The Voodoo World Tour was a concert tour by American R&B/neo soul singer D'Angelo in support of his Platinum selling album, Voodoo. The tour started March 1, with the first of five nights in Los Angeles, CA at the House of Blues.billboard bits-d'angelo tour.www.billboard.com-February 2000 The singer's itinerary included two North American legs,.www.mtv.com/news.Feb.9,2000 as well as dates throughout Europe and South America.
Background Following Voodoos release, D'Angelo embarked on his second international tour in support of the album. The tour was sponsored by the clothing company Levi Strauss & Co., and it featured D'Angelo promoting an end to gun violence.Rosen, Craig. . Yahoo! Music. Retrieved on 2008-11-01. After signing an initiative on June 7, 2000, at Hamilton High School in West Los Angeles to collect a million signatures by November 7 in support of "common-sense solutions" to end gun violence, the anti-gun violence organization PAX agreed to sponsor the tour. The tour was also set to feature a wall composed of denim by Levi's, made available for fans to sign in support of anti-gun violence. Consisting of a group assembled and directed by Questlove, the Soultronics, composed mostly of session personnel, the tour became one of the most attended shows of the year. According to a July 2000 issue of Jet magazine, the tour's first half "sold out in every city."Columnist. "Hot Singer D'Angelo". Jet: 58–62. July 3, 2000. It began on March 1, 2000, at the House of Blues in Los Angeles,Evan, Rob. Chart-Topper D'Angelo Sets Tour Plans . LiveDaily. Retrieved on 2010-08-09. The tour lasted nearly eight months, while performances went for up to three hours a night."Peisner"Rosen, Craig. . Yahoo! Music. Retrieved on 2008-11-01. "The Voodoo Tour" was taken internationally to venues including Paris Olympia, Trump Taj Mahal, Brixton Academy, the Montreux Jazz Festival, the North Sea Jazz Festival and the Free Jazz Festival in Brazil.Video: Brown Sugar Live in Brazil. AOL. Retrieved on 2008-08-16. Tour manager Alan Leeds, who previously headed James Brown's late 1960s and early 1970s outings, as well as Prince's Purple Rain tour in the mid-1980s, cited "The Voodoo Tour" as his most memorable gig. J Dilla's group Slum Village opened on several dates, while R&B singer Anthony Hamilton sang backup within the Soultronics on occasion.Nelson, Trevor. Ayia Napa 2000 Slum Village Interview. BBC Radio 1. Retrieved on 2008-11-30.Collar, Matt. Biography: Anthony Hamilton. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2008-11-30.
The show In contrast to D'Angelo's supporting tour for Brown Sugar, which presented him performing behind his keyboard on stage, he exhibited a different style of showmanship and energy. Rolling Stone magazine called him "confident and worldly" in his performance, while also stating "No wonder he's alive onstage now, dancing, touching the audience, slamming his microphone down, lying on the ground at the lip of the stage to sing 'One Mo' Gin' while girls grab his legs, his stomach, his crotch.""Touré" D'Angelo's wardrobe during the tour included tank tops, black leather pants, and boots. On one of the live outings, Rolling Stone described the appearance of the performers, stating "The Soultronics begin each show in all black, but beyond that one requirement, each looks completely distinct. One man is in a deacon's robe, another in a long cape with a knit ski cap that says FBI. There’s a feather boa, a few badass leather coats, and Questlove's mighty Afro. There's a P-Funkish freaky flair to the Soultronics' look."
In a review of D'Angelo's tour-opening performance at the House of Blues, The Hollywood Reporters David Wollock described it as a "three-hour old-school soul marathon that was part 'Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine', part 'Let's Get It On', part 'Move on Up' gospel exuberance ... with call-and-response and other crowd-rousing church conventions"."Wollock, David". "Concert Review: D'angelo House of Blues, West Hollywood". The Hollywood Reporter: March 3, 2000. Wollock praised D'Angelo for his energy and display of showmanship, and wrote that "like the best hip-hop emcees who can rock a crowd with two turntables and a microphone, D moved the crowd with pure voice and charisma." A staff writer for the Chicago Defender lauded his performance at the Chicago Theatre, calling it "an explosive mixture of R&B, soul and funk."
With ticket prices ranging from $49 to $79, the tour became one of the most attended shows of 2000. The tour began on March 1, 2000, at the House of Blues in Los Angeles, while other venues included Paris Olympia, Trump Taj Mahal, Brixton Academy, the Montreux Jazz Festival, and the Essence Jazz Festival in New Orleans. By July, the tour's first half had sold out in each city. The tour lasted nearly eight months, while performances went for up to three hours a night. The Voodoo Tour was taken internationally, with one of the most notable performances being the Free Jazz Festival in Brazil.
Critical reception Performances earned rave reviews from critics and publications, who praised D'Angelo's energy and "charisma as a live performer", as well as the Soultronics group,Columnist. Corner(s)tones of Neo-Soul: D'Angelo ... A Story So Far, Part 1 . JazzandSoul. Retrieved on 2008-12-20.Hilburn, Robert. At Midyear, Shining Gems in a Dull Season. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on 2008-12-20. and received comparisons to outings by the legendary funk bands Parliament and Sly & the Family Stone. Tanya Bell of The Gazette wrote that the group "displayed enormous talent as it took them two hours to play 11 songs." A staff writer for the Chicago Defender lauded his performance at the Chicago Theatre, calling it "an explosive mixture of R&B, soul and funk." Rolling Stone called him "abundantly gifted, eye-poppingly spectacular", "confident and worldly" in his performance at the House of Blues in Los Angeles. It compared the performance to his past concerts, stating "he's alive onstage now, dancing, touching the audience, slamming his microphone down, lying on the ground at the lip of the stage to sing 'One Mo' Gin' while girls grab his legs, his stomach, his crotch."
In a review of D'Angelo's tour-opening performance at the House of Blues, David Wollock of The Hollywood Reporter called it a "three-hour old-school soul marathon that was part 'Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine', part 'Let's Get It On', part 'Move on Up' gospel exuberance [...] with call-and-response and other crowd-rousing church conventions". He added that, "like the best hip-hop emcees who can rock a crowd with two turntables and a microphone, D moved the crowd with pure voice and charisma." Kaia Shivers of the Los Angeles Sentinel commented that his Los Angeles tour stop placed the city "under a spell that it seems hard pressed to shake."
Reviewing his March performance at New York City's Radio City Music Hall, rock critic Robert Christgau dubbed D'Angelo "R&B Jesus" and proclaimed himself a "believer".Spotlight: D'Angelo. Universal Music Publishing Group. Retrieved on 2008-12-20. Christgau praised D'Angelo's delivery and compared the concert to a 1981 P-Funk outing at the Apollo Theater, stating "D'Angelo sang and danced and preached and flexed and crooned and humped the floor and covered Roberta Flack and snapped a mike stand in two and danced and sang and sang some more. Everything meshed; all stops were pulled out. It was already the greatest concert I'd seen in years when Redman and Method Man propelled the climactic 'Left and Right' through the vaulted ceiling. I flashed on P-Funk's 'Sadie', Apollo 1981. What a privilege to experience such a thing again."Christgau, Robert. . The Village Voice. Retrieved on 2008-12-20. He also compared it to Marvin Gaye in concert, writing that "I saw Marvin Gaye at this venue shortly before he was murdered, and it was no contest. Gaye was fine, but self-indulgent and riddled with blank spots."
Opening acts Slum Village (USA—Leg 1 & 2) Mos Def (USA—Leg 1) Lucy Pearl (USA—Leg 2 – select dates)d'angelo-lucy pearl donate funds to charity. www.mtv.com.news Amel Larrieux (USA—Leg 2). Indianapolis Recorder
Set list "Voodoo" (intro) "Devil's Pie" "Send It On" "Smooth" "Chicken Grease" "How Does it Feel?" (teaser) "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" "Me and Those Dreamin' Eyes of Mine" "Sh*t, Damn, Motherf*cker" "One Mo' Gin" "The Root" (teaser) "Feel Like Makin' Love" "Left & Right" "Left & Right (pt. 2)" Interlude "Brown Sugar" "Jonz in my Bonz" "Lady" "Fall in Love" "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" "Funk Jam"
Band The Soultronics
Tour dates Date City Country Venue North Americad'angelo's throat woes postpone shows. www.mtv.com/newsMarch 1, 2000Los AngelesUnited StatesHouse of BluesMarch 2, 2000March 3, 2000March 5, 2000March 6, 2000March 14, 2000AtlantaFox TheatreMarch 16, 2000New York CityRadio City Music HallMarch 18, 2000March 20, 2000Radio City Music Hall (rescheduled from March 17)March 21, 2000PhiladelphiaTower TheaterMarch 22, 2000March 24, 2000Washington, D.C.DAR Constitution HallMarch 25, 2000March 26, 2000BostonWang Center (rescheduled from March 20). www.soundpike.comMarch 28, 2000ClevelandPalace TheatreMarch 29, 2000TorontoCanadaMassey HallMarch 31, 2000ChicagoUnited StatesArie Crown TheaterApril 1, 2000April 3, 2000DenverParamount TheatreApril 5, 2000OaklandParamount TheaterApril 6, 2000April 7, 2000Los AngelesGibson AmphitheatreApril 8, 2000April 10, 2000San DiegoOpen Air TheatreApril 11, 2000Las VegasThe JointApril 12, 2000PhoenixCelebrity TheatreApril 14, 2000DallasMajestic TheatreApril 15, 2000HoustonAerial TheaterApril 16, 2000April 18, 2000NashvilleTennessee Performing Arts CenterApril 19, 2000Kansas CityMidland TheatreApril 20, 2000St. LouisFox TheaterApril 22, 2000DetroitFox TheatreApril 23, 2000April 25, 2000NewarkNew Jersey Performing Arts CenterApril 26, 2000Washington, D.C.DAR Constitution HallApril 28, 2000RichmondLandmark TheaterApril 29, 2000GreensboroSpecial Events CenterApril 30, 2000CharlotteOvens AuditoriumMay 2, 2000MiamiJames L. Knight CenterJuly 2, 2000New OrleansSuperdomeJuly 4, 2000MilwaukeeMarcus Amphitheater EuropeJuly 7, 2000KristiansandNorwayQuart FestivalJuly 8, 2000StockholmSwedenCirkusJuly 10, 2000HamburgGermanyGruenspanJuly 12, 2000ParisFranceLe Grand RexJuly 14, 2000MontreuxSwitzerlandMontreux Jazz FestivalJuly 15, 2000ZeebruggeBelgiumAxion Beach RockJuly 16, 2000The HagueNetherlandsNorth Sea Jazz FestivalJuly 19, 2000LondonEnglandBrixton Academy North AmericaJuly 28, 2000CincinnatiUnited StatesCoors Light FestivalJuly 29, 2000ChicagoChicago TheatreJuly 30, 2000Kansas CityMidland TheatreAugust 1, 2000DenverParamount TheatreAugust 3, 2000PhoenixCelebrity TheatreAugust 4, 2000Las VegasHouse of BluesAugust 5, 2000San DiegoOpen Air TheaterAugust 7, 2000Los AngelesGreek TheatreAugust 8, 2000Universal AmphitheaterAugust 9, 2000ConcordChronicle PavilionAugust 10, 2000SacramentoMemorial AuditoriumAugust 12, 2000PortlandArlene Schnitzer Concert HallAugust 13, 2000SeattleThe PierAugust 16, 2000MinneapolisOrpheum TheatreAugust 18, 2000IndianapolisMurat TempleAugust 19, 2000DetroitChene ParkAugust 20, 2000ClevelandState TheaterAugust 22, 2000PittsburghIron City Light AmphitheaterAugust 23, 2000BuffaloShea's Performing Arts CenterAugust 24, 2000Atlantic CityTrump Taj MahalAugust 27, 2000WallingfordOakdale TheatreAugust 28, 2000BostonFleet Boston PavilionAugust 29, 2000Holmdel TownshipPNC Bank Arts CenterAugust 31, 2000BaltimorePier Six Concert PavilionSeptember 2, 2000Fort PierceSunrise TheatreSeptember 3, 2000OrlandoBob Carr Performing Arts CentreSeptember 4, 2000AtlantaChastain Park South AmericaOctober 20, 2000São PauloBrazilFree Jazz Festival
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