The Maya Tour (stylized as /\/\ /\ Y /\ Tour) is a 2010 global M.I.A. concert tour performed in support of her third studio album Maya (see 2010 in music). It began on 21 September 2010 in North America and was M.I.A.'s first major global performing tour since the birth of her first child. The tour was announced on 8 September 2010, with dates for Canadian, American and European venues revealed. According to photo albums on the musician's official Facebook page, the North American leg was branded the Reboot/Reboost Tour 2010, while the Sexynsofistic8d Tour formed the European leg of her 2010 concerts. M.I.A. handled costumes and stage direction, which departed from the productions of the preceding 2007–2008 Kala Tour and People Vs. Money Tours.
While on tour, her performance at the Lokerse Feesten in Lokeren, Flanders, Belgium drew a crowd of 13,500, the biggest of the 10-day music festival. Her performance at The Big Chill in Herefordshire, England was cut short due to a massive stage invasion by fans, while her performance at Hard Festival in New York was received negatively. She performed a show free to New York fans in light of the reaction. In Portugal performing at Festival Sudoeste, she revealed her intentions to shoot a new music video with director Spike Jonze, although this did not materialize. M.I.A. was joined on stage at the Flow Festival in Finland by Derek Miller of Sleigh Bells. Another N.E.E.T. label signee Rye Rye also opened on selected dates during the tour. The Sexynsofistic8d Tour marked M.I.A.'s second appearance at the Sónar in Barcelona, following her first appearance in 2005's Arular Tour, and saw the musician returning to perform at several venues she had first played during her debut global tour.
In January 2011, following the release of her free mixtape Vicki Leekx in the new year, she returned to the Big Day Out festival, marking M.I.A.'s first visit to New Zealand, and kick starting her Australian dates of the tour. Her costumes and style changed during this leg, having dyed her hair platinum blonde in an apparent tribute to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and following on from the name and themes of the mixtape. She cancelled two appearances in the UK in 2010 due to her son's sickness, and in May 2011, posted a TwitPic of her with a broken leg, playing with her son. She tweeted "Doh, scrapin playdoh off robot let brace lookin like the 5th member of black eyed peas right now" before continuing "When u stand up, 1st they break ur moral, then they break ur work, then ur leg, but the beauty in enduring is that u can endure more!" She had cancelled her February 2011 dates in Japan.
The 2010–2011 tour featured a new setlist, featuring new songs from Maya. Included as an opening intro song at venues such as Sónar and the Roskilde Festival in Denmark was an animation video accompanying the Hindu slokam Veṅkaṭeśasuprabhātam (Suprabhatam) composed by Prativādibhayaṅkara Śrī Anantācārya, the Rāmānujācārya of Kanchipuram, to awaken the deity Venkateswara of the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple. The tour ended with her performance at the Exit Festival, Novi Sad in Serbia.
Tour details
Background M.I.A. promoted the album with a series of appearances at music festivals, including the Hard festival in New York and The Big Chill in Herefordshire. Her performance at the latter was cut short due to a stage invasion by fans. She also performed at the Flow Festival in Finland, where she was joined onstage by Derek E. Miller playing guitar during her performance of "Meds and Feds", and the LokerseFeesten in Lokeren, Flanders, Belgium, where her performance drew a crowd of 13,500, the biggest of the 10-day music festival. M.I.A. performed at the 2010 Virgin Mobile Festival, Festival Sudoeste, Way Out West Festival, Underage Festival and Øyafestivalen. In September she announced a tour, with Sleigh Bells and Rye Rye as alternating support acts, with the tour lasting until the end of the year.
Sets M.I.A. tweeted on 19 Nov "my baby is sick @ home in london i m sorry to my liverpool fans, but ill b in leeds 2maro c u there . watching yo gabba gabba!". Subsequently, this meant her Liverpool show was cancelled.
Shows
Set list "The Message (Intro)" "Illygirl" "Bucky Done Gun" "XR2" "Boyz" "World Town" "Steppin' Up" "Teqkilla" "Story To Be Told" "Born Free" "Bamboo Banga" "Galang" "Paper Planes"
Tour dates Date City Country Venue North America 21 September 2010 Montreal Canada Métropolis 22 September 2010 Toronto Sound Academy 25 September 2010 Columbia United States Virgin Mobile FreeFest 2010 26 September 2010 Philadelphia The Electric Factory 27 September 2010 New York City Terminal 5 29 September 2010 Chicago The Vic Theatre 30 September 2010 3 October 2010 Ithaca Cornell University 4 October 2010 Boston Royal Boston 5 October 2010 6 October 2010 New York City Brooklyn Bowl 9 October 2010 Austin Zilker Park 12 October 2010 Oakland Fox Oakland Theatre 14 October 2010 Los Angeles Mayan Theater 17 October 2010 Seattle Showbox at the Market 18 October 2010 Portland Roseland Theater Europe 10 November 2010 London United Kingdom O2 Academy Brixton 11 November 2010 Oxford O2 Academy Oxford 12 November 2010 Dublin Ireland Tripod 13 November 2010 Manchester United Kingdom The Warehouse Project 15 November 2010 Antwerp Belgium Muziekcentrum TRIX 16 November 2010 Cologne Germany E-Werk 17 November 2010 Berlin Columbiahalle 19 November 2010 Liverpool United Kingdom O2 Academy Liverpool 20 November 2010 Leeds O2 Academy Leeds 22 November 2010 Glasgow O2 Academy Glasgow 24 November 2010 Kortrijk Belgium De Kreun25 November 2010 Amsterdam Netherlands Paradiso Grote Zaal Eindhoven STRP Festival 28 November 2010 Munich Germany Muffathalle 29 November 2010 Zürich Switzerland Rote Fabrik 30 November 2010 Vienna Austria Gasometer 2 December 2010 Milan Italy Alcatraz 3 December 2010 Rome Atlantico Live 6 December 2010 Madrid Spain La Riviera 7 December 2010 Barcelona Sala Razzmatazz 10 December 2010 Rennes France Transmusicales 11 December 2010 Paris Le Trianon Oceania 21 January 2011 Auckland New Zealand Big Day Out 2011 23 January 2011 Gold Coast Australia 27 January 2011 Sydney 28 January 2011 The Metro Theatre 30 January 2011 Melbourne Big Day Out 2011 1 February 2011 Palace Theatre 4 February 2011 Adelaide Big Day Out 2011 6 February 2011 Perth Asia 11 February 2011 Tokyo Japan Studio Coast 12 February 2011 Zepp Tokyo Europe 16 June 2011 BarcelonaSpainSónar Festival 17 June 2011 A Coruña 28 June 2011 Borlänge Sweden Peace & Love 30 June 2011 Gdynia Poland Heineken Open'er Festival 30 June 2011 Roskilde Denmark Roskilde Festival 7 July 2011 Trenčín Slovakia Bažant Pohoda 7 July 2011Novi Sad Serbia Exit Festival
References
External links Official site