From 2 May 2009, the French singer Mylène Farmer began a tour through France, Belgium, Switzerland and Russia. It was her fifth tour and supported her seventh studio album Point de suture. For the first time, this tour lead the singer through stadiums and, unlike her 2006 tour, featured a transportable stage.
Background Since the announcement of Farmer's seventh studio album, the media said that a tour was scheduled for 2009 to support this album."Mylène Farmer se produira en Suisse l'an prochain", 20 Minutes, 30 January 2008 Devant-soi.com (Retrieved 12 May 2008)
About this new series of concerts, Farmer explained in an interview: "I am back on stage because I'm bored. I need to reinvent my life. (...) I want to feel dizzy again.""Mylène Farmer se dévoile", Paris-Match, Jérôme Béglé, 20 March 2008 Devant-soi.com (Retrieved 12 May 2008)"Mylène Farmer parle d'elle à Paris-Match", Aura People Devant-soi.com (Retrieved 12 May 2008) She announced that the tour will be carried out throughout France and that the show will be grandiose."Mylène Farmer en interview dans Paris-Match!", Petitblog, 20 March 2008 Devant-soi.com (Retrieved 12 May 2008)
A concert at the Stade de France, Saint-Denis, was first announced for 12 September 2009 (which is also the singer's date of birthday), then another concert on 4 September at the stadium of Geneva. Tickets for both concerts were put on sale from 28 March 2008."Mylène Farmer au Stade de France en 2009", Chartsinfrance, Olivier Palud, 29 February 2008 Chartsinfrance.net, Imedias, 29 February 2008 Imedias.com (Retrieved 12 May 2008)"Mylène Farmer au Stade de France en 2009", Le Figaro, 29 February 2008 Devant-soi.com, Le Parisien, 29 February 2008 Devant-soi.com, MCM, 29 February 2008 MCM.net (Retrieved 12 May 2008)"A réserver : Mylène Farmer au stade de France", Concerts.fr, 14 March 2008 Concerts.fr (Retrieved 12 May 2008) A second concert at the Stade de France, for 11 September was later announced on 29 March and the tickets were put on sale from 1 April 2008."Mylène Farmer donnera un second concert au Stade de France devant le succès du premier", Radinrue, 29 March 2008 Radinrue.com (Retrieved 12 May 2008) In April, a concert was added in Brussels for 19 September."Mylène Farmer de retour sur scène", DH.be, 4 April 2008 DH.be (Retrieved 12 May 2008)"Mylène Farmer au Stade Roi Baudoin en september 2009", 7 sur 7, 20 April 7sur7.fr (Retrieved 12 May 2008) Other concerts are announced in the media at present, such as Bordeaux, but are not officially confirmed. In Paris Match, Farmer confirmed the tour would go to Russia in 2009, and additional dates in Ukraine and Latvia are rumoured."Mylène Farmer : dates de la tournée 2009!", Zataz, 16 April 2008 Zataz.com (Retrieved 12 May 2008)"NTM et Mylène Farmer arrivent en 2008 et... en 2009", Le Progrès, 28 April 2008 Leprogres.fr (Retrieved 12 May 2008) A concert at the Bollaert stadium in Lens was announced as being official"Mylène Farmer au Stade Bollaert", Nord Eclair, 4 May 2008, Nordeclair.fr (Retrieved 12 May 2008) then was denied in the media,"Le couac Mylène Farmer", Nord Eclair, 5 May 2008 Nordeclair.fr (Retrieved 12 May 2008)"Mylène Farmer ne chantera pas au Stade Bollaert", La Voix du Nord, 6 April 2008 Lavoixdunord.com (Retrieved 12 May 2008) but the final decision, the cancellation, that should have been known on 14 May,"Mylène Farmer à Bollaert : décision le 14 mai", Nord Eclair, 7 May 2008 Nordeclair.fr (Retrieved 12 May 2008)"Mylène Farmer à Bollaert", La Voix du Nord, 14 May 2008 Lavoixdunord.com (Retrieved 15 May 2008) was published on 21 May 2008. On 15 May, four concerts were officially announced: two in Nantes and two in Rouen for May 2009. The following day, the record label Polydor confirmed them and added eleven dates scheduled in various cities (Nice, Clermont-Ferrand, Marseille, Toulouse, Nantes, Rouen, Strasbourg, Dijon, Lyon)."Mylène Farmer, tournée officielle 2009, Communiqué officiel de Polydor, 16 May 2008 Mylene.net (Retrieved 15 May 2008) On 23 May, three new dates were added : 6 May (Clermont-Ferrand), 26 May (Nantes) and 9 June, (Dijon). On 30 November, fours concerts in Russia were announced in the Russian media, then on 26 January 2009, one concert in Amnéville.
In February 2009 Farmer's tour producers TS3 cancelled the Eastern European tour dates without giving any explanation. However, there had been rumours for months that the local producers were facing economic problems. At the same time new concerts were announced for 28 June in Saint Petersburg and 1 July in Moscow, organised by different local partners. For the concert in Geneva, the technical problems relating to the enormity of the structures have been resolved (the stadium of Geneva has a smaller capacity than the Stade de France, Saint-Denis)."Mylène Farmer en primeur à Genève", La Tribune de Genève, 6 March 2008 La Tribune de Gnève.com (Retrieved 12 May 2008) Various media revealed that the stage should have been made out of glass,"Mylène Farmer : 2 tournées en 2006", Musique.evous Musique.evous.com (Retrieved 12 May 2008) installed more than three metres above the ground."L'événement de Mylène Farmer", Actustar, 19 March 2008 Actustar.com (Retrieved 12 May 2008) However, these details about stage design were denied by her creative producer Thierry Suc."Mylène, J moins 1 an...", interview of Thierry Suc, La Dépêche, 22 May 2008 Ladepeche.fr (Retrieved 22 May 2008) He also explained that there will be some differences between shows in stadiums and those in hall."Mylène Farmer, les secrets de son concert, Le Progrès Lyon, June 2, 2008 Mylene.net (Retrieved May 22, 2008) Jean-Paul Gaultier confirmed to be the fashion designer for this tour."Mylène Farmer habillée par Jean-Paul Gaultier", Musique.evous, August 27, 2008 Devant-soi.com (Retrieved August 30, 2008) It was also announced that the entire show will be filmed "with very sophisticated means of the tridimensional cinema"."Mylène Farmer en relief", Le Journal du dimanche, August 31, 2008 "Mylène Farmer : son concert au stade de France sur DVD", Musique.evous, 2 September 2008 Devant-soi.com (Retrieved 3 September 2008)
Farmer did the rehearsals in Nice a few days before the beginning of her concert tour."Mylène Farmer répétera à Nice", Le Parisien, 2 March 2009 Devant-soi.com (Retrieved 6 May 2009) The concerts in stadiums were announced as different as the others, because the stage was bigger and there was additional material.
Controversy The poster of the tour, first revealed on the Internet and then shown in Paris, generated a controversy. Indeed, on this poster, Farmer is lying on the ground, with distraught eyes, as if she had been thrown through a window. As a result, some media criticized this poster, that might suggest a suicide."Le suicide médiatique de Mylène Farmer ?", Entrevue.fr, 18 March 2008 Entrevue.fr (Retrieved 12 May 2008)"Mylène Farmer : l'affiche qui va faire polémique", Imedias, 18 March 2008 Imedias.com (Retrieved 12 May 2008)"Découvrez l'affiche polémique de Mylène Farmer", Chartsinfrance, 19 March 2008 Chartsinfrance.com (Retrieved 12 May 2008)"Polémique autour de l'affiche du concert de Mylène Farmer", Tétu, 19 March 2008 Tétu.com (Retrieved 12 May 2008)France Soir, 22 March 2008, n°19753, p. 26 Other media believed that it refers to a murder or a rape, or perhaps a message of farewell from the singer to her public."Mylène Farmer : finir en beauté ?", TF1.LCI, 20 March 2008 TF1.LCI.fr (Retrieved 12 May 2008) Others saw it as a promotional strategy."Mylène is back!", Lexode, 23 March 2008 Devant-soi.com (Retrieved 12 May 2008) It was the subject of debate among Farmer's fans and critics on the Internet."Mylène Farmer flirte t'elle avec le suicide", Le Mague, Frédéric Vignale, 20 March 2008 Le Mague.com (Retrieved 12 May 2008)
Commercial success A huge rush took place on sites purchasing tickets, such as Fnac,"Mylène Farmer en concert : le site de la Fnac en surchage", Concertlive.fr, 28 March 2008 Concertlive.fr (Retrieved 12 May 2008) with over 25,000 connections per minute."Mylène Farmer fait sauter les réseaux de billetterie en ligne", Concertlive, 28 March 2008 Concertlive.fr (Retrieved 12 May 2008) Some angry Internet users expressed their dissatisfaction about this problem."Les fans de Mylène Farmer au bord de la crise de nerfs!", Concertlive, 28 March 2008 Concertlive.fr (Retrieved 12 May 2008) The same thing happened on 1 April for the second concert at the Stade de France."Mylène Farmer sature à nouveau les billetteries", Bruxello, 1 April 2008 Devant-soi.com (Retrieved 12 May 2008) According to Michael Drieberg, the director of Live Music, the concert at Geneva is the most quickly sold of all time in Switzerland."Mylène Farmer a gagné son match contre Tokio Hotel", Le Matin Online, Karine Vouillamoz, 5 April 2008 Devant-soi.com (Retrieved 12 May 2008)"Mylène Farmer à Genève : "Le concert le plus vite vendu de l'histoire suisse"", Star Actu, 6 April 2008 Staractu.com (Retrieved 12 May 2008)