Hooligans in Wondaland Tour

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Hooligans in Wondaland Tour
Tour by Bruno Mars and Janelle Monáe
Promotional poster for the tour
Associated albums
Start dateMay 1, 2011 (2011-05-01)
End dateJune 16, 2011 (2011-06-16)
Legs1
No. of shows29
Bruno Mars Tour chronology
The Doo-Wops & Hooligans Tour
(2011–12)
Hooligans in Wondaland Tour
(2011)
The Moonshine Jungle Tour
(2013–14)
Janelle Monáe Tour chronology
The ArchAndroid Tour
(2010)
Hooligans in Wondaland Tour
(2011)
California Dreams Tour
(2011–12)

The Hooligans in Wondaland Tour was a concert tour that was headlined by American singer-songwriter Bruno Mars and Janelle Monáe to support Mars' and Monáe's 2010 debut studio albums, Doo-Wops & Hooligans and The ArchAndroid, respectively. The co-headlining concerts were announced in February 2011; it coincided with their performances at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards. In April 2011, a promotional trailer was released through Mars's YouTube channel and a dedicated website, which was designed to further promote the tour. The concerts took place in North America in May and June of that year.

Mars declined several invitations to open shows for other artists because performing in small, intimate venues, would allow him to build a fan base. Mars's set list for the tour included songs from Doo-Wops & Hooligans, and some covers while Monáe's set list included songs from The ArchAndroid, one song from her debut EP Metropolis: The Chase Suite (2007), and two covers. The Hooligans in Wondaland Tour received positive reviews from most critics, who praised Mars's and Monáe's performances, and said they, along with Mayer Hawthorne, are providers "of perfect pop music". The co-headlined tour was named by NME as one of the best 25.

Background and development

On February 15, 2011, after Bruno Mars and Janelle Monáe performed at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards, a joint co-headlining tour for both artists entitled "Hooligans in Wondaland" was announced. The concert tour was performed in North America in throughout May and June 2011.[1][2] Pre-sales tickets were made available two days after the announcement of the tour; they were sold as bundles that included a meet-and-greet with one of the artists, a signed poster, a digital EP, and a commemorative laminate. On February 26, 2011, tickets were made available to the general public.[3] A promotional trailer was released through Mars's YouTube channel, as well as a dedicated website to promote the tour.[4]

The tour was named Hooligans in Wondaland Tour, after both Mars's debut studio album

Wondaland Arts Society, and a track included on her debut studio album The ArchAndroid (2010).[5] The tour's promotional poster was inspired by the artwork of "James Brown-era all-star shows at the Apollo Theater".[6] In 2011, Mars rejected several requests to open shows for other artists and instead decided to co-headline a tour with Monáe. The show was produced by AEG.[7] This strategy meant lower earnings in the short term but allowed Mars to build a fan base by performing shows at small, intimate venues.[8] After the first show of the Hooligans in Wondaland Tour, Mars said he was nervous about the "production values" of the lights and other equipment.[9]

Sound

During the Hooligans in Wondaland concerts, Mars's and Monáe's engineers shared the consoles, and technician Ben Rothstein handled the sound gear. In addition, Derek Brener, Mars's

compression of the guitar's sound. Mars had two pairs of speaker wedges downstage center; the inner pair was mixed with his voice and two background vocals while the outer pair had the band mix along with his guitar on top, according to Mars's monitor engineer Mike Graham. Alex McCloud, Monáe's monitor engineer, said her setup was very close to that used by Mars but Monáe had a wedge mix and sidefill speakers in front. Reggie Griffith, Monáe's FOH assistant, was in charge of the singer's vocals, removing some of the pitch when she leaned into the microphone. Griffith and Nate "Rocket" Wonder were responsible for mixing Monáe's tracks.[10]

Concert synopsis

The concerts were supported by

Gibson guitar during the concerts, performed with his band the Hooligans.[A][12][17] During the Hooligans in Wondaland Tour, Mars usually wore a fedora hat, a "plaid flannel-turned-vest" or a sleeveless denim jacket over a tee-shirt—sometimes with a Harley-Davidson design—and black jeans.[13][15][18] The stage had square screens projecting images, lights, and flashing graphic colors and video.[12][15][18] Mars's set lasted around an hour.[18]

Monáe

The show started with an MC wearing a top hat and coat-tails.

Fantasia fusion appeared on the screens.[12] Monáe usually opened with the instrumental of "Suite II Overture".[12][19][20] Once on stage, she performed "Dance or Die" and "Faster", alternating between rapping and gospel chanting.[12][14] Monáe also sang "Locked Inside".[19] She created a "theatrical flair", fending off masked dancers.[13] Afterwards, Monáe put on sunglasses and performed "Sincerely, Jane" as well as a cover of The Jackson 5's "I Want You Back" while moonwalking.[12][14][19]

Monáe then turned her back to the audience, and painted on a canvas the word "love" in yellow letters and a female figure as she sang "Mushrooms & Roses".

crescendo.[21] As Monáe talked and wailed, her hair released itself from its pompadour, and her performance reached a climax.[14]

Mars

Before Mars started his show, he asked the crowd to put away their mobile phones.

uptempo "Runaway Baby", which was filled with "retro rock 'n' roll".[14][16] Before Mars sang a doo-wop harmony with three members of his band, he told the audience, "This is the kind of music I love".[13][15] He then sang the romantic, the Beach Boys-influenced anthem "Marry You".[15][19]

"Marry You" was followed by "

Just Like Heaven".[13][14][19] The show's closing number "Just the Way You Are" was performed with a different melody; Mars asked the "men in the audience to give their ladies attention", sometimes choosing a woman from the crowd and singing to her.[14][18][23] For some concerts, the encore was "Somewhere in Brooklyn", which had the word "Brooklyn" replaced with the name of the city in which he was performing.[21][20] Mars closed the show with the emotional ballad "Talking to the Moon", which was inspired by the "70s soft-rock" of the Carpenters and Chicago.[19][21][22]

Critical reception

The Hooligans in Wondaland concerts were met with mostly positive reviews. Chris Gray, writing for Houston Press, praised Mars's and Monáe's performances, saying the show was "assembled so perfectly, delivered so charismatically and received so warmly". Gray concluded, "finding fault ... would be like throwing rocks at the Easter Bunny".[14] Jordan Levin from the Miami Herald complimented the show, saying Mars and Monáe are "moving musical formulas forward, not with technology and spectacle, but with invention and talent".[15] Robert Ham of The Oregonian said Mars had the spectators' attention throughout the concert and that he sang every note himself; Ham also praised Mars's guitar skills and dubbed Monáe's performance "exhilarating".[13] LA Weekly's Lainna Fader lauded the performances and commented, "With the addition of Mayer Hawthorne, you've got three of the truest purveyors of perfect pop music on stage together.""[12]

Matthew Kivel of Variety praised Mars and Monáe's performance by saying that "Mars is impressive, his vocal gifts allowing him to infuse heavy doses of emotion and subtle improvisations into his song's", while Monáe "brought a refreshingly unpredictable approach to her stage show", showing "the up-and-comer as a talent with seemingly unlimited potential."[22] Angel Cheung and Alexis Greskiw from The Vancouver Observer praised the show, saying, "Monáe and Mars were the perfect combination, filled with vivacity and soul.""[21] Shawn White, for Westword said the Hooligans in Wondaland Tour "might look like a strange bill" but "all three featured acts are purveyors of perfect pop music".[19] Seattle Gay News's Shaun Knittel commended the live show, saying, "Bruno Mars and Janelle Monáe are as good as critics say they are."[23] Reed Fischer, for New Times Broward-Palm Beach, affirmed that Mars's show "exceeded" his "expectations immensely".[20]

In a mixed review, Billboard's Leila Cobo affirmed that Mars "comes across like the real thing, like few acts today do." Cobo dubbed Monáe's show as "impressive", but that she was missing "some of Mars' nuance".[24] Emily Barker of The Globe and Mail called Mars's set "obvious and pedestrian; so cynical and exploitative" but praised Monáe's performance, saying, "she proved herself miraculous, an unabashedly theatrical musical polyglot".[16] The Hollywood Reporter's Lauren Schutte criticized the high cost of the ticket due to the "short running time" but noted everyone "looked more than satisfied".[18]

NME's Emily Barker compiled a list of the 25 best co-headlined shows as of 2013, on which she ranked the Hooligans in Wondaland Tour at number 20. Barker said the show "took its cues from the old-school".[6]

Set lists

Mars and Monáe's set lists given below were performed on May 18, 2011, respectively.[14] The list evolved over the course of the tour, and sometimes included other numbers. Mars included "Please Say You Want Me" by The Schoolboys, the Cleftones' "You Belong to Me" and a portion of "Somewhere in Brooklyn" along with "Talking to the Moon" as an encore, with the word "Brooklyn" replaced with the name of the city in which he was performing.[18][21][20] Monáe included "America the Beautiful", "Say You'll Go" and "Wondaland".[19][20]

Shows

List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue and opening act North America concerts (Hooligans in Wondaland)[3][11]
Date
(2011)
City Country Venue Opening act
May 1[a]
East Rutherford
United States
New Meadowlands Stadium
N/A
May 4 New York City Roseland Ballroom Plan B
May 6 Stony Brook
Stony Brook University Arena
May 7 Camden
Susquehanna Bank Center
May 8 Boston Agganis Arena
May 10 Atlanta Fox Theatre Atlanta
May 11 Miami Beach Miami Beach Convention Center
May 17 Grand Prairie
Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie
May 18 Houston
Reliant Arena
Plan B & Patrick Stump
May 20[b] Montgomery Montgomery Riverfront Amphitheatre
May 21[c] Baltimore Pimlico Race Course N/A
May 22 Windsor Canada Caesars Windsor Plan B & Patrick Stump
May 24 Milwaukee United States
Eagles Ballroom
Plan B
May 25 Saint Paul Roy Wilkins Auditorium
May 27 Chicago Aragon Ballroom
May 28 Kansas City Uptown Theatre Mayer Hawthorne & the County
May 29 Broomfield 1stBank Center
May 30 Orem UCCU Center
June 2 Seattle
WaMu Theater
June 3 Vancouver Canada Rogers Arena
June 4 Portland United States
Theater of the Clouds
June 7 Reno Grand Sierra Resort
June 8 San Francisco Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
June 10 Coachella Spotlight 29 Casino
June 11[d] Del Mar Del Mar Fairgrounds
June 12 Universal City
Gibson Amphitheatre
June 14 N/A
June 15 Phoenix
Comerica Theatre
Mayer Hawthorne & the County
June 16 Las Vegas
Pearl Concert Theater
N/A

Box office score data

List of concerts, showing date, city, venue, tickets sold, number of available tickets and amount of gross revenue
Date
(2011)
City Venue Attendance Revenue
May 8 Boston Agganis Arena 5,973 / 6,215 (96%) $197,109[29]
May 10 Atlanta Atlanta Fox Theatre 4,251 / 4,251 (100%) $148,785[30]
May 18 Grand Prairie Verizon Theatre 4,905 / 6,317 (78%) $168,945[31]
May 22 Windsor Caesars Windsor 4,541 / 4,934 (92%) $198,024[32]
May 25 Saint Paul Roy Wilkins Auditorium 4,654 / 4,654 (100%) $153,582[33]
May 27 Chicago Aragon Ballroom 4,873 / 4,873 (100%) $157,154[33]
June 4 Portland Theatre of the Clouds 3,750 / 4,004 (94%) $131,250[33]
June 8 San Francisco Bill Graham Civic Auditorium 8,211 / 8,211 (100%) $307,913[29]
Total 41,158 / 43,729 $1,462,762

Personnel

Credits adapted from several sources.[10][34][35]

Notes

  1. ^ Mars's band references can be seen in the Personnel section under The Hooligans
  1. ^ The May 1, 2011 concert in East Rutherford at the New Meadowlands Stadium was a part of "The Bamboozle", but Monáe was not part of the show.[25]
  2. ^ The May 20, 2011 concert in Montgomery at the Montgomery Riverfront Amphitheatre was a part of the "Jubilee CityFest".[26]
  3. ^ The May 21, 2011 concert in Baltimore at the Pimlico Race Course was a part of the "Preakness InfieldFest".[27]
  4. ^ The June 11, 2011 concert in Del Mar at the Del Mar Fairgrounds was a part of the "San Diego County Fair".[28]

References

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