The Sweet Escape Tour

infobox concert tour
concert_tour_name = The Sweet Escape Tour


image_caption = Gwen Stefani performing "Early Winter"
artist = Gwen Stefani
start_date = April 21, 2007
end_date = November 3, 2007
number_of_legs = 4
number_of_shows = 55 in North America
4 in Latin America
10 in Pacific
6 in Asia
26 in Europe
101 shows in total with 3 cancelled shows.
last_tour = Harajuku Lovers Tour
(2005)
this_tour = The Sweet Escape Tour
(2007)
next_tour =

The Sweet Escape Tour was American pop and rock singer Gwen Stefani's second concert tour. The tour began in April 2007 in support of her sophomore solo album "The Sweet Escape". The tour was a follow up to her 2005 tour, The Harajuku Lovers Tour. The seven month tour had a total of 101 shows in four legs on four continents and ended in November 2007.

The tour had various supplementary acts opening the shows namely Akon, Lady Sovereign, Gym Class Heroes, CSS, Shirley Manson, Hoku Ho, OneRepublic, Sean Kingston and the colombian punk rock band The Hall Effect. Stefani's set list included songs from her two solo albums, "Love.Angel.Music.Baby" (2004) and "The Sweet Escape" (2006).

The tour was the twenty-third most commercially successful tour of 2007 in the United States, grossing over $30 million. The tour received generally positive reviews from critics.

Introduction

The tour was Stefani's follow up to her previous The Harajuku Lovers tour(2005). It went worldwide as compared to her previous tour which was constricted only to North America and had more than double the number of shows. It was Stefani's last solo effort as she rejoined her band No Doubt after the tour ended. [Greene, Andy [http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2007/06/07/no-doubt-hit-the-studio-gwen-stefani-oversees-proceedings-from-afar/ "No Doubt Hit the Studio;Gwen Stefani Oversees Proceedings From Afar"] "Rolling Stone" Retrieved on 2007-12-28] The main feature were usage of various props such as a prison for Stefani's opening act, a six - piece band and a large multimedia screen in the backdrop showing videos and animations. [Davis, Aaron [http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071102/A_NEWS/71102045 "Gwen Stefani puts on pop performance at arena"] "Recornet" Retrieved on 2008-01-07]

tefani's set list

# "The Sweet Escape", with Akon
# "Rich Girl"
# "Yummy"
# "4 in the Morning"
# "Luxurious"
# "Early Winter"
# "Wind It Up"
# "Fluorescent"ref|FLU| [a]
# "Danger Zone"
# "Hollaback Girl"
# "Now That You Got It" (album version/reggae remix)
# "Don't Get It Twisted /Breakin' Up"
# "Cool"
# "Wonderful Life"
# "Orange County Girl"

Encore:

16. "The Real Thing (a cappella)"
17. "U Started It"ref|FLU| [a]
18. "What You Waiting For?"

a "Fluorescent" and "U Started It" were not included in set lists in Latin American, European, Asian, and Australian concerts.

Notable events

The tour was marked by many notable events. The tour had its own set of controversies. A group of students making up for The National Union of Malaysian Muslim Students, banned Stefani's concert that was slated to take place August 21 at Putra Indoor Stadium. The union's vice president, Abdul Muntaqim said, "Her performance and her attire are not suitable for our culture. It promotes a certain degree of obscenity and will encourage youth to emulate the western lifestyle. The concert should be stopped." The organizer of the vent, Maxis Communications later responded, "Stefani has confirmed that her concert will not feature any revealing costumes. She will abide by the Malaysian authorities' guidelines to ensure that her show will not be offensive to local sensitivities." [ [http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSKLR31063820070731 "Malaysian group urges ban on Gwen Stefani concert"] "Reuters" Retrieved on 2007-12-22] In April, Akon drew criticism for having on-stage simulated sex with a fifteen-year-old preacher's daughter, at a club in Trinidad and Tobago, as part of a fake contest. [Telesford, Nigel. [http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161129187 Akon 'cons' Trinidad] , "Trinidad Express", 2007-04-14] [Ramnarine, Kristy. [http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161131759 Zen owner: Age limit 21 for club] , "Trinidad Express", 2007-04-20] As a result, the tour's sponsor Verizon Wireless decided not to sponsor the tour. [Leeds, Jeff. [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/10/arts/music/10akon.html?ex=1336536000&en=3a9b2615949e9be2&ei=5124 Verizon Drops Pop Singer From Ads] , "New York Times", 2007-05-10]

In the Dublin concert, Stefani was hit with a bottle by a member of the audience, which was made of plastic. Stefani responded "It didn't hurt. It didn't fucking hurt," to a clearly relieved audience.

Stefani donated $166,000 from her 30 October concert in San Diego to "The San Diego Foundation" fire relief fund. [ [http://www.etonline.com/news/2007/12/56314/index.html "Gwen Stefani Creates Wildfire Scholarship Fund"] "ET" Retrieved on 2007-12-22] On her June 22 and June 23 concerts in Irvine, California, Stefani was joined onstage by her No Doubt bandmates. They performed their songs "Just a Girl," "Spiderwebs,""Sunday Morning","Hella Good" and their cover of Talk Talk's "It's My Life". [Kaufman, Gil [http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1563286/20070625/no_doubt.jhtml "Gwen Stefani And No Doubt Surprise Fans With Hometown Reunion"] "MTV" Retrieved on 2007-12-22]

Tour dates

b These concerts were a part of the Summer Sonic Festival.
c These concerts were cancelled.

DVD

Gwen announced in both the "October 30" concert at the "Cox Arena" and the "November 1" concert at the "Stockton Arena" that she was filming her "Sweet Escape Tour" "DVD".

The "Stockton Arena " was filmed for her live DVD. For the Special occasion, Gwen did a special performance of the song "U Started It" which had only been seen at a few shows. During the concert she ran out into the audience to sing "Cool".

Critical reception and commercial success

The Sweet Escape tour was generally well received by critics. Christina Fuoco-Karasinski of "Livedaily" said, "The show's pacing was impeccable. Instead of silence or banter between songs, Stefani's band played musical interludes, or the dancers entertained." [Fuoco-Karasinski, Christina [http://www.livedaily.com/reviews/Live_Review_Gwen_Stefani_in_Phoenix-12012.html "Live Review: Gwen Stefani in Phoenix"] "Livedaily" Retrieved on 2007-12-24] Katrina-Kasey Wheeler on "PopMatters" appreciated the props saying, "everything from the set list to the visuals and props displayed a larger-than-life aura" and that "... years after Gwen Stefani first emerged as a major presence in the world of pop music, she’s finally got a show to match".Wheeler, Katrina - Kasey [http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/concerts/51004/gwen-stefani/ "Gwen Stefani - PopMatters Concert Review"] "PopMatters" Retrieved on 2007-12-24] Chris Macias of "Sacbee" also appreciated the concert and described the show as "It's part pep rally, part Broadway musical, plus a whole lot of breakdancing from Stefani's sidekicks". [Macias, Chris [http://www.sacbee.com/music/story/230030.html "Stefani's sweet escape to Sleep Train"] "Sacbee" Retrieved on 2007-12-24] Though some critics differed. Joan Anderman of "Boston.com" said, "...her bad notes were hers, part of a real personality rather than a standard-issue pop star." [Anderman, Joan [http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2007/05/24/a_sweet_escape_with_stefani/ "A sweet escape with Stefani"] "Boston.com" Retrieved on 2007-12-27] T. Michael Crowell of "Sign On San Diego" also agreed and said, "Her vocal range is narrow, and her pitch is not always dead-on." [Crowell, T. Michael [http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070424/news_1c24stefani.html "Energy, glitz of Gwen a hit with faithful fans"] "Sign On San Diego" Retrieved on 2007-12-27]

The tour was a commercial success. The tour was the twenty-third most successful tour in the United States in 2007. The tour grossed $30,511,669 through the 55 shows in the U.S with 18 sold-out shows. [ [http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/images/pdf/Top_25_Tours.pdf "Top 25 most successful tours of 2007"] "Billboard" Retrieved on 2007-12-24]

References

;General
*Cite web
title = Gwen Stefani's setlist.
publisher = "Livedaily"
url = http://www.livedaily.com/reviews/Live_Review_Gwen_Stefani_in_Phoenix-12012.html
accessdate = 2007-12-24
*Cite web
title = The Sweet Escape Tour dates.
publisher = "About.com"
url = http://top40.about.com/od/concerts/a/gstefanisetour.htm
accessdate = 2007-12-24
*Cite web
title = Opening Acts
publisher = "Last - fm"
url = http://www.last.fm/music/Gwen+Stefani/+events
accessdate = 2007-12-29;Specific

External links

* [http://www.gwenstefani.com/tour/ Official tour page]
* [http://www.tabblo.com/gwen The official Tour book by Hewlett-Packard]