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25 Live
World tour by George Michael
25 Live tour poster
Location
  • Europe
  • North America
  • Middle East
Associated album Twenty Five
Start date23 September 2006
End date1 December 2008
Legs3
No. of shows106
Attendance1.3 million [1]
George Michael concert chronology

25 Live was a concert tour by English singer-songwriter George Michael. The tour was the most commercially successful tour of 2006–2007 in Europe, grossing over $200 million, with positive reviews from music critics. The 106 tour shows were performed in 41 countries and seen by 1.3 million fans across the globe. [1]

History

It was Michael's first tour in over 15 years. The tour, running for 50 dates, began in Barcelona on 23 September and was intended to end at Wembley Arena in London in December, but—due to great feedback from fans—continued into 2007 providing more gigs throughout Europe, concluding in Belfast. The tour is described as "a celebration of his 25-year career in music", and was accompanied by a greatest hits album, released in late 2006. The news of the tour came amid increased media speculation about Michael's personal life, in particular, his drug use and sex life. After the success of the autumn leg, new shows were added for summer 2007, in large arenas and stadiums. Pop star Sophie Ellis-Bextor was announced as the supporting act for six of the eight UK shows. She did not open the show at Wembley Stadium as Michael was the first artist ever to play in the new stadium.

On 25 March 2008, a third leg of the 25 Live tour was announced for North America. This leg included 21 dates in the United States and Canada. This was Michael's first tour of North America in 17 years. The tour coincided with the release of his new greatest hits album on 1 April 2008.

The tour ended with two concerts at Earls Court in London named "The Final Two". Wham! fans would recognize the reference to Wham!'s last gig at Wembley Stadium in London in 1986, The Final. Another final concert was later announced. The concert was held in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 30 August and called The Final One. Australian dates were added in November 2009, involving stops in Perth, Sydney, and later Melbourne in February/March 2010.

Commercial reception

Ticket sales in Europe were brisk. Within two hours of initial sales, 240,000 tickets were snatched up by eager fans. First to sell out were UK shows in London's Wembley Arena and Earls Court as well as Birmingham's NEC Arena and Manchester MEN Arena. The Manchester show sold out within minutes, and the two 25 Live dates added to the venue were sold out by lunchtime. To meet demand, 14 gigs were added to the tour, including three additional shows in London alone. Michael's dates around Europe were met with equally extraordinary enthusiasm. In Norway, the Oslo show at the Oslo Spektrum sold out in an hour and a half. In Copenhagen, 49,000 tickets sold out at the Parken Stadium in just three hours. The first Rotterdam concert at Rotterdam Ahoy arena sold out in a mere six minutes, and the second saw tickets vanish in 16 minutes. In fact, a third Rotterdam show was added by popular demand that also sold out in 16 minutes. This unprecedented response has stood out as the fastest sell of tickets ever experienced by Barrie Marshall, whose London-based promotion firm, Marshall Arts Limited, has been promoting shows for 30 years.

The 25 Live tour broke several ticket sales records, most notably in Copenhagen. Michael's concert at Parken Stadium sold over 50,000 tickets in the matter of minutes, shattering the previous ticket sales record at the venue, formerly held by U2.

In North America, although ticket sales weren't fast as they were in Europe, every venue was sold out in time for the concert. For a period of 25 hours during the week leading up to the Los Angeles show on 25 June 2008, tickets were sold for a promotional price of $25 (down from $95) in celebration of George Michael's birthday, 25 June 1963.

All the tickets for the Final Two shows in London and the Finale One show in Denmark were sold out in 2 hours.

Ticket sales for the Australian leg were also brisk, the concerts in Perth at the 25,000 seat Burswood Dome and the 42,000 seat Sydney Football Stadium both being sellouts.

The Finals

On 11 June 2008, two dates were added, titled "The Final Two", taking place in Earls Court, London on 24 and 25 August 2008. These concerts were filmed for a 25 Live DVD release entitled Live in London.

On 30 June 2008, Michael announced one more last show in Copenhagen at Copenhagen's Parken Stadium on 30 August. This special performance, entitled "The Final One", allowed Michael to say "thank you" to his loyal fans, not only in Scandinavia, but also across Europe.

On 1 November 2008, Michael announced another last concert. This time it was held at the Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium on 1 December 2008, in Abu Dhabi, UAE. It was the first event to be held at the new stadium and was billed as the biggest concert ever held in the UAE. It was also his first concert in the Middle East. The event also helped to launch National Day celebrations and an outdoor extravaganza of fireworks and lasers gave fans a spectacular and unforgettable experience.

Set list

Tour dates

List of European concerts
Date
(2006) 		City Country Venue Opening act Attendance
(Tickets sold / available) 		Revenue
23 September Barcelona Spain Palau Sant Jordi 19,836 / 19,836 $2,062,948
26 September Madrid Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad de Madrid 14,590 / 14,590 $1,517,364
29 September Toulouse France Zénith de Toulouse 6,192 / 6,192 $643,692
30 September Toulon Zénith Oméga 6,487 / 6,487 $674,638
2 October Lyon Halle Tony Garnier 8,082 / 8,082 $840,531
5 October Milan Italy Mediolanum Forum 22,936 / 22,936 $2,385,346
6 October
9 October Paris France Palais omnisports de Paris Bercy 30,106 / 30,106 $3,522,408
10 October
13 October Amnéville Galaxie Amnéville 12,659 / 12,659 $1,569,174
14 October Stuttgart Germany Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle 9,124 / 9,124 $1,040,136
16 October Leipzig Arena Leipzig 11,047 / 11,047 $1,358,788
17 October Oberhausen König Pilsener Arena 14,000 / 14,000 $1,453,036
20 October Gothenburg Sweden Scandinavium 13,825 / 13,825 $1,492,102
21 October Oslo Norway Oslo Spektrum 12,264 / 12,264 $1,287,726
22 October Stockholm Sweden Stockholm Globe Arena 16,511 / 16,511 $1,717,142
25 October Frankfurt Germany Festhalle Frankfurt 12,275 / 13,034 $1,264,359
26 October Zürich Switzerland Hallenstadion 13,000 / 13,000 $1,376,050
29 October Munich Germany Olympiahalle 29,472 / 29,472 $3,166,412
30 October
1 November Rotterdam Netherlands Sportpaleis van Ahoy 59,412 / 59,412 $6,416,499
2 November
4 November
6 November Berlin Germany Velodrom 7,026 / 7,026 $955,530
7 November Hamburg Color Line Arena 9,275 / 9,275 $1,317,053
9 November Mannheim SAP Arena 9,673 / 9,673 $1,102,726
11 November Copenhagen Denmark Parken Stadium 46,918 / 46,918 $6,052,422
13 November Cologne Germany Kölnarena 12,124 / 12,124 $1,757,920
14 November Antwerp Belgium Sportpaleis 16,231 / 16,235 $1,227,164 [2]
17 November Manchester England Manchester Evening News Arena 65,292 / 65,292 $9,271,547
18 November
21 November
22 November Glasgow Scotland SECC Arena 26,145 / 26,145 $3,294,273
25 November London England Earls Court 36,228 / 36,228 $3,840,169
26 November
28 November
2 December Birmingham NEC Arena 50,523 / 50,523 $6,669,042
3 December
4 December
7 December Dublin Ireland Point Theatre 25,020 / 25,020 $3,123,926
8 December
11 December London England Wembley Arena 41,180 / 41,180 $5,806,283
12 December
14 December
15 December
17 December
List of European concerts [3]
Date
(2007) 		City Country Venue Opening act Attendance
(Tickets sold / available) 		Revenue
12 May Coimbra Portugal Estádio Cidade de Coimbra 39,639 / 39,639 $4,439,568
18 May Aarhus Denmark Atletion 44,966 / 44,966 $2,080,026
19 May
23 May Budapest Hungary Ferenc Puskás Stadium 52,047 / 52,047 $2,133,947
25 May Bratislava Slovakia Inter Football Stadium 6,875 / 15,801 $855,295
28 May Sofia Bulgaria Lokomotiv Stadium 25,003 / 25,003 $1,125,184
31 May Bucharest Romania Lia Manoliu Stadium 13,902 / 13,902 $2,432,846
6 June Dublin Ireland RDS Arena Sophie Ellis Bextor 64,154 / 64,154 $7,698,459
9 June London England Wembley Stadium 172,458 / 172,458 $24,490,995
10 June
12 June Norwich Carrow Road Sophie Ellis-Bextor 54,275 / 54,275 $7,869,385
15 June Manchester City of Manchester Stadium 60,195 / 60,195 $8,728,294
17 June Glasgow Scotland Hampden Park 53,024 / 53,024 $7,751,504
19 June Plymouth England Home Park 38,402 / 38,402 $5,491,886
22 June Saint-Denis France Stade de France 63,583 / 63,583 $9,473,837
23 June Antwerp Belgium Sportpaleis 14,230 / 14,230 $2,020,550
26 June Amsterdam Netherlands Amsterdam Arena 55,384 / 55,384 $8,085,064
29 June Stockholm Sweden Stockholm Globe Arena
1 July Helsinki Finland Hartwall Arena
5 July Moscow Russia Olympisky
6 July
9 July Kyiv Ukraine Olympic Stadium
11 July Warsaw Poland Służewiec 35,000
13 July Vienna Austria Wiener Stadthalle
17 July Padua Italy Stadio Plebiscito
19 July Lucca Stadio Porta Elisa
21 July Rome Stadio Olimpico
26 July Athens Greece OAKA Olympic Stadium 40,000 5,340,316
1 August Dublin Ireland Point Theatre
2 August
4 August Belfast Northern Ireland Odyssey Arena
List of North American concerts [4]
Date
(2008) 		City Country Venue Opening act Attendance
(Tickets sold / available) 		Revenue
17 June San Diego United States San Diego Sports Arena
19 June San Jose HP Pavilion
21 June Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden Arena
22 June Phoenix US Airways Cetner
25 June Inglewood The Forum
27 June Anaheim Honda Center
2 July Seattle KeyArena
4 July Vancouver Canada General Motors Place 12,000 / 15,000
7 July Saint Paul United States Xcel Energy Center 7,504 / 12,999
9 July Chicago United Center 10,061 / 13,500 $1,375,690
13 July Dallas American Airlines Center
14 July Houston Toyota Center
17 July Toronto Canada Air Canada Centre 14,802 / 14,802 $2,115,255
18 July Montreal Bell Centre 9,865 / 9,865 $1,454,257
21 July New York City United States Madison Square Garden
23 July
26 July Philadelphia Wachovia Center
27 July Boston TD Banknorth Garden 10,325 / 14,000
29 July Washington, D.C. Verizon Center 8,331 / 13,000 $1,055,827
31 July Atlanta Philips Arena
2 August Tampa St. Pete Times Forum
3 August Sunrise Bank Atlantic Center
List of European and Middle Eastern concerts
Date
(2008) 		City Country Venue Opening act Attendance
(Tickets sold / available) 		Revenue
24 August London England Earls Court
25 August
30 August Copenhagen Denmark Telia Parken
1 December Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates Zayed Sports City Stadium

Cancelled dates

List of cancelled concerts [5] [6]
Date
(2007) 		City Country Venue Reason
2 June Prague Czech Republic Sazka Arena Accident with equipment
7 June Dublin Ireland RDS Arena
15 July [a] Nürnberg Germany easyCredit-Stadion N/A

Personnel

Band

  • George Michael – vocals
  • Chris Cameron – musical director, arranger
  • Lea Mullen – percussion
  • Phil Palmer – guitars
  • Andy Hamilton – sax, keyboards, EWI (electronic wind instrument)
  • Steve Walters – bass
  • Mike Brown – guitars
  • Carlos Hercules – drums
  • Graham Kearns – guitars
  • Luke Smith – keyboards
  • Shirley Lewis – backing vocals
  • Jay Henry – backing vocals
  • Lincoln Jean-Marie – backing vocals
  • Lori Perry – backing vocals
  • Sharon Perry – backing vocals
  • Lucy Jules – backing vocals

Management and production

  • Michael Lippman – artist manager
  • Andy Stephens – artist manager
  • Ken Watts – tour director
  • Lisa Johnson – assistant tour director
  • Looloo Murphy – GM tour manager
  • Sharon Ashley – band tour manager
  • Ronnie Franklin – security consultant
  • Mark Spring – production manager
  • Di Eichorst – production coordinator
  • Scott Chase – stage manager
  • James Kelly – show manager
  • Willie Williams – video staging designer and director
  • Vince Foster – set and lighting design and operator
  • Gary Bradshaw – front of house sound
  • Andy Bramley – video director
  • Simeon Niel-Asher – Osteopath
  • Barrie Marshall and Doris Dixon – agents

Promoters

  • Belgium – Live Nation
  • Denmark – DKB & Motor
  • France – Interconcerts
  • Germany – Peter Rieger Konzertagentur
  • Greece – Cosmote
  • Netherlands – MOJO Concerts
  • Hungary – Live Nation Hungary (previously Multimedia Concerts)
  • Ireland – Aiken Promotions
  • Italy – D'Alessandro E Galli
  • Norway – Gunnar Eide
  • Spain – Sagliocco Group
  • Sweden – EMA Telstar
  • Switzerland – Good News
  • UK – Marshall Arts
  • USA – Live Nation
  • Australia – Paul Dainty

Critical reception

The tour received positive reviews, with praise for the set list and overall production of the show.

Features

  • The 25 Live tour features the first time that a 3000 piece LED screen has been used.
  • The 25 Live tour features a three dimensional video wall. The video screen is not just a backdrop to the stage, it also lies on the stage surface. Paul McCartney used a similar concept in his 2005 US Tour.
  • The 25 Live tour features the first time that motion tracking comes from the artist to video.
  • The 25 Live tour features the first time 490 frequency channels are transmitted to the audio mixing board, producing dynamic, richer sound for the performance
  • The 25 Live tour features the first time that on-screen visuals respond to the musicians performing.

Other details

  • On 20 December 2006 George Michael made special free concert for NHS nurses in the Roundhouse, North London. George claimed he wanted to thank the nurses who had cared for his late mother.
  • On 31 December 2006 George Michael was paid $3 million for a 75-minute private concert in Moscow, Russia, which made him the highest paid entertainer in Russian history. [8]
  • George Michael became the first music artist to perform at the new Wembley Stadium when he played two shows at the venue on 9 June 2007 and 10 June 2007 during his 25 Live tour. [9]
  • During his concert in Sofia, Bulgaria George Michael devoted to the Bulgarian nurses prosecuted in the HIV trial in Libya. [10]
  • On 17 June 2008 George Michael launched the NA leg of his final world tour by congratulating lawmakers for legalising gay marriage in California. [11]
  • On 25 June 2008, during the L.A. concert, George celebrated his 45th birthday. The band played "Happy Birthday", while Bo Derek walked on stage with a huge birthday cake.
  • On 27 July 2008, George Michael's concert at TD Banknorth Garden in Boston was delayed 1½ hours due to weather conditions and flight delays. He later apologized for the delay and despite the holdup, played a full 3-hour set.

Notes

  1. ^ The 15 July 2007 show in Nürnberg, Germany, was originally scheduled to take place on 28 May 2007 in Düsseldorf, Germany, but was postponed due to technical difficulties. [7]

References

  1. ^ a b George Michael plays "final" major shows - Monday 25 August 2008
  2. ^ "Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 118, no. 149. 12 September 2006.
  3. ^ "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 28 July 2007. p. 32. Retrieved 23 January 2022 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ "Concert review: George Michael glows in the afterburn". Twincities.com. 7 July 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  5. ^ "Accident forces George Michael to cancel Prague gig". Uk.reuters.com. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  6. ^ Newsdesk, The Hot Press. "George Michael cancels tonight's RDS show". Hotpress.com. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  7. ^ "George Michael verlegt einziges Deutschlandkonzert nach Nürnberg". Nmz.de. 27 March 2007. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  8. ^ "Michael 'Highest Paid Performer In Russian History'". Contactmusic.com. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  9. ^ "Wembley Stadium – Press Releases". Archived from the original on 8 January 2009. Retrieved 30 June 2008.
  10. ^ "George Michael: Free Bulgaria's Nurses in Libya! - Novinite.com - Sofia News Agency". Novinite.com. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  11. ^ "George Michael – Michael Thrilled About Same-Sex Marriages". Contactmusic.com. Retrieved 23 January 2022.

External links

Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=25_Live&oldid=1218112442"