OMG Tour

OMG Tour was the fourth concert tour by American recording artist Usher. Visiting North America, Asia, Europe and Australia, the tour accompanies his sixth studio album, Raymond v. Raymond (2010), as well as his first extended play, Versus (2010). At the conclusion of 2011, the tour placed seventh on Billboard's annual, "Top 25 Tours", earning nearly $75 million with 73 shows.[1]

OMG Tour

Tour by Usher
Promotional poster for the tour
Associated album	Raymond v. Raymond, Versus
Start date	November 10, 2010 (2010-11-10)
End date	June 1, 2011 (2011-06-01)
Legs	4
No. of shows	92
Usher concert chronology

Background

In the summer of 2010, Usher competed in a dance battle against fellow R&B artist Chris Brown at the Reggae Sumfest. The battle sparked an Internet rumor of the two possibly going on tour. This was further pushed by producer Jermaine Dupri alluding that the two artist may be unaware of this upcoming tour. The singers later took to Twitter to ask who the fans would like to see them perform with.[2] On September 8, 2010, the singer announced his touring trek (and revealed it was solo) for North America. Due to demand, many additional stops in Europe and Australasia were added. It is Usher's first arena tour since The Truth Tour in 2004.[3] To introduce the tour, Usher stated,

"Live performance has always been my thing. It's my purpose to master and capture the moment every time I have you connected. For me, I wanted to make sure that it was state of the art. I wanted to make sure that, in comparison to the other shows that are going on around the world, you get the type of experience that leave you saying, 'OMG.' [...] The look of the tour, it's a little futuristic but enough to capture your attention and leave you saying, 'OMG.' That's the whole point. With an incredible record, I wanted to also leave a great impression.[4]

Concert synopsis

The show began with Usher walking onstage amidst red smoke and fireworks, wearing a helmet-like headpiece, and performed "Monstar", "She Don't Know" and "Yeah!".[5] During "Caught Up" he sang into a gold gun-shaped microphone, with which he did tricks.[5] The performance of "More" included break dancing choreography.[5] While Usher sang "OMG", fireworks were let off and blue and white confetti rained.[5]

Critical reception

The Dallas Morning News Mario Tarradell enjoyed the show, writing that "splash and flash are[Usher's] key ingredients."[6] Jim Harrington of San Jose Mercury News commended Usher's dancing ability, but criticized the show for over-using "distracting" theatrical effects, saying that "the best parts of the big-budget 'OMG' show came when the bells and whistles stopped and the fans were allowed to concentrate all their attention on Usher".[7]

Broadcast and recordings

The DVD of the OMG Tour was filmed on February 21, 2011, at The O₂ Arena in London, directed by Dick Carruthers. The DVD was released as OMG Tour: Live From London on October 31, 2011.[8][9]

Set list

Usher performing at the Toyota Center

1. "Monstar"
2. "She Don't Know"
3. "Yeah!"
4. "U Remind Me"
5. "U Don't Have to Call"
6. Michael Jackson Tribute Medley: "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough"/ "Rock with You"/ "Billie Jean"
7. "You Make Me Wanna"
8. "Mars vs. Venus"
9. "Nice and Slow"
10. "Love 'Em All"
11. "Trading Places"
12. "Love in This Club"
13. "Lil Freak"
14. "Hot Tottie"
15. "There Goes My Baby"
16. "Burn"
17. "Bad Girl"
18. "Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home)"
19. Medley: "Confessions Part II" / "My Boo" / "I Need a Girl (Part One)" / "Lovers and Friends"
20. "Caught Up"
21. "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love"
22. "More"

Encore

23. "OMG"

Source:[4][10]

Tour dates

List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, opening act, tickets sold, amount of available tickets and gross revenue

Date	City	Country	Venue	Opening act	Attendance	Revenue
Asia
July 3, 2010	Seoul	South Korea	Olympic Gymnastics Arena	N/A	N/A	N/A
July 7, 2010	Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia	Bukit Jalil National Stadium	N/A	N/A	N/A
July 9, 2010	Manila	Philippines	Mall of Asia Concert Grounds	N/A	N/A	N/A
July 11, 2010	Beijing	China	Beijing Wukesong Culture & Sports Center	N/A	N/A	N/A
July 13, 2010	Macau	Macau	Venetian Arena	N/A	N/A	N/A
North America[11]
November 10, 2010	Seattle	United States	KeyArena	Trey Songz Miguel	13,179 / 13,179	$900,792
November 12, 2010	Oakland		Oracle Arena		15,613 / 15,613	$1,095,085
November 13, 2010	Las Vegas		Mandalay Bay Events Center		78,398 / 78,398	$926,907
November 14, 2010	Anaheim		Honda Center		11,354 / 11,354	$851,717
November 17, 2010	San Diego		Valley View Casino Center		10,218 / 10,218	$655,930
November 18, 2010	Los Angeles		Staples Center		14,607 / 14,607	$1,181,485
November 19, 2010	Glendale		Jobing.com Arena		11,086 / 11,086	$818,907
November 23, 2010	Houston		Toyota Center		12,812 / 12,812	$996,189
November 24, 2010	Dallas		American Airlines Center		13,492 / 13,492	$937,622
November 26, 2010	St. Louis		Scottrade Center		11,616 / 11,616	$777,678
November 27, 2010	Kansas City		Sprint Center		14,291 / 14,291	$963,888
November 29, 2010	Toronto	Canada	Air Canada Centre		16,100 / 16,100	$1,291,800
November 30, 2010	Montreal		Bell Centre		15,260 / 15,260	$1,175,933
December 2, 2010	Detroit	United States	Joe Louis Arena		15,860 / 15,860	$1,037,999
December 3, 2010	Rosemont		Allstate Arena		13,811 / 13,811	$1,065,640
December 5, 2010	Atlanta		Philips Arena		14,137 / 14,137	$1,201,311
December 7, 2010	Greensboro		Greensboro Coliseum		8,612 / 8,612	$519,616
December 8, 2010	Baltimore		Royal Farms Arena		11,104 / 11,104	$795,628
December 10, 2010	Newark		Prudential Center		14,410 / 14,410	$1,142,535
December 13, 2010	New York City		Madison Square Garden		29,462 / 29,462	$2,567,864
December 14, 2010
December 16, 2010	Philadelphia		Wells Fargo Center		11,049 / 11,049	$889,097
December 17, 2010	Washington, D.C.		Verizon Center		15,452 / 15,452	$1,226,629
December 18, 2010	Hartford		XL Center		11,198 / 11,198	$674,877
December 21, 2010	Boston		TD Garden		12,226 / 12,226	$901,581
December 27, 2010	Nashville		Bridgestone Arena		12,219 / 12,219	$888,709
December 28, 2010	New Orleans		Smoothie King Center		14,988 / 14,988	$937,802
December 29, 2010	Memphis		FedExForum		11,350 / 11,350	$743,770
December 31, 2010	Miami		American Airlines Arena		12,992 / 12,992	$1,235,545
Europe[12][13][14]
January 18, 2011	Lyon	France	Halle Tony Garnier	N/A	N/A	N/A
January 20, 2011	Marseille		Le Dôme de Marseille
January 21, 2011	Zürich	Switzerland	Hallenstadion
January 23, 2011	Strasbourg	France	Zénith de Strasbourg
January 24, 2011	Paris [15]		AccorHotels Arena
January 26, 2011	Manchester	England	Manchester Arena	Tinchy Stryder	26,010 / 29,348	$1,335,360
January 27, 2011	Birmingham		Barclaycard Arena	N/A	N/A	N/A
January 29, 2011	Glasgow	Scotland	Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre
January 30, 2011	Liverpool	England	Echo Arena Liverpool
February 2, 2011	London		The O2 Arena	Tinchy Stryder	69,761 / 70,260	$4,656,200
February 3, 2011
February 15, 2011	Paris	France	AccorHotels Arena	N/A	N/A	N/A
February 17, 2011	London	England	The O2 Arena	Tinchy Stryder	[lower-alpha 1]	[lower-alpha 1]
February 18, 2011
February 20, 2011	Manchester		Manchester Arena		[lower-alpha 2]	[lower-alpha 2]
February 21, 2011	London		The O2 Arena		[lower-alpha 1]	[lower-alpha 1]
February 23, 2011	Sheffield		Sheffield Arena	N/A	N/A	N/A
February 24, 2011	Liverpool		Echo Arena Liverpool
February 26, 2011	Dublin	Ireland	3Arena
February 27, 2011
March 1, 2011	Rotterdam	Netherlands	Rotterdam Ahoy
March 2, 2011	Antwerp	Belgium	Sportpaleis		31,248 / 31,812	$1,739,160
March 4, 2011	Munich	Germany	Olympiahalle		N/A	N/A
March 5, 2011	Hamburg		Barclaycard Arena		11,778 / 12,469	$732,505
March 6, 2011	Rotterdam	Netherlands	Rotterdam Ahoy		N/A	N/A
March 7, 2011	Antwerp	Belgium	Sportpaleis		[lower-alpha 3]	[lower-alpha 3]
Asia[16][17]
March 10, 2011	Dubai	United Arab Emirates	Dubai Media City Amphitheatre	N/A	N/A	N/A
March 12, 2011	Shanghai	China	Mercedes-Benz Arena
Oceania[18]
March 15, 2011	Perth	Australia	Burswood Dome	Trey Songz The Potbelleez	18,560 / 18,560	$2,469,060
March 18, 2011	Adelaide		Adelaide Entertainment Centre		9,155 / 9,155	$1,292,119
March 19, 2011	Melbourne		Rod Laver Arena		62,075 / 62,075	$7,544,120
March 20, 2011
March 22, 2011	Newcastle		Newcastle Entertainment Centre		6,941 / 6,989	$1,028,240
March 23, 2011	Sydney		Qudos Bank Arena		55,792 / 60,148	$7,530,500
March 24, 2011
March 26, 2011	Brisbane		Brisbane Entertainment Centre		11,482 / 11,482	$1,681,740
March 28, 2011	Sydney		Qudos Bank Arena		[lower-alpha 4]	[lower-alpha 4]
March 29, 2011
March 31, 2011	Melbourne		Rod Laver Arena		[lower-alpha 5]	[lower-alpha 5]
April 1, 2011
April 2, 2011
April 5, 2011	Auckland	New Zealand	Vector Arena	The Potbelleez	11,510 / 11,510	$1,019,420
North America[19]
April 27, 2011	Sunrise	United States	BB&T Center	Akon Tinie Tempah	10,039 / 10,039	$657,126
April 28, 2011	Orlando		Amway Center	Akon Dev and the Cataracs	9,807 / 9,807	$588,373
April 30, 2011	Charlotte		Time Warner Cable Arena		10,602 / 10,602	$644,240
May 1, 2011	Columbia		Colonial Life Arena		10,733 / 10,733	$629,370
May 4, 2011	Providence		Dunkin' Donuts Center		7,876 / 7,876	$479,703
May 6, 2011	Atlantic City		Boardwalk Hall		12,198 / 12,198	$861,681
May 7, 2011	Newark		Prudential Center		11,783 / 11,783	$890,168
May 8, 2011	Uniondale		Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum		9,502 / 9,502	$747,516
May 11, 2011	Pittsburgh		Consol Energy Center		13,044 / 13,044	$815,557
May 12, 2011	Cleveland		Quicken Loans Arena		11,501 / 11,501	$632,022
May 14, 2011	Toronto	Canada	Air Canada Centre		15,984 / 15,984	$1,310,834
May 15, 2011	Auburn Hills	United States	The Palace of Auburn Hills		11,689 / 11,689	$810,800
May 18, 2011	Columbus		Jerome Schottenstein Center		11,601 / 11,601	$735,854
May 20, 2011	Rosemont		Allstate Arena		10,766 / 10,766	$734,451
May 21, 2011	Minneapolis		Target Center		12,711 / 12,711	$804,713
May 22, 2011	Omaha		CenturyLink Center Omaha		14,424 / 14,424	$977,494
May 25, 2011	Vancouver	Canada	Rogers Arena		14,133 / 14,133	$1,180,892
May 26, 2011	Portland	United States	Moda Center		10,099 / 10,099	$667,846
May 28, 2011	Sacramento		Sleep Train Arena		10,798 / 10,798	$574,199
May 29, 2011	San Jose		SAP Center at San Jose		10,725 / 10,725	$614,277
June 1, 2011	Los Angeles		Staples Center	Akon Tinie Tempah	12,614 / 12,614	$1,087,547
TOTAL					855,903 / 865,399 (99%)	$70,212,894

Cancellations and rescheduled shows

December 11, 2010	Norfolk, Virginia	Norfolk Scope	Cancelled[20]
January 12, 2011	Berlin, Germany	Mercedes-Benz Arena	Initially postponed to January 13, 2011 however, the concert was cancelled 45 minutes into the show[21]
January 14, 2011	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Rotterdam Ahoy	Postponed then rescheduled to March 1, 2011[21]
January 15, 2011	Oberhausen, Germany	König-Pilsener Arena	Cancelled[22]
January 16, 2011	Antwerp, Belgium	Sportpaleis	Postponed then rescheduled to March 2, 2011[21]
March 29, 2011	Auckland, New Zealand	Vector Arena	This concert was moved to April 5, 2011

Personnel

• Director – Barry Lather[23]
• Choreography – Anwar "Flii Stylz" Burton,[24] Aakomon "AJ" Jones, Todd Sams and David "SuperDave" Royster
• Musical Direction – Johnny "Natural" Najera, Josh Thomas and Usher Raymond IV
• Art/Creative – Barry Lather, Josh Thomas, Anwar "Flii Stylz" Burton, Usher Raymond IV and Aakomon "AJ" Jones
• Dancers – Devin Jamieson, Marc "Marvelous" Inniss, Saidah Nairobi, Eyal Layani, Eddie Morales, Ed Moore and Todd Sams

Source:[25]

Notes

1. The score data is representative of the five shows in London, England at The O2 Arena on February 2, February 3, February 17, February 18, and February 21 respectively.
2. The score data is representative of the both shows in Manchester, UK at the Manchester Evening News Arena on January 26 and February 20 respectively.
3. The score data is representative of the both shows in Antwerp, Belgium at the Sportpaleis on March 2 and March 7 respectively.
4. The score data is representative of the four shows in Sydney, Australia at the Acer Arena on March 23, March 24, March 28, and March 29 respectively.
5. The score data is representative of the five shows in Melbourne, Australia at the Rod Laver Arena on March 19, March 20, March 31, April 1, and April 2 respectively.

References

1. "Top 25 Tours of 2011". Billboard. 8 December 2011. Archived from the original on 27 December 2011. Retrieved 27 December 2011.
2. Concepcion, Mariel (2010-08-17). "Usher and Chris Brown to Tour Together?". Billboard. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
3. Kennedy, Gerrick D. (2010-09-08). "Usher announces his 'OMG Tour,' teams with AEG Live for 25 dates". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
4. Fuoco-Karasinski, Christina (2010-11-22). "Usher goes all out on his "OMG Tour"". Sound Spike. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
5. Reid, Poppy (March 24, 2011). "Live review: Usher". The Music Network. Peer Group Media. Retrieved June 19, 2011.
6. Tarradell, Mario (November 27, 2010). "Concert review: Usher brings an eye-popping show to American Airlines Center". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved November 28, 2010.
7. Harrington, Jim. "Review: Usher in Oakland". San Jose Mercury News. MediaNews Group. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
8. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Usher-OMG-Tour-Live-London/dp/B005FXO5Y4
9. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Usher-Tour-Live-London-Blu-ray/dp/B005FXO5UI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320335584&sr=8-1
10. Finn, Timothy (November 28, 2010). "Review | Usher at the Sprint Center". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved November 29, 2010.
11. North America box score:
    • "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. 2011-01-01. Retrieved 2010-12-24.
    • "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. 2011-01-22. Retrieved 2011-01-14.
    • "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. 2010-12-04. Retrieved 2010-11-28.
12. Europe box score:
    • "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. 26 March 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2011.
    • "Billboard Boxscore: Current Scores". Billboard. 25 June 2011. Archived from the original on 15 June 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
13. "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. 9 April 2011. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
14. "Billboard Boxscore: Current Scores". Billboard. 16 April 2011. Archived from the original on 7 April 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
15. "OMG Tour in Paris". ParisgayZine (in French).
16. Conroy, Erin (2010-12-23). "Usher to play Dubai in March". The National. Mubadala Development Company. Retrieved 2010-12-23.
17. "Usher Shanghai Concert". Piao. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
18. Oceania box score:
    • "Billboard Boxscore :: Current Scores". Billboard. 30 April 2011. Archived from the original on 21 April 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
    • "Billboard Boxscore – Current Boxscore". Billboard. 23 July 2011. Archived from the original on 21 April 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
    • "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. New York. 124 (1). 14 January 2012. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on 5 January 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
19. "Billboard Boxscore: Current Scores". Billboard. 18 June 2011. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
20. Ollison, Rashod (2010-12-16). "Usher cancels plans for makeup concert". Hampton Roads. Retrieved 2010-12-23.
21. Anholt, Karen Nickel (14 January 2011). "Usher Walks Off Stage During Berlin Concert". People. Retrieved 8 February 2011.
22. "R&B-Star Usher sagt Konzert in Oberhausen am Samstag ab" [R & B star Usher cancels concert in Oberhausen on Saturday]. Der Westen (in German). 14 January 2011. Retrieved 8 February 2011.
23. Barry Lather
24. http://newculturesociety.com/flii-stylz-sleep-is-for-the-meek/
25. OMG Tour Program. USA. 2010.