Glow in the Dark Tour

Glow in the Dark Tour
Kanye West performing on tour
Tour by Kanye West
Start date	April 16, 2008 (North America)
End date	December 7, 2008 (Australia)
Legs	5
Shows	34 in North America 16 in Europe 4 in Latin America 3 in Asia 5 in Oceania 61 in Total
Kanye West tour chronology
Touch the Sky Tour (2005) Glow in the Dark Tour (2008) Fame Kills: Starring Kanye West and Lady Gaga (2009–10) (canceled)

The Glow in the Dark Tour is a critically acclaimed world concert tour by Kanye West featuring Rihanna, Lupe Fiasco, N.E.R.D, and Nas. It began on April 16, 2008 in Seattle, Washington and travelled to Latin America, Asia, Europe, New Zealand and Australia through to early December. The tour featured some surprise special guest artists, including Gnarls Barkley and Jay-Z. Chris Brown also appeared at some shows to perform his remix of "Umbrella" with Rihanna, and as a dancer for N.E.R.D. For the New Zealand and Australian leg of the tour special guests Nas and New Zealand rapper Scribe replaced Lupe Fiasco and N.E.R.D, as N.E.R.D toured these countries separately. For the Asia leg, Taiwanese American singer Vanness Wu performed as the opening act on the Asian leg of the tour and performed "Good Life" with West during the show. A same titled book authored by Kanye West with photography by Nabil Elderkin was published by Rizzoli USA in October 2009. The tour grossed 30.8 million from 49 shows.

Tour dates

Date	City	Country	Venue	Notes
North America
April 16, 2008	Seattle	United States	KeyArena
April 18, 2008	Sacramento		ARCO Arena
April 19, 2008	San Jose		HP Pavilion
April 20, 2008	San Diego		San Diego Sports Arena
April 21, 2008	Los Angeles		Staples Center	[[various celebrities in the crowd: Gwen Stefani, along with several No Doubt members, Laker players, Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz, and Tracee Ellis Ross.
April 22, 2008
April 24, 2008	Tucson		McKale Center	Lupe Fiasco dressed as Darth Vader onstage during the N.E.R.D set.
April 25, 2008	Summerlin		Red Rock Casino
April 26, 2008	Albuquerque		Journal Pavilion
April 27, 2008	Denver		Pepsi Center
April 29, 2008	Oklahoma City		Ford Center	Lupe Fiasco did not perform due to illness.
April 30, 2008	Austin		Frank Erwin Center
May 1, 2008	Dallas		SuperPages.com Center
May 2, 2008	The Woodlands		Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
May 4, 2008	Duluth		Gwinnett Arena	Chris Brown & rapper Bow Wow appeared as dancers for N.E.R.D's "Spaz".
May 5, 2008	Tampa		Ford Amphitheatre	Though not part of the set, artist John Legend could be sighted in the tech booth.
May 6, 2008	Miami		American Airlines Arena	Although not part of the set, artist Timbaland could be sighted in the audience, and was met with cheers when his hit song, "The Way I Are" was played between sets.
May 8, 2008	Charlotte		Time Warner Cable Arena	Chris Brown & rapper Lupe Fiasco appeared as dancers for N.E.R.D's "Spaz".
May 9, 2008	Raleigh		Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion
May 10, 2008	Bristow		Nissan Pavilion	Chris Brown appeared as a dancer for N.E.R.D's "Spaz".
May 11, 2008	Virginia Beach		Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre	Chris Brown appeared as a dancer for N.E.R.D's "Spaz".
May 13, 2008	New York City		Madison Square Garden	Chris Brown appeared on stage to sing a duet remix of "Umbrella" with Rihanna
May 15, 2008	Mansfield		Tweeter Center	Chris Brown appeared as a dancer for N.E.R.D's "Spaz".
May 16, 2008	Hartford		New England Dodge Music Center
May 17, 2008	Camden		Susquehanna Bank Center	Chris Brown appeared as a dancer for N.E.R.D's "Spaz".
May 18, 2008	Scranton		Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain
May 20, 2008	Montreal	Canada	Bell Centre	Chris Brown appeared as a dancer for N.E.R.D's "Spaz".
May 21, 2008	Toronto		Molson Amphitheatre	Chris Brown appeared as a dancer for N.E.R.D's "Spaz".
May 22, 2008	Aubrun Hills	United States	The Palace of Auburn Hills	Chris Brown appeared as a dancer for N.E.R.D's "Spaz".
May 23, 2008	Chicago		United Center
May 24, 2008				Chris Brown and rapper Common appeared as dancers for N.E.R.D's "Spaz".
May 25, 2008	Fargo		Fargodome
May 26, 2008	Winnipeg	Canada	MTS Centre	Chris Brown appeared as a dancer for N.E.R.D's "Spaz".
May 27, 2008	Saskatoon		Credit Union Centre	Chris Brown appeared as a dancer for N.E.R.D's "Spaz".
May 29, 2008	Edmonton		Rexall Place	Chris Brown appeared as a dancer for N.E.R.D's "Spaz".
May 30, 2008	Calgary		Pengrowth Saddledome	Chris Brown appeared on stage to sing a duet remix of "Umbrella" with Rihanna and as a dancer for N.E.R.D's "Spaz".
June 1, 2008	East Rutherford	United States	Giants Stadium	Kanye performed without Rihanna, N.E.R.D, or Lupe at Hot 97's Summer Jam. Although Rihanna was billed as appearing, she no showed the event. Kanye performed 7 songs on a modified Glow in the Dark Tour set.
June 2, 2008	Vancouver	Canada	General Motors Place
June 3, 2008	Portland	United States	Rose Garden
June 5, 2008	Reno		Reno Events Center
June 6, 2008	San Jose		HP Pavilion
June 7, 2008	Los Angeles		Staples Center
June 8, 2008	Glendale		Jobing.com Arena
June 9, 2008	West Valley City		The E Center
June 11, 2008	Minneapolis		Target Center
June 12, 2008	Moline		i Wireless Center	A sign posted outside the performance center stated that N.E.R.D would not be performing, which enraged audience members when Rihanna mentioned it during her set.
June 14, 2008	Manchester		Bonnaroo Music Festival	Kanye appeared alone, but used a modified Glow in the Dark Tour set (as he did at Hot 97's Summer Jam). He took the stage 2 hours after his posted time, which outraged fans.
July 25, 2008	Stratford-Upon-Avon	United Kingdom	Global Gathering Festival
August 1, 2008	Cincinnati	United States	U.S. Bank Arena	Ticketmaster had a note stating that Rihanna would not perform at this show
August 2, 2008	Chicago		Grant Park	Lupe Fiasco only, 1 hour set before Rage Against The Machine
August 3, 2008				Kanye West and Nine Inch Nails headlined the final night of Lollapalooza.
August 5, 2008	New York City		Madison Square Garden	Only N.E.R.D and Lupe Fiasco were guests for this show. G.O.O.D. Music artist Consequence could be sighted in the audience. Rapper Busta Rhymes briefly joined N.E.R.D. during their set.
August 6, 2008				Lupe Fiasco was the only guest scheduled for this show, however N.E.R.D performed anyway, but they performed first so they could fulfill other obligations. Also Jay-Z made a special on-stage appearance singing "Jockin' Jay-Z (Dopeboy Fresh)". The track features Kanye and is produced by him as well.
August 7, 2008	Mashantucket		MGM Grand at Foxwoods	Gnarls Barkley performed as a special guest opener at this show.
October 17, 2008	Mexico City	Mexico	Palacio de los Deportes
October 18, 2008	Monterrey		Monterrey Arena
South America
October 22, 2008	São Paulo	Brazil	Ibirapuera Arena
October 24, 2008	Rio de Janeiro		Marina da Glória
Asia
October 29, 2008	Singapore	Singapore	Singapore Indoor Stadium
November 1, 2008	Beijing	China	Beijing Wukesong Culture & Sports Center
November 3, 2008	Shanghai		Hongkou Stadium
Europe
November 8, 2008	Belfast	United Kingdom	Odyssey Arena	First tour date of the European leg, Mr Hudson Supported.
November 9, 2008	Dublin	Ireland	RDS Simmonscourt	Santogold, Mr Hudson & The Library and Consequence supported.
November 11, 2008	London	United Kingdom	O2 arena	Mr Hudson & The Library, Santogold and Syren supported. Estelle performed American Boy with Kanye.
November 12, 2008				Mr Hudson & The Library, Santogold, Kid Cudi, Consequence and Syren supported. Estelle performed American Boy with Kanye.
November 13, 2008	Newcastle		Metro Radio Arena	Mr Hudson & The Library, Melanie Fiona, Kid Cudi, Consequence and Tony Williams Supported.
November 14, 2008	Sheffield		Sheffield Arena	Mr Hudson & The Library, Melanie Fiona, Kid Cudi, Consequence and Tony Williams Supported.
November 15, 2008	Birmingham		LG Arena	Mr Hudson & The Library, Kid Cudi, Consequence, Melanie Fiona, Santogold supported.
November 16, 2008	Glasgow		SECC	Mr Hudson & The Library, Kid Cudi, Consequence, Melanie Fiona, Santogold supported.
November 17, 2008	Manchester		MEN Arena	Kid Cudi, Consequence with Tony Williams, Melanie Fiona, Mr Hudson & The Library, Santogold
November 19, 2008	Oberhausen	Germany	Arena Oberhausen	Das Labor, Consequence with Tony Williams, Melanie Fiona, Mr Hudson & The Library
November 20, 2008	Paris	France	Bercy	The Roots as Opening Act, Consequence with Tony Williams, Melanie Fiona, Mr Hudson & The Library
November 21, 2008	Brussels	Belgium	Forest National	Consequence with Tony Williams, Mr Hudson & The Library, Santogold supported
November 24, 2008	Prague	Czech Republic	O2 arena	Cancelled
November 26, 2008	Rotterdam	Netherlands	Ahoy	Mr Hudson, Santogold supported
November 28, 2008	Hamburg	Germany	Color Line Arena
November 29, 2008	Vienna	Austria	Prater Dome	Private Concert
Australia/New Zealand Leg Support acts for this leg were Nas, Scribe, Kid Cudi and Consequence.
December 1, 2008	Auckland	New Zealand	Vector Arena
December 2, 2008	Wellington		TSB Arena
December 5, 2008	Melbourne	Australia	Rod Laver Arena
December 6, 2008	Sydney		Acer Arena
December 7, 2008	Brisbane		Brisbane Entertainment Centre

Tour Controversy

Rihanna on the tour

Sacramento/Seattle mix-up

A brief controversy emerged when during his performance in Sacramento, West accidentally referred to the city as Seattle, the latter of which he performed in only two days prior. West quickly admitted his mistake and made an apology to fans on his official blog.

Rihanna leaves the tour

Rumors speculated that Rihanna may not be performing at the final 3 shows of the tour.

These rumors were validated when Ticketmaster.com listed only N.E.R.D and Lupe Fiasco as guests for the 8/5 show at Madison Square Garden; Interestingly they listed Lupe as the only guest for the 8/6 show.

Also, on Ticketmaster there is a note on the 8/1 show in Ohio. The note reads "This event has been rescheduled from 6/13/08. Due to the date change, Rihanna will no longer be performing at the show. Tickets for the original performance will be honored."

Bonnaroo controversy

Kanye's scheduled time at the Bonnaroo Music Festival was changed from 8:00 pm to 2:45 am to accommodate the light show for the Glow in the Dark Tour. This marked the first ever late night show on the big "What Stage" in Bonnaroo's 7-year history. Pearl Jam ended up playing 50 mins over their allotted time, leaving less time for the setup of Kanye West's stage props for the Glow in the Dark Tour. A message on the monitors stated that the show would start at 3:30. When that didn't happen, the crowd grew restless and started chanting "Kanye Sucks". Once Kanye came out on stage at 4:25 am most people quieted down. The delay was reportedly due to complications in the set up of Kanye's elaborate glow in the dark concept concert after the Pearl Jam set. Graffiti was found throughout the festival ranging from "Kanye Sucks" to "Jay-Z Would Have Been On Time". Kanye later wrote an outraged post on his blog, expressing his anger at the crowd's response and at Superfly's mismanagement.

CRS (Child Rebel Soldier) announcement

On August 1, 2008 in Cincinnati, Ohio, Lupe Fiasco finished his set and returned to the stage to cut off the DJ mixing songs. He began hyping the crowd for the following performances of N.E.R.D. and Kanye West; however, he continued afterward with a subtle drop of "and CRS". The announcement seemed quite feasible for a performance as Rihanna has left the last three tour dates. The audience vocally supported the first two artists, while CRS received only minor cheering. After all three performances of the night, many expected the CRS (a trio made up of Pharrell Williams, Kanye West, and Lupe Fiasco) to perform at least one song together, but it did not occur.

See also

• Glow in the Dark (book)

External links

• LA Times review
• Entertainment Weekly review
• New York Times review
• Perez Hilton review
• The Observer review