11. 
  13. ^ a b "News : UK, Finland, Mexico And Puerto Rico Date Information". Gwen Stefani. 2007-03-10. http://www.gwenstefani.com/news/default.aspx?nid=7495. Retrieved 2011-12-11. 
  14. ^ a b "News : Mexico City and Budapest Added". Gwen Stefani. 2007-04-18. http://www.gwenstefani.com/news/default.aspx?nid=7776. Retrieved 2011-12-11. 
  15. ^ "News : Bogota Tour Date Added". Gwen Stefani. 2007-06-15. http://www.gwenstefani.com/news/default.aspx?nid=8134. Retrieved 2011-12-11. 
  16. ^ "News : Australian Tour". Gwen Stefani. 2007-03-08. http://www.gwenstefani.com/news/default.aspx?nid=7482. Retrieved 2011-12-11. 
  17. ^ "News : Additional Sydney And Melbourne Shows Added". Gwen Stefani. 2007-03-23. http://www.gwenstefani.com/news/default.aspx?nid=7615. Retrieved 2011-12-11. 
  18. ^ "News : New Zealand Date Added". Gwen Stefani. 2007-04-13. http://www.gwenstefani.com/news/default.aspx?nid=7745. Retrieved 2011-12-11. 
  19. ^ "News : Gwen To Perform In Japan". Gwen Stefani. 2007-03-15. http://www.gwenstefani.com/news/default.aspx?nid=7576. Retrieved 2011-12-11. 
  20. ^ "News : Bangkok Tour Date Added". Gwen Stefani. 2007-06-15. http://www.gwenstefani.com/news/default.aspx?nid=8136. Retrieved 2011-12-11. 
  21. ^ "News : Kuala Lumpur Tour Date Added". Gwen Stefani. 2007-06-26. http://www.gwenstefani.com/news/default.aspx?nid=8189. Retrieved 2011-12-11. 
  22. ^ "News : Singapore Date Added". Gwen Stefani. 2007-07-02. http://www.gwenstefani.com/news/default.aspx?nid=8213. Retrieved 2011-12-11. 
  23. ^ a b "News : Hong Kong Date And Additional UK Dates Announced". Gwen Stefani. 2007-05-04. http://www.gwenstefani.com/news/default.aspx?nid=7879. Retrieved 2011-12-11. 
  24. ^ "News : Hawaii Date Announced". Gwen Stefani. 2007-03-27. http://www.gwenstefani.com/news/default.aspx?nid=7638. Retrieved 2011-12-11. 
  25. ^ a b "News : Paris Date Announced, 2nd Hawaii Date Added". Gwen Stefani. 2007-04-03. http://www.gwenstefani.com/news/default.aspx?nid=7687. Retrieved 2011-12-11. 
  26. ^ "News : European Tour Announced". Gwen Stefani. 2007-03-08. http://www.gwenstefani.com/news/default.aspx?nid=7488. Retrieved 2011-12-11. 
  27. ^ "News : Prague Tour Date Added". Gwen Stefani. 2007-05-17. http://www.gwenstefani.com/news/default.aspx?nid=7949. Retrieved 2011-12-11. 
  28. ^ "News : Milan, Italy Date Added". Gwen Stefani. 2007-03-30. http://www.gwenstefani.com/news/default.aspx?nid=7671. Retrieved 2011-12-11. 
  29. ^ "News : More European Dates Announced". Gwen Stefani. 2007-03-16. http://www.gwenstefani.com/news/default.aspx?nid=7581. Retrieved 2011-12-11. 
  30. ^ http://www.gwenstefani.com/news/default.aspx?nid=7605
  31. ^ http://www.gwenstefani.com/news/default.aspx?nid=8505
  32. ^ http://www.gwenstefani.com/news/default.aspx?nid=8814
  33. ^ a b http://www.gwenstefani.com/news/default.aspx?nid=6857
  34. ^ Fuoco-Karasinski, Christina "Live Review: Gwen Stefani in Phoenix" Livedaily Retrieved on 2007-12-24
  35. ^ Wheeler, Katrina - Kasey "Gwen Stefani - PopMatters Concert Review" PopMatters Retrieved on 2007-12-24
  36. ^ Macias, Chris "Stefani's sweet escape to Sleep Train" Sacbee Retrieved on 2007-12-24
  37. ^ Anderman, Joan "A sweet escape with Stefani" Boston.com Retrieved on 2007-12-27
  38. ^ Crowell, T. Michael "Energy, glitz of Gwen a hit with faithful fans" Sign On San Diego Retrieved on 2007-12-27
  39. ^ "Top 25 most successful tours of 2007" Billboard Retrieved on 2007-12-24

External links

Gwen Stefani
Studio albums
and singles
Featured singles
Video albums
Tours
Harajuku Lovers Tour 2005 · The Sweet Escape Tour
Related articles