"I Am... World Tour" (also referred to as the I Am... Tour) was the fourth concert tour by American performer and singer-songwriter Beyoncé, in support of her third studio album, I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008), consisting of 110 concerts across six continents. Two months of preparations for the tour began eight months prior to its commencement, with daily twelve-hour rehearsals. The tour was announced in October 2008, and began in March 2009 with five preliminary ’rehearsal’ shows in North America. Beyoncé has described the I Am... World Tour as her best and most theatrical of all of her tours.
The set list for the tour included songs from Knowles' previous three studio albums, several covers of songs by other artists, as well as a Destiny's Child medley. The central theme of the tour was to showcase the differences between Knowles' dual ‘personas’—her real, ‘Beyoncé’ self compared to her confident, sexier stage-persona, ‘Sasha Fierce’—a theme which was also explored on her then-album, the dual record I Am... Sasha Fierce. The show featured two stages – the primary performance stage and a smaller B-stage, which Knowles was transferred to during the middle of the show. She was backed by a ten-member, all-female band, The Suga Mamas (also known as Suga Mama), female background dancers, and a large LED video screen. Thierry Mugler collaborated with Knowles on the costumes and was given a creative-advisor role, further collaborating on choreography, lighting and production. Chris March made the costumes usable and wearable for the stage and helped in their construction. For the ballad performances, Knowles wore longer, glamorous dresses; for the performances of up-tempo songs, more make-up was applied and more revealing outfits were worn. The fashion, as well as Knowles' looks and overall physique, received notable praise from critics and fans. The show was directed and choreographed by Frank Gatson Jr.
I Am... World Tour received critical acclaim from music journalists and fans alike, with many praising Knowles' performance skills and calling her the “best” current female performer. A concert in Malaysia, however, was cancelled by Knowles herself, after several Muslim groups tried to ban it on the grounds of revealing costumes—despite it being a family-friendly show, and Beyoncé having originally agreed to tone-down her looks, as per the country's standards. Nevertheless, the entire tour was commercially successful, grossing $86.0 million from the first 93 shows in total. Separate and one-off performances of several songs were broadcast on different channels; two concerts were released as live albums, and the live performance at the I Am... Yours revue was released as a CD/DVD recording (2009). Footage of the tour was released on a similarly titled live album (2010).
Development[]
In 2006, during an interview with MTV News, Beyoncé introduced an aggressive alter ego, Sasha Fierce, which also served as her stage persona. She added that the persona is a complete opposite of her when not performing by characterizing her as "aggressive... strong... fearless." Beyoncé's third album I Am... Sasha Fierce introduced Sasha Fierce as her alter ego. she revealed that Sasha was born during the making of her single "Crazy in Love" (2003). The plans for a 2009 tour in support of the album were announced in October 2008 by Billboard magazine. The tour dates for the European leg were announced in December 2008. During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Beyoncé confirmed that she would be backed by the all-female band which had also accompanied her for her previous tour The Beyoncé Experience (2007). Rehearsals for the tour lasted eight months during which the set list for the shows was also constructed. Beyoncé further revealed that the twelve-hour rehearsals for the tour included dancing the choreography in heels for two months before it commenced. During an interview, Beyoncé emphasized how she needed to prepare to channel her alter ego for the performances. According to Beyoncé, the shows were supposed to be a mixture of several of her musical preferences, including jazz, hip-hop, ballet and fashion.
The tour kicked off in late-March 2009 with five rehearsal shows in North America. It officially commenced in late April 2009, at Arena Zagreb in Croatia later visiting six continents, namely the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. The six-week North American leg of the I Am... tour kicked off on June 21 with a show at Madison Square Garden in New York and finished with a four-night residency at Encore in the Wynn Las Vegas from July 30, 2009 to August 2, 2009. The tour finished with a concert at Queen's Park Savannah in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, with 108 shows in total. Beyoncé and her organization, The Survivor Foundation, became the spokesperson for General Mills' Hamburger Helper campaign entitled, "Show Your Helping Hand". The campaign's mission was to provide more than 3.5 million meals to local food banks in North America. Knowles encouraged spectators to bring non-perishable foods to her North American concerts to be donated to the campaign. According to the campaign's official website, nearly three millions meals and over $50,000 have been donated.
Concert synopsis[]
The show started with Beyoncé's silhouette appearing on a smoky stage, walking towards the front while singing several lines of "Déjà Vu". Dressed in a gold leotard and stilettos, she was quickly joined by two dancers in catsuits proceeding to perform "Crazy in Love"; during the performance of the song glitter and confetti were dropped on stage. "Naughty Girl" was performed next as bright orange lights were displayed on stage. For the performance of "Freakum Dress", Beyoncé was accompanied by a guitarist onstage, bending backwards during the song's bridge. "Get Me Bodied" followed, for which the singer was engaging in elaborate dance routines with her background dancers. Following a short break, Beyoncé proceeded singing songs from the I Am... portion of the album, dressed in a white leotard. "Smash Into You" was performed on top of a flight of stairs. For "Ave Maria", her background dancers turned her white dress into a wedding gown by attaching a veil to her head. Excerpts of Sarah McLachlan's "Angel" and Franz Schubert's "Ave Maria" were performed at the end. She continued on to sing "Broken-Hearted Girl" wearing a white bustier with a sheer, flowing wrap. Outtakes from the music video of "If I Were a Boy" were Beyoncé appeared to perform the aforementioned song dressed as a cop wearing Ray-Bans and a leather breastplate. Excerpts from Alanis Morissette's "You Oughta Know" and Tupac Shakur's "California Love" were incorporated in the middle of the song. A video interlude directed by Melina Matsoukas was shown set to "Sweet Dreams". The video showed a robotic Beyoncé interacting with a cheetah as a mechanical voice intoned Sasha Fierce. Beyoncé then appeared on stage dressed in a leopard-print leotard to perform "Diva". She appeared at the top of the staircase with her backup female dancers; a video interlude showing a five-year old Beyoncé singing and dancing was shown in the middle of the song. She then sang "Radio" while the clip of her dancing as ac child was still projected on the screen. "Me, Myself and I" was introduced with a brief speech about female empowerment. "Ego" and "Hello" were performed afterwards.
The show continued with a short medley performed by her backup singers, The Mamas, followed by another video interlude, featuring Sasha Fierce. Beyoncé appeared on stage after a gong bang; she was lifted out of a 20-foot train by a harness and performed "Baby Boy" while high-stepping and front-flipping above the audience. She was then lowered to the B-stage where she finished the song and continued with a cover Dawn Penn's "You Don't Love Me (No, No, No)". A stripped-down version of "Irreplaceable" was sung afterwards with frequent crowd interactions. Beyoncé then continued with "Check On It" and a medley of Destiny's Child hits including "Bootylicious", "Jumpin' Jumpin'", "Independent Women", "Bills, Bills, Bills" and "Survivor". Performances of "Upgrade U" and "Video Phone" followed. For the performance of the two songs, Beyoncé was accompanied by two female dancers and three male dancers, one of whom recorded a live stream of her with a camera throughout the routine during the performance of the latter song. This was followed by a rendition of "Say My Name" where she interacted with members of the audience, asking them to say her name. The concert followed back at the main stage where for the penultimate section, Beyoncé appeared wearing a gown and singing "At Last". A footage of her performance of the song at Barack Obama's inauguration as President of the United States, video images of civil rights era footage and snippets from her performance of the song in the movie, Cadillac Records (2008) were shown on the screen behind here. "Listen" was performed afterwards. This was followed by a YouTube video interlude featuring imitations of the choreography of "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" performed by fans as well as Barack Obama and Justin Timberlake. Beyoncé then performed the song's trademark choreography accompanied by two female back-up dancers. For the finale, an extended version of "Halo" was performed while the singer descended from the stage to shake hands with fans in the front rows. She then went to the top of the staircase and repeatedly said "I am", awaiting the crowd to say it back. The letters "I am... yours" were displayed on the screen as she exited the stage.
Setlist[]
The following set list is not representative of all concerts for the duration of the tour.[]
- "Crazy in Love" (contains elements of "Déjà Vu" and "I Just Wanna Love U")
- "Naughty Girl"
- "Freakum Dress"
- "Get Me Bodied"
- "Smash Into You"
- "Ave Maria" (contains elements of "Ellens dritter Gesang") / "Angel"
- "Broken-Hearted Girl"
- "If I Were a Boy" (contains excerpts of "You Oughta Know" and "California Love")
- "Diva"
- "Radio"
- "Me, Myself and I"
- "Ego"
- "Hello"
- "Baby Boy" / "You Don't Love Me (No, No, No)"
- "Irreplaceable"
- "Check On It"
- Destiny's Child Medley: "Bootylicious" / "Bug a Boo" / "Jumpin' Jumpin'" (contains elements of "Independent Women Part I", "Survivor" and "Bills, Bills, Bills")
- "Upgrade U"
- "Video Phone"
- "Say My Name"
- "At Last"
- "Listen"
- "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)"
- "Halo"