The People vs. Money Tour was a 2008 concert tour by M.I.A. in support of her studio album Kala. Concerts also featured songs from her debut album Arular. It began on 26 April 2008 and ended on 13 June in Manchester, Tennessee. The tour featured dates in Central America, the US and Canada. Her 2008 dates began with two performances at the MX Beat festival in Monterrey, Mexico in March, following the end of her Kala Tour. M.I.A. later cancelled the European dates of the tour, which ended at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee on 13 June 2008.

Tour details The 2008 tour was announced by M.I.A. in April 2008 via her Myspace and official website. A continuation of the Kala Tour, dates included concerts at music festivals, universities and club venues. The set consisted of M.I.A., backup singer Cherry, DJs Low Budget and in other concerts Million Dollar Mano, dancers and supporting vocalists. M.I.A.'s DJs also perform opening sets before her shows. She met backup dancer Cisko after viewing videos of his dances on YouTube.

Holy Fuck opened for M.I.A. from 26 April – 12 May 2008. Egyptian Lover supported M.I.A. on a few dates during the tour, as well as Rye Rye who, along with MGMT, opened for M.I.A. on 11 April 2008.

Continuing with a similar set to her KALA Tour concerts during 2007, M.I.A. selects programming, beats and videos using a Lemur Input Device. A panoramic back screen features film footage of Koichi Toyama's speech, break-dancing street kids, strippers, tigers, war, video games, political rhetoric, graphs, globes, laughing women, animated graphics of M.I.A. performing and large concert crowds from her previous shows, images of her artwork and holographic patterns.

Shows

The setlist featured songs from both her studio albums Arular (2005) and Kala (2007), although M.I.A. did not perform the same setlist at every concert. The set often began with Kala's opening track, "Bamboo Banga." M.I.A. performed at the final date of the 2008 MX Beat festival in Toluca. Prior to her Coachella festival appearance in April 2008, M.I.A. filmed from her New York apartment window and posted on YouTube an incident involving a black man being apprehended by white police officers, which elicited commentary debating the force used for the arrest. At the show, she sang a segment from The Verve's "The Drugs Don't Work", changing the lyrics to "The cops don't work, they make things worse, but I know I'll see your face again," after police tried to shut the set down. Stating "They were on the backside of the stage and they were trying to shut me down...I was really thinking about the situation in New York", referencing the Sean Bell shooting incident, she felt "getting people to be interactive makes me feel more and more connected to my fans."

In May 2008, she stated in an interview "I figured I might as well do a few more shows in America before I may not be allowed back in or ever get a chance to come back again – It's nice to tour around America and do every gig like it's your last gig."

M.I.A. performed additional dates during her tour. On 3 May 2008 she performed at the JazzFest in New Orleans, U.S., and at an afterparty for the MTV Movie Awards in West Hollywood, California, U.S. on 1 June 2008. At the show, Arulpragasam pledged, with the money she earned from the gig, to build new schools in Liberia, telling the crowd "It costs $52,000 to build a school in Liberia for 1000". Updates on the building progress have been posted on her MySpace blog. She also performed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, U.S. in June 2008, during which Mos Def performed with her onstage. Other performers there included past tour mates LCD Soundsystem. Proceeds from the event were donated towards benefitting the museum's general operating fund. Arulpragasam announced her engagement at her Edmonton Events Centre concert in Canada. Curating his first ever New American Music Union in August 2008, Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers described in an interview in May being very keen on Arulpragasam playing at the US festival, remarking "I think she's a rocking live performer. She wanted to play, she was very into it" but that she cancelled as she was getting married.

Kat Bjelland, Kim Gordon and Susan Sarandon were among concert attendees.

Clothes Clothes worn during this tour were inspired by prints and artwork Arulpragasam created for her websites, her album cover for Kala and songs such as "Bird Flu", and were taken from her clothing line. In 2008, she launched a limited edition fashion line held to reflect her personal style. The limited edition "KALA Tour/Okley Run" line included Mexican and Afrika jackets and leggings, Islamic hoodies as well as tour-inspired designs including "People Vs. Money Tour Tees" and "KALA Tour Tees". In some concerts, she wore T-shirts imprinted with images of artists such as Ian Curtis. Short-shorts, head bandannas, neon, retro stripes and sequin-clad attendees populated her Aragon ballroom performance in Chicago, with Althea Legaspi of the Chicago Tribune noting that "If her fans' clothing is any indication, M.I.A.'s cultural influence – with her flair for outrageous fashion – may be growing beyond her music. Fortunately, Friday's performance showed her showmanship has improved along with her popularity."

Set list Below is the set list of Arulpragasam's concert at the Maplewood Myth. Throughout the People Vs. Money Tour, she played various combinations of these songs.

"Video Introduction" "Bamboo Banga" "World Town" "XR2" "Pull Up the People" "Sunshowers" "20 Dollar"

All Girls Went Up on Stage "10 Dollar" "Jimmy"

All Boys Went Up on Stage "Boyz" "Bucky Done Gun" "Galang"

Encore "Birdflu" "Paper Planes" "Amazon", "U.R.A.Q.T." and "Banana Skit" were performed at select shows.

Tour dates Date City Country VenueMarch 1, 2008MonterreyMexicoDeportivo BancarioMarch 8, 2008TolucaCentro Dinámico PegasoApril 10, 2008South HadleyUnited StatesMount Holyoke CollegeApril 11, 2008PoughkeepsieVassar CollegeApril 12, 2008ProvidenceBrown UniversityApril 26, 2008IndioEmpire Polo Club April 28, 2008San Diego4th & BMay 1, 2008AustinLa Zona RosaMay 2, 2008DallasSouth Side BallroomMay 5, 2008NashvilleCity HallMay 8, 2008DetroitFillmore DetroitMay 9, 2008ChicagoAragon BallroomMay 12, 2008MilwaukeeTurner HallMay 13, 2008MaplewoodMythMay 14, 2008LawrenceLiberty HallMay 17, 2008Denver, ColoradoFillmore AuditoriumMay 18, 2008Salt Lake CityThe DepotMay 21, 2008San FranciscoMusic ConcourseMay 23, 2008PortlandRoseland TheaterMay 24, 2008GorgeThe Gorge Amphitheatre May 25, 2008VancouverCanadaPNE ForumMay 27, 2008EdmontonEdmonton Events CentreMay 28, 2008CalgaryMacEwan HallMay 30, 2008WinnipegBurton Cummings TheatreJune 2, 2008TorontoSound AcademyJune 3, 2008MontrealMetropolisJune 5, 2008PhiladelphiaUnited StatesPhiladelphia ArmoryJune 6, 2008New York CityMcCarren PoolJune 13, 2008ManchesterGreat Stage Park

Cancelled dates Date City Country Venue Europe21 June 2008BarcelonaSpainSonar by Night Festival24 June 2008ArendalNorwayHove Festival27 June 2008DublinIrelandRedBox1 July 2008LondonUnited KingdomThe Roundhouse4 July 2008RoskildeDenmarkRoskilde Festival5 July 2008ArvikaSwedenArvika Festival6 July 2008GdyniaPolandHeiniken Open'er Festival8 July 2008MontreuxSwitzerlandMontreux Jazz Festival10 July 2008Novi SadSerbiaExit Festival11 July 2008LeipzigGermanySplash! Festival12 July 2008LiègeBelgiumLes Ardentes16 July 2008PortoPortugalCasa da Música19 July 2008MadridSpainSummercase20 July 2008SouthwoldUnited KingdomLatitude Festival

Notes

References

External links Official site M.I.A. interview at the 2008 MX Beat Festival, by DDF