Welcome 2

Welcome 2
Tour by Prince

Banner advertisement for the North American leg of the tour
Associated album 20Ten
Start date December 15, 2010 (2010-12-15)
End date September 26, 2012 (2012-09-26)
Legs 7
No. of shows 51 in North America
24 in Europe
8 in Australia
83 Total
Prince concert chronology

Welcome 2 is the common name of the twenty-first concert tour by American musician Prince. Playing over 80 shows, the tour reached North America, Europe and Australia. Each leg of the tour is branded by the "Welcome 2" title followed by the continent the leg is located in. The tour marks the singer's first performances in North America in over six years. The show is composed of the singer performing his hits with his band The New Power Generation. Alongside Prince, various musicians will perform including Janelle Monáe, Esperanza Spalding and Cassandra Wilson. The title of the tour varied depending on the territory where it was performing. The tour placed 39th on Pollstar's "Top 50 Worldwide Tour", earning nearly $20 million.1[1]

Background

Prince announced the tour on October 14, 2010 at the famed Apollo Theater in New York City.[2] He stated the tour would begin in Greater New York. He further explained to the audience each show would be different. "Come early, come often. I have a lot of hits... no two shows will be the same". For the tour, Prince will play a custom gold Fender Stratocaster (made by the Fender Custom Shop), which will auctioned off at the end of the tour. The proceeds will benefit the Harlem Children's Zone.[3]

The concerts are staged in the round, with the stage shaped like the singer's iconic love symbol.[4] During shows, Prince invited several celebrities to come onstage and "jam out" with him, including: Naomi Campbell, Whoopi Goldberg, Jamie Foxx, Alicia Keys, Leighton Meester, Questlove, Sherri Shepherd and Cornel West.[5][6] He also performed duets with specials guests throughout the shows in North America. For "The Beautiful Ones", Prince is joined onstage by ballet dancer, Misty Copeland.[7] During the concert at Madison Square Garden on December 29, 2010, Janelle Monáe performed "If I Was Your Girlfriend" with the singer. During the same show, Cyndi Lauper and Egypt Sherrod performed "Jungle Love".[6]

Following his shows in Greater New York, Prince expanded the tour to include the San Francisco Bay Area and The Carolinas. In April, he announced he would perform a twenty-one night residency show at The Forum in Inglewood, California, during an appearance on Lopez Tonight.[8] Dubbed, "Welcome 2 America: 21-Night Stands", the singer performed throughout the months of April and May, including stops in Fresno, San Jose and Sacramento. As the tour continued, Prince performed at several music festivals in Europe. In the fall of 2011, he announced he would bring his tour to Canada, his first performances in the territory in nearly ten years. In 2012, a tour of Australia received a warm response from spectators.[9]

Opening acts

Setlist

Tour dates

Date City Country Venue
North America[3][10][20]
December 15, 2010 East Rutherford United States Izod Center
December 17, 2010
December 18, 2010 New York City Madison Square Garden
December 29, 2010
January 18, 2011
February 7, 2011
February 21, 2011 Oakland Oracle Arena
February 23, 2011
February 24, 2011
March 21, 2011 Columbia Colonial Life Arena
March 23, 2011 Raleigh PNC Arena
March 24, 2011 Charlotte Time Warner Cable Arena
March 26, 2011 Greensboro Greensboro Coliseum
March 28, 2011 Greenville Bon Secours Wellness Arena
March 30, 2011 North Charleston North Charleston Coliseum
April 14, 2011[A] Inglewood The Forum
April 21, 2011[A]
April 22, 2011[A]
April 23, 2011[A]
April 28, 2011[A]
April 29, 2011[A]
April 30, 2011[A]
May 5, 2011[A]
May 6, 2011[A]
May 7, 2011[A]
May 13, 2011[A]
May 14, 2011[A]
May 18, 2011 Fresno Save Mart Center
May 19, 2011 San Jose SAP Center at San Jose
May 21, 2011
May 22, 2011 Sacramento Sleep Train Arena
May 27, 2011[A] Inglewood The Forum
May 28, 2011[A]
May 29, 2011[A]
June 24, 2011[B] Montreal Canada Métropolis
June 25, 2011[B]
Europe[21][22]
June 30, 2011 Paris France Stade de France
July 2, 2011[C] Gdynia Poland Babie Doły Airfield
July 3, 2011[D] Beltring England Hop Farm Country Park
July 5, 2011 Ghent Belgium Sint-Pietersplein
July 6, 2011
July 8, 2011[E] Rotterdam Netherlands Ahoy Rotterdam
July 9, 2011[E]
July 10, 2011[E]
July 13, 2011 Esch-sur-Alzette Luxembourg Rockhal
July 15, 2011[F] Perugia Italy Arena Santa Giuliana
July 16, 2011[G] Lucca Piazza Napoleone
July 21, 2011 Helsinki Finland Hartwall Arena
July 24, 2011 Amsterdam Netherlands Melkweg
July 25, 2011
July 26, 2011 Rotterdam Ahoy Rotterdam
July 28, 2011 Cologne Germany Lanxess Arena
July 30, 2011 Malahide Ireland Malahide Castle
August 2, 2011 Oslo Norway Oslo Spektrum
August 3, 2011
August 6, 2011[H] Copenhagen Denmark 10 Øren
August 7, 2011[H]
August 9, 2011[J] Budapest Hungary Óbuda Island
August 12, 2011[K] Gothenburg Sweden Slottsskogen
August 17, 2011 Zürich Switzerland Hallenstadion
North America[23][24]
November 25, 2011 Toronto Canada Air Canada Centre
November 26, 2011
November 30, 2011 Halifax Scotiabank Centre
December 2, 2011 Montreal Bell Centre
December 3, 2011 Ottawa Canadian Tire Centre
December 5, 2011 London Budweiser Gardens
December 8, 2011 Winnipeg MTS Centre
December 13, 2011 Edmonton Rexall Place
December 14, 2011 Calgary Scotiabank Saddledome
December 16, 2011 Vancouver Rogers Arena
December 17, 2011 Victoria Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre
December 19, 2011 Tacoma United States Tacoma Dome
Australia[25]
May 11, 2012 Sydney Australia Allphones Arena
May 12, 2012
May 14, 2012 Melbourne Rod Laver Arena
May 15, 2012
May 18, 2012 Brisbane Brisbane Entertainment Centre
May 22, 2012 Sydney Allphones Arena
May 26, 2012 Brisbane Brisbane Entertainment Centre
May 30, 2012 Melbourne Rod Laver Arena
North America[26]
September 24, 2012 Chicago United States United Center
September 25, 2012
September 26, 2012
Festivals and other miscellaneous performances

A These concerts were a part of "21-Night Stands"[8]
B These concerts were a part of the "Montreal International Jazz Festival"[27]
C This concert was a part of the "Heineken Open'er Festival"[28]
D This concert was a part of the "Hop Farm Festival"[29]
E These concerts were a part of the "North Sea Jazz Festival"[30]

F This concert was a part of the "Umbria Jazz Festival"[31]
G This concert was a part of the "Lucca Summer Festival"[31]
H These concerts were a part of the "NPG Music and Arts Festival"[32]
J This concert was a part of the "Sziget Festival"[33]
K This concert was a part of the "Way Out West Festival"[34]

Cancellations and rescheduled shows
December 14, 2010 East Rutherford, New Jersey Izod Center Cancelled[10]
February 4, 2011 Dallas theEvent Tent Complex Cancelled.[35] The concert was to benefit the Goss-Michael Foundation
July 23, 2011 Oslo, Norway Oslo Spektrum Rescheduled to August 2, 2011 due to the 2011 Norway attacks
July 24, 2011 Oslo, Norway Oslo Spektrum Rescheduled to August 3, 2011 due to the 2011 Norway attacks
August 4, 2011 Berlin, Germany O2 World Cancelled
December 11, 2011 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan SaskTel Centre Cancelled

Box office score data

Venue City Tickets sold / available Gross revenue
Madison Square Garden[A] New York City 70,855 / 72,911 (97%) $7,592,092[36]
Oracle Arena Oakland 42,475 / 42,475 (100%) $4,418,308[37]
Save Mart Center Fresno 11,918 / 13,028 (91%) $837,960[38]
Bell Centre Montreal 8,753 / 10,900 (80%) $1,113,260[39]
John Labatt Centre London 8,790 / 9,053 (97%) $958,695[39]
Halifax Metro Centre Halifax 10,039 / 10,039 (100%) $1,000,320[40]
Rexall Place Edmonton 10,775 / 16,258 (66%) $1,119,660[41]
Allphones Arena Sydney 39,827 / 44,118 (90%) $7,182,190[42]
Rod Laver Arena Melbourne 42,086 / 42,900 (98%) $7,540,270[43]
Brisbane Entertainment Centre Boondall 17,798 / 20,036 (84%) $3,212,670[44]
TOTAL 263,316 / 281,718 (93%) $34,975,425
Notes
A The gross for the January 18th concert at Madison Square Garden placed second on Billboard's "Hot Tours", for the month of January 2011.[45]

Notes

1.^ The annual Pollstar raking of the concert industry's top performing artists is tabulated for all worldwide shows, worked between January 1 and June 30, 2011. All ticket sales figures are calculated in U.S. dollars and are based on reported information and extensive research by Pollstar.

References

  1. "Top 50 Worldwide Tours (01/01/2011 – 06/30/2011)". Pollstar. July 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 November 2011. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  2. Lipshutz, Jason (14 October 2010). "Prince Announces 'Welcome 2 America' Tour". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2 November 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  3. 1 2 "PRINCE "WELCOME 2 AMERICA" EXCLUSIVE NORTH AMERICAN PERFORMANCES IN NEW YORK AREA" (Press release). Izod Center Official Website. 25 October 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 November 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  4. "Seating Chart for Prince – Welcome 2 America". Izod Center Official Website. New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. Archived from the original on 2 November 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  5. Johnston, Maura (20 December 2010). "Prince Parties With Naomi Campbell, Whoopi Goldberg Onstage at MSG". Rolling Stone LLC. Archived from the original on 2 November 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  6. 1 2 Perpetua, Matthew (30 December 2010). "Prince Performs Killer Show With Help From Janelle Monáe, Cyndi Lauper". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2 November 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  7. Cohen, Stefanie (26 December 2010). "Prince finds a ballet muse". New York Post. Archived from the original on 2 November 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  8. 1 2 Evans, Rob (8 April 2011). "Prince plans extended "Welcome 2 America" run for Los Angeles". SoundSpike. SoundSpike Media, LLC. Archived from the original on 2 November 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  9. Staff Writer (6 May 2012). [ "Prince, symbol of music royalty is coming to Australia this week for his 2012 tour"] Check |archiveurl= value (help). The Sunday Telegraph. Archived from the original on 31 May 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Prince – Welcome 2 America". Izod Center Website. New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. Archived from the original on 2 November 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  11. "Live Review: Prince at the Oracle Arena". San Francisco Bay Guardian. 22 February 2011. Archived from the original on 2 November 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  12. 1 2 Anderson, Kyle (30 December 2010). "Prince Keeps The Party Hot At Madison Square Garden 'Welcome 2 America' Show". MTV Newsroom. Archived from the original on 2 November 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  13. Reitz, Allison (11 March 2011). "Prince tours Carolinas with six new 'Welcome 2 America' concerts". Ticket News. Archived from the original on 3 November 2011. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  14. Little, Caryn (16 March 2011). "Prince Announces Opening Act for Charlotte Tour". WCCB. Bahakel Communications. Archived from the original on 3 November 2011. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  15. Sources for selected setlists in the Greater New York area:
  16. Sources for selected setlist in the California area:
  17. Hahne, Jeff (25 March 2011). "Live review: Prince". Creative Loafing. Archived from the original on 3 November 2011. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  18. Te Koha, Nui; Adams, Cameron (12 May 2012). "Prince the king of funk". Herald Sun. The Herald and Weekly Times. Archived from the original on 31 May 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
  19. Cashemere, Paul (15 May 2012). "REVIEW: Prince At Rod Laver Arena May 14, 2012". Noise11. Archived from the original on 31 May 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
  20. Additional sources for dates in North America:
  21. Narlian, Laure (30 June 2011). "Prince jeudi soir au Stade de France" [Prince: Thursday night at the Stade de France]. France 2 (in French). France Télévisions. Archived from the original on 2 November 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  22. Additional sources for dates in Europe:
  23. Evans, Rob (28 October 2011). "Prince unveils "Welcome 2 Canada" tour". SoundSpike. SoundSpike Media, LLC. Archived from the original on 2 November 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  24. "Purple will rain on Tacoma Dome with Prince tour". The News Tribune. 15 November 2011. Archived from the original on 31 May 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
  25. "Prince: Everyone should experience 'Purple Rain' live". ninemsn. Nine Entertainment Co. / Microsoft. 11 May 2012. Archived from the original on 31 May 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
  26. Greenwald, David (31 August 2012). "Prince Bringing 'Welcome 2' Tour to Chicago". Billboard. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  27. Thompson, Arienne (15 June 2011). "Prince performing at Montreal Jazz fest". USA Today. Archived from the original on 2 November 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  28. Reevers, China (5 May 2011). "Open'er Festival Announces Prince As Headliner". Paste. Wolfgang's Vault. Archived from the original on 2 November 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  29. Horan, Tom (4 July 2011). "Prince, Hop Farm Festival 2011, review". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2 November 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  30. "North Sea Jazz 2011 opens in Rotterdam". Radio Netherlands Worldwide. 8 July 2011. Archived from the original on 2 November 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  31. 1 2 Paloscia, Fulvio (24 June 2011). "Lucca vuole Prince ed è polemica con Umbria Jazz" [Prince wants to Lucca and controversy with Umbria Jazz]. la Repubblica (in Italian). Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso. Archived from the original on 2 November 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  32. Michaels, Sean (19 July 2011). "Prince to curate music festival in Denmark". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2 November 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  33. Gregory, Jason (11 August 2011). "Prince Dedicates Song To Amy Winehouse At Sziget Festival". Gigwise. Giant Digital. Archived from the original on 2 November 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  34. Osorio, Kim (15 August 2011). "Prince Brings Out Kanye West in Sweden". BET News. BET Networks. Archived from the original on 2 November 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  35. Tarradell, Mario (5 February 2011). "Did Prince dis Dallas? Some truth behind his no-show for Super Bowl concert". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on 2 November 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  36. Sources for Madison Square Garden Boxscore:
  37. "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. New York City. 123 (14). 2 April 2011. ISSN 0006-2510.
  38. "Billboard Boxscore :: Current Scores". Billboard. 18 June 2011. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
  39. 1 2 "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. New York. 123 (46). 17 December 2011. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on 8 December 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  40. "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. New York. 124 (23). 30 June 2012. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on 23 June 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
  41. "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. New York. 124 (1). 14 January 2012. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on 5 January 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  42. "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. New York. 124 (21). 16 June 2012. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on 10 June 2012. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  43. "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. New York. 124 (22). 23 June 2012. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on 17 June 2012. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
  44. "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. New York. 124 (20). 9 June 2012. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on 4 June 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  45. Allen, Bob (27 January 2010). "Hot Tours: Garth Brooks, Prince, Jeff Foxworthy". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2 November 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
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