The My New Orleans Tour was a 2007 concert tour by American singer, pianist, and actor Harry Connick Jr. backed by his big band. The tour promoted his albums Oh, My NOLA (My New Orleans) and Chanson du Vieux Carré. The first concert of the tour was on February 23, 2007 at the Mizner Park Amphitheatre in Boca Raton, Florida. The first part of the tour took place in the USA and Canada. The second part of the tour was in Europe, and in 2008 the tour came to Asia and Australia.

One of the dates was the closing act at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, on May 6, 2007. Connick was also supposed to be part of a concert with clarinetist Alvin Batiste at the same festival, called "Marsalis Music honors Alvin Batiste & Bob French". However, Batiste died of an apparent heart attack only hours before he was to perform. The concert, that also included Branford Marsalis and Bob French, went on as planned, in memory of Alvin Batiste.

At the Montreal Jazz Festival, on June 30, 2007, Connick received the Ella Fitzgerald Award, "in recognition of the versatility, improvisational originality and quality of repertoire of a jazz singer renowned on the international scene."Montreal Jazz Festival Awards Recipients

For the March 9, 2008 concert in Shanghai, China, an old set list had mistakenly been given to Chinese authorities when applying for permits to play in China. An hour before the concert, authorities showed up, and the old set list was found to contain songs that were considered inappropriate to perform, and a number of "safe" songs were added. Connick & co. revised the set list with current songs, but did not get approval. Connick's big band did not have the charts for the permitted songs on the old set list, so they often remained quiet through the concert. Connick issued a statement four days later, saying "Due to circumstances beyond my control, I was not able to give my fans in China the show I intended." The issue that China had with Connick's setlist, was likely to stem from a March 2 concert with Björk, who dedicated a song to Tibet at the end of her performance. (See Björk: "Declare Independence" live dedications)

Personnel

Band

vocals, piano: Harry Connick Jr. Trombone: Lucien Barbarin, Joe Barati, Jeff Bush, Dion Tucker Trumpet: Roger Ingram, Derrick Gardner, Mark Braud, Leroy Jones, Bijon Watson Bass: Neal Caine Alto saxophone: Charles "Ned" Goold Baritone saxophone: David Schumacher Tenor saxophone: Jerry Weldon drums: Arthur Latin

Band member Dion Tucker proposed to his girlfriend, on stage during the concert on April 21, 2007, in Radio City Music Hall, in New York City.

Setlist (incomplete) There are variations from concert to concert, and also a number of songs not named here, have been performed.

Songs performed most regularly, or quite often instrumental medley of classic tunes and Connick originals "Come By Me" (from his 1999 album Come By Me) "Let Them Talk" (from his 2007 album Oh, My NOLA) "Working In The Coal Mine" (from Oh, My NOLA) "Jambalaya (On The Bayou)" (from Oh, My NOLA) "Hello Dolly" (from Oh, My NOLA) "Won't You Come Home, Bill Bailey?" (from Oh, My NOLA) "All These People" (from Oh, My NOLA) "Yes We Can" (from Oh, My NOLA) "Basin Street Blues" (from his 1988 album 20) "Didn't He Ramble" (from his 1992 album 25)

Other performed songs (1 or several times) "Dan Dan the Driving Man" (new, unrecorded, about Dan who drives the tour bus) "On the Sunny Side of the Street" (from his 1987 album Harry Connick Jr.) "Sweet Georgia Brown" (from his 1979 album Eleven) "New Orleans" (from his 2007 album Chanson du Vieux Carré) "Sugar Blues" (unrecorded) "Do Dat Thing" (from his 2007 album Oh, My NOLA) "St. James Infirmary Blues" (bonus track on his 1999 album Come By Me) "Mardi Gras in New Orleans" (from his 2007 album Chanson du Vieux Carré) "It Had to Be You" (from his 1989 album When Harry Met Sally...)

Tour dates Date City Country VenueNorth AmericaFebruary 23, 2007Boca RatonUnited StatesMizner Park AmphitheatreFebruary 24, 2007ClearwaterRuth Eckerd HallFebruary 25, 2007MiamiAdrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts – Knight Concert HallFebruary 26, 2007OrlandoBob Carr Performing Arts CenterFebruary 27, 2007SavannahJohnny Mercer TheaterMarch 1, 2007AshvilleThomas Wolfe AuditoriumMarch 2, 2007North CharlestonN. Charleston Performing Arts CenterMarch 3, 2007ColumbiaTownship AuditoriumMarch 4, 2007CharlotteOvens AuditoriumMarch 7, 2007AtlantaFox TheatreMarch 8, 2007HuntsvilleVon Braun Center Concert HallMarch 9, 2007BirminghamBJCC Concert HallMarch 10, 2007KnoxvilleCivic AuditoriumMarch 11, 2007LouisvillePalace TheatreMarch 13, 2007NashvilleTennessee PAC – Andrew Jackson HallMarch 14, 2007IndianapolisMurat TheatreMarch 15, 2007ChicagoChicago TheatreMarch 16, 2007March 17, 2007St. LouisFox TheatreApril 4, 2007AmesStephens AuditoriumApril 5, 2007MinneapolisThe Orpheum TheatreApril 6, 2007MilwaukeeMilwaukee TheatreApril 7, 2007South BendMorris PACApril 9, 2007ClevelandState TheatreApril 11, 2007PittsburghBenedum CenterApril 12, 2007ToledoStranahan TheatreApril 13, 2007BuffaloShea's PACApril 14, 2007TorontoCanadaThe Hummingbird CentreApril 15, 2007LondonJohn Labatt CentreApril 19, 2007ProvidenceUnited StatesProvidence Performing Arts CenterApril 20, 2007Atlantic CityBorgata Event CenterApril 21, 2007New York CityRadio City Music HallApril 22, 2007RochesterAuditorium TheatreApril 23, 2007SchenectadyProctors TheatreApril 25, 2007BostonWang Theatre at Citi PACApril 26, 2007SyracuseLandmark TheatreApril 27, 2007WallingfordChevy TheatreApr 28, 2007BaltimoreJoseph Meyerhoff Symphony HallMay 6, 2007New OrleansNew Orleans Jazz & Heritage FestivalMay 8, 2007San AntonioMajestic TheatreMay 10, 2007AustinBass Performing Arts CenterMay 11, 2007The WoodlandsCynthia Woods Mitchell PavilionMay 12, 2007Grand PrairieNokia TheatreMay 14, 2007AlbuquerqueSandia CasinoMay 15, 2007PhoenixDodge TheatreMay 17, 2007San DiegoBayside AmphitheatreMay 18, 2007Los AngelesGreek TheatreMay 19, 2007Palm DesertMcCallum TheatreMay 20, 2007Santa BarbaraArlington TheaterMay 22, 2007FresnoWilliam Saroyan TheatreMay 23, 2007BakersfieldRabobank ArenaMay 24, 2007San FranciscoLouise M. Davies Symphony HallMay 25, 2007San JoseSan Jose Center for the Performing ArtsMay 26, 2007SonomaSonoma Jazz FestivalMay 27, 2007RenoGrand Sierra Resort & CasinoMay 29, 2007SpokaneINB Performing Arts CenterMay 30, 2007EugeneHult Center for the Performing ArtsJune 1, 2007PortlandArlene Schnitzer HallJune 2, 2007SeattleChateau Ste. MichelleJune 3, 2007VancouverCanadaVancouver Centre for Performing ArtsJune 5, 2007NampaUnited StatesIdaho CenterJune 6, 2007Salt Lake CityAbravanel HallJune 7, 2007MorrisonRed Rocks AmphitheatreJune 15, 2007MashantucketFox Theatre at Foxwoods CasinoJune 17, 2007PhiladelphiaKimmel Center – Verizon HallJune 19, 2007OttawaCanadaScotiabank PlaceJune 21, 2007ViennaUnited StatesWolf TrapJune 22, 2007CaryKoka Booth AmphitheaterJune 23, 2007GreenvillePeace CenterJune 24, 2007 AtlantaChastain Park AmphitheaterJune 25, 2007June 27, 2007ReadingSovereign PACJune 28, 2007WilmingtonThe Grand Opera HouseJune 30, 2007MontrealCanadaPlace des Arts/Montreal Jazz FestivalEuropeOctober 24, 2007BerlinGermanySchillertheatreOctober 25, 2007HamburgLaeiszhalle CancelledOctober 26, 2007CopenhagenDenmarkFalkoner TheatreOctober 28, 2007The HagueNetherlandsWorld ForumOctober 29, 2007AntwerpBelgiumQueen Elizabeth HallOctober 30, 2007ParisFranceLe Grand RexOctober 31, 2007November 3, 2007LondonEnglandRoyal Albert HallNovember 5, 2007MadridSpainTeatro CircoNovember 6, 2007MálagaTeatro CervantesNovember 7, 2007ZaragozaSala MultiusosNovember 10, 2007BarcelonaPalau de la MúsicaNovember 13, 2007DublinIrelandRDS Main HallNovember 14, 2007BelfastNorthern IrelandWaterfront HallNovember 16, 2007GlasgowScotlandClyde AuditoriumNovember 17, 2007BirminghamEnglandBirmingham Symphony HallNovember 18, 2007AsiaMarch 3, 2008Kuala LumpurMalaysiaPetronas Philharmonic HallMarch 4, 2008March 5, 2008March 7, 2008SingaporeSingaporeMosaic Music FestivalMarch 9, 2008ShanghaiChinaChangning ArenaMarch 11, 2008BeijingExpo TheatreMarch 13, 2008SeoulSouth KoreaSejong Center for the Performing ArtsMarch 15, 2008ManilaPhilippinesPhilippine International Convention CenterMarch 17, 2008BangkokThailandCentral World Convention CenterMarch 19, 2008Hong KongChinaHong Kong Convention & Exhibition CentreAustraliaMarch 23, 2008 SydneyAustraliaSydney Opera HouseMarch 26, 2008St KildaPalais TheatreMarch 27, 2008March 28, 2008CanberraRoyal TheatreMarch 30, 2008PerthKings Park

References

External links CBS 5's Liam Mayclem interview with Harry Connick Jr. on tour, May 24, 2007