FanMail Tour

FanMail Tour
Promotional poster for tour
Tour by TLC
Associated album	FanMail
Start date	October 22, 1999 (1999-10-22)
End date	January 29, 2000 (2000-01-29)
Legs	2
Shows	3 in Canada 31 in the United States (2 cancelled) 6 in Japan (cancelled) 32 Total

The FanMail Tour was the first concert tour performed by the American R&B/Hip-hop group TLC. In support of their album FanMail, the arena tour ran from late 1999 into early 2000. It covered the United States and Canada. There were six dates scheduled for Japan, but all dates were canceled.

The Tour received generally positive reviews from critics. Natalie Nichols of the Los Angeles Times described the Anaheim show as: "...a thoroughly 21st century pop concert, with all the razzle-dazzle and sense of fun you'd expect..." and said "TLC delighted fans while underscoring the staying power that has made it the best-selling female trio in history." Nichols went on to say: "...a seven-piece band managed to stay out of the way, playing TLC's blend of soul, hip-hop, funk and pop with surprising verve...However, this was one modern multi-platinum act that had plenty of meat to match the sizzle." Darryl Morden of the Hollywood Reporter described the New York City Show as, "Smart, sexy, stylish, sweet, daring, dazzling and diverse, the 100-minute performance Friday night was full of flash but grounded in personal charisma. Effects and gimmickry took a back seat to old-fashioned, engaging showmanship." Daily Variety's Troy Augusto described it as "an exciting evening of singing and dancing that delivered all of their hit songs in charming fashion." Gene Stout of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer added, "Pent-up demand for the Atlanta-based trio's incendiary blend of pop, hip-hop and R&B made the evening a celebration." However, Craig Seymour of Entertainment Weekly states, "...there were occasional signs of the strife that has divided Lisa Left Eye Lopes from her band mates Rozonda Chilli Thomas and Tionne T-Boz Watkins. At various points during the show, Chilli and T-Boz high-fived each other while ignoring Left Eye. Left Eye, in turn, strutted past the other two as if they were merely set pieces to avoid. Things heated up during a particularly aggressive rendition of What About Your Friends when T-Boz appeared to glare at Left Eye while singing the lyrics, What about your friends/Will they let you down/Will they be around?

Background

TLC went on a nationwide tour simply named The FanMail Tour after their album. Most dates of the tour was sold out and the group had a PayPerView special of their tour, called TLC: Sold Out, which at the time became PayPerView's highest grossing televised special. TLC performed all their hits. The tightly choreographed concert featured a five-piece band, seven dancers, plenty of cybertechnics, and a giant-screen android named "Virtual Vic-E". TLC had donated an exclusive track to MP3.com, who sponsored the tour, that fans could download from the company's website for free. In exchange, MP3.com donated ten cents to the Sickle Cell Disease Association (T-Boz was a spokesperson and suffered from the disease) each time the song was downloaded.

At the time, TLC had to address the incessant rumors that they were breaking up. Lisa Lopes told the New York Daily News, "A lot of people are under the impression that I'm leaving the group. That's not the case..." She also added, "The magic of the group has everything to do with the chemistry between myself, Tionne and Chilli...with TLC, it's like, if there wasn't something going wrong, it just wouldn't be right." The tour wrapped up in their hometown of Atlanta, the day before Super Bowl XXXIV took place. Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell gave the group a key to the city and declared January 29 "TLC Day".

Concert synopsis

The show was divided into a number of acts. It began with a futuristic theme and an introduction by the giant screen android, "Virtual Vic-E", welcoming the audience to the show. After the video ends, all 3 members rise from the stage, each in different silver clothing to perform "FanMail" as well as "Silly Ho" and "If They Knew". The backup dancers wore purple raincoats and pants.

The show continued with the Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip era, in which the members performed "Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg", "What About Your Friends" and "Baby-Baby-Baby", dressed in white overalls surrounded with multi-colored spray paint in homage to their early image. Lopes also wore large pink sunglasses and a pacifier around her neck. "Creep" was performed shortly after, with Lopes, Watkins and Thomas wearing silk pajamas, very similar to the ones they wore in the "Creep" music video. The backup dancers also wore pajamas. Lopes and Thomas each had their own platform on both ends of the stage, while Watkins was in the middle of the main stage. All girls were eventually on the main stage to perform Lopes' rap. Right after the song, "Red Light Special" followed, which again featured Lopes and Thomas on their separate platforms, but instead sitting on a chair and Watkins on the main stage. Several female dancers also sat on chairs, dancing seductively.

The solos of each member followed shortly after the dance interlude of "Housequake", starting with Left-Eye, performing an unreleased rap entitled "Crazy". She also did several magic tricks and played the keyboard. Then followed Chilli's solo, dressed as a cowgirl to perform "Come on Down". She was also accompanied by several female dancers also dressed as cowgirls. After the song, she was then lowered down the main stage. She re-emerged wearing a new costume which she, along with the rest of the members, then wore until the end of the concert. She would then pick a man from the audience and begin to perform "I Miss You So Much" with the man sitting on a chair and Chilli singing to him. T-Boz was last to perform her solo, appearing on stage dressed in a purple suit with a wooden cane to sing the first lines of the famous military march chant, "I Don't Know (But I Been Told)". She would then remove her suit to reveal a costume similar to Chilli's during the performance of "I Miss You So Much", to sing "If I Was Your Girlfriend", "Touch Myself" and" Dear Lie".

After the girls' solos was Act 4, entitled Rain. "Unpretty" was the first song of the act, which featured many children from the audience who came up to sing with them. "I'm Good at Being Bad", "Shout" and "My Life" was performed after.

Act 5 featured the girls performing their signature song, "Waterfalls". The giant screen showed clips from the music video and water running. Backup dancers wore different colored shirts. During the last show of the tour in Atlanta, Goodie Mob made a special appearance to perform their song with TLC, "What it Ain't". "No Scrubs" was the final song of the show, which had Watkins and Lopes on the end platforms of the stage and Thomas on the main stage, with a dancer trying to give his number to her. They would all eventually end up back on the main stage together to perform Left-Eye's rap on the song, hand out T-shirts to the audience and to thank the crowd. All backup dancers then joined hands with Lopes, Watkins and Thomas to end the show.

Opening Acts

• K-Ci and Jojo
• Christina Aguilera (Select dates)
• Ideal
• Destiny's Child (Select dates)
• Blaque

Set list

Act 1: The Future

1. Video Introduction (Virtual Vic-E)
2. "FanMail"
3. "Silly Ho"
4. "If They Knew"

Act 2: Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip Era

1. "Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg"
2. "What About Your Friends"
3. "Baby-Baby-Baby"

Act 3: CrazySexyCool

1. "Creep"
2. "Red Light Special"
3. Left Eye Solo ("Crazy")
4. Chilli Solo ("Come On Down", "I Miss You So Much")
5. T-Boz Solo ("If I Was Your Girlfriend", "Touch Myself", "Dear Lie")

Act 4: Rain

1. "Unpretty"
2. "I'm Good at Being Bad"
3. "My Life"
4. "Shout" (Latin Remix)

Act 5: The Meaning of FanMail

1. "Waterfalls"

Act 6: Encore

1. "What It Ain't" (Performed only at Atlanta show featuring Goodie Mob)
2. "No Scrubs"

Tour dates

Date	City	Country	Venue
October 22, 1999	Toronto	Canada	Air Canada Centre
October 23, 1999	Montreal		Molson Centre
October 25, 1999	Ottawa		Corel Centre
October 27, 1999	Grand Rapids	United States	Van Andel Arena
October 29, 1999	Dayton		Nutter Center
October 31, 1999	Baltimore		Baltimore Arena
November 2, 1999	Greenville		BI-LO Center
November 5, 1999	Raleigh		RBC Center
November 7, 1999	Hampton		Hampton Coliseum
November 9, 1999	Toledo		Savage Hall
November 12, 1999	Hartford		Hartford Civic Center
November 13, 1999	Providence		Providence Civic Center
November 16, 1999	Buffalo		Marine Midland Arena
November 18, 1999	Cleveland		Gund Arena
November 20, 1999	Pittsburgh		Pittsburgh Civic Arena
November 22, 1999	Milwaukee		Bradley Center
November 24, 1999	Indianapolis		Conseco Fieldhouse
November 26, 1999	Minneapolis		Target Center
November 28, 1999	St. Louis		Kiel Center
December 1, 1999	Houston		Compaq Center
December 3, 1999	Phoenix		America West Arena
January 7, 2000	Anaheim		Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim
January 8, 2000	Oakland		Oakland Coliseum
January 10, 2000	Seattle		KeyArena
January 11, 2000	Portland		Rose Garden
January 14, 2000	Chicago		Allstate Arena Cancelled
January 16, 2000	Auburn Hills		Palace of Auburn Hills
January 18, 2000	Cleveland		CSU Convocation Center Cancelled
January 20, 2000	Boston		Fleet Center
January 21, 2000	New York City		Madison Square Garden
January 23, 2000	Washington, D.C.		MCI Center
January 25, 2000	Philadelphia		First Union Center
January 27, 2000	Fort Lauderdale		National Car Rental Center
January 29, 2000	Atlanta		Philips Arena
February 27, 2000	Nagoya	Japan	Nagoya Rainbow Hall Cancelled
March 1, 2000	Osaka		Osaka Castle Hall Cancelled
March 2, 2000
March 4, 2000	Yokohama		Yokohama Arena Cancelled
March 6, 2000	Tokyo		Yoyogi Cancelled
March 8, 2000

Personnel

Band

• Dallas Austin - Keyboards
• Thomas Martin - Guitar
• Thomas Knight - Drums
• Ethan Farmer - Bass
• Eric Daniels - Keyboard/MD

Choreographer

• Devyne

Dancers

• Oththan Burnside
• Jamaica Craft
• Ray Johnson
• Aakomon Jones
• Shannon Lopez
• Dean Pagtakhan
• Kevin White

Production manager

• Jason Scianno
• Tanya Greenblatt

Wardrobe and stylist

• Julie Mijarcs
• Laurie Chang (Assistant stylist)

Tour production manager

• Dale "Opie" Skjerseth

Stage designer

• Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes