25 Live

25 Live was a concert tour by English singer-songwriter George Michael. The tour was the most commercially successful tour of 2006–2007 in Europe, grossing over $200 million, with positive reviews from music critics. The 106 tour shows were performed in 41 countries and seen by 1.3 million fans across the globe.^[1]

25 Live

World tour by George Michael
25 Live tour poster
Location	Europe North America Middle East
Associated album	Twenty Five
Start date	23 September 2006 (2006-09-23)
End date	1 December 2008 (2008-12-01)
Legs	3
No. of shows	106
Attendance	1.3 million^[1]
George Michael concert chronology
Cover to Cover tour (1991) 25 Live (2006–08) George Michael Live in Australia (2010)

History

It was Michael's first tour in over 15 years. The tour, running for 50 dates, began in Barcelona on 23 September and was intended to end at Wembley Arena in London in December, but—due to great feedback from fans—continued into 2007 providing more gigs throughout Europe, concluding in Belfast. The tour is described as "a celebration of his 25-year career in music", and was accompanied by a greatest hits album, released in late 2006. The news of the tour came amid increased media speculation about Michael's personal life, in particular, his drug use and sex life. After the success of the autumn leg, new shows were added for summer 2007, in large arenas and stadiums. Pop star Sophie Ellis-Bextor was announced as the supporting act for six of the eight UK shows. She did not open the show at Wembley Stadium as Michael was the first artist ever to play in the new stadium.

On 25 March 2008, a third leg of the 25 Live tour was announced for North America. This leg included 21 dates in the United States and Canada. This was Michael's first tour of North America in 17 years. The tour coincided with the release of his new greatest hits album on 1 April 2008.

The tour ended with two concerts at Earls Court in London named "The Final Two". Wham! fans would recognize the reference to Wham!'s last gig at Wembley Stadium in London in 1986, The Final. Another final concert was later announced. The concert was held in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 30 August and called The Final One. Australian dates were added in November 2009, involving stops in Perth, Sydney, and later Melbourne in February/March 2010.

Commercial reception

Ticket sales in Europe were brisk. Within two hours of initial sales, 240,000 tickets were snatched up by eager fans. First to sell out were UK shows in London's Wembley Arena and Earls Court as well as Birmingham's NEC Arena and Manchester MEN Arena. The Manchester show sold out within minutes, and the two 25 Live dates added to the venue were sold out by lunchtime. To meet demand, 14 gigs were added to the tour, including three additional shows in London alone. Michael's dates around Europe were met with equally extraordinary enthusiasm. In Norway, the Oslo show at the Oslo Spektrum sold out in an hour and a half. In Copenhagen, 49,000 tickets sold out at the Parken Stadium in just three hours. The first Rotterdam concert at Rotterdam Ahoy arena sold out in a mere six minutes, and the second saw tickets vanish in 16 minutes. In fact, a third Rotterdam show was added by popular demand that also sold out in 16 minutes. This unprecedented response has stood out as the fastest sell of tickets ever experienced by Barrie Marshall, whose London-based promotion firm, Marshall Arts Limited, has been promoting shows for 30 years.

The 25 Live tour broke several ticket sales records, most notably in Copenhagen. Michael's concert at Parken Stadium sold over 50,000 tickets in the matter of minutes, shattering the previous ticket sales record at the venue, formerly held by U2.

In North America, although ticket sales weren't fast as they were in Europe, every venue was sold out in time for the concert. For a period of 25 hours during the week leading up to the Los Angeles show on 25 June 2008, tickets were sold for a promotional price of $25 (down from $95) in celebration of Michael's birthday, 25 June 1963.

All the tickets for the Final Two shows in London and the Finale One show in Denmark were sold out in 2 hours.

Ticket sales for the Australian leg were also brisk, the concerts in Perth at the 25,000 seat Burswood Dome and the 42,000 seat Sydney Football Stadium both being sellouts.

The Finals

On 11 June 2008, two dates were added, titled "The Final Two", taking place in Earls Court, London on 24 and 25 August 2008. These concerts were filmed for a 25 Live DVD release entitled Live in London.

On 30 June 2008, Michael announced one more last show in Copenhagen at Copenhagen's Parken Stadium on 30 August. This special performance, entitled "The Final One", allowed Michael to say "thank you" to his loyal fans, not only in Scandinavia, but also across Europe.

On 1 November 2008, Michael announced another last concert. This time it was held at the Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium on 1 December 2008, in Abu Dhabi, UAE. It was the first event to be held at the new stadium and was billed as the biggest concert ever held in the UAE. It was also his first concert in the Middle East. The event also helped to launch National Day celebrations and an outdoor extravaganza of fireworks and lasers gave fans a spectacular and unforgettable experience.

Set list

First leg "Waiting (Reprise)" "Flawless (Go to the City)" "Fastlove" "Father Figure" "Star People '97" "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" "Praying for Time" "Too Funky" "You Have Been Loved" "Everything She Wants" "My Mother Had a Brother" "Shoot the Dog" Break "Faith" "Spinning the Wheel" "Jesus to a Child" "An Easier Affair" "A Different Corner" "Amazing" "I'm Your Man" "Outside" Encore "Careless Whisper" "Freedom! '90"

Second leg "Waiting (Reprise)" "Flawless (Go to the City)" "Fastlove" "Precious Box" "Father Figure" "Everything She Wants" "Ticking" "Praying for Time" "Too Funky" "Star People '97" "Shoot the Dog" Break "Faith" "Spinning the Wheel" "An Easier Affair" "Jesus to a Child" "Amazing" "I'm Your Man" "Outside" Encore "Careless Whisper" "Freedom! '90"

Third leg "Waiting (Reprise)" "Fastlove" "I'm Your Man" "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" "Father Figure" "Hard Day" "Everything She Wants" "One More Try" "A Different Corner" "An Easier Affair" "Too Funky" "Star People '97" Break "Faith" "Feeling Good" "Roxanne" "Spinning the Wheel" "Kissing a Fool" "Amazing" "Flawless (Go to the City)" "Outside" "Praying for Time" Encore "Careless Whisper" "Freedom! '90"

Forth leg (Finals) "Waiting (Reprise)" "Fastlove" "I'm Your Man" "Father Figure" "You Have Been Loved" "Everything She Wants" "Precious Box" "One More Try" "Jesus to a Child" "An Easier Affair" "Too Funky" "Shoot the Dog" Break "Faith" "Spinning the Wheel" "Feeling Good" "Roxanne" "My Mother Had a Brother" "Kissing a Fool" "Amazing" "Flawless (Go to the City)" "Fantasy" "Outside" Encore "Careless Whisper" "Freedom! '90"

Tour dates

List of European concerts

Date (2006)	City	Country	Venue	Opening act	Attendance (Tickets sold / available)	Revenue
23 September	Barcelona	Spain	Palau Sant Jordi		19,836 / 19,836	$2,062,948
26 September	Madrid		Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad de Madrid		14,590 / 14,590	$1,517,364
29 September	Toulouse	France	Zénith de Toulouse		6,192 / 6,192	$643,692
30 September	Toulon		Zénith Oméga		6,487 / 6,487	$674,638
2 October	Lyon		Halle Tony Garnier		8,082 / 8,082	$840,531
5 October	Milan	Italy	Mediolanum Forum		22,936 / 22,936	$2,385,346
6 October
9 October	Paris	France	Palais omnisports de Paris Bercy		30,106 / 30,106	$3,522,408
10 October
13 October	Amnéville		Galaxie Amnéville		12,659 / 12,659	$1,569,174
14 October	Stuttgart	Germany	Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle		9,124 / 9,124	$1,040,136
16 October	Leipzig		Arena Leipzig		11,047 / 11,047	$1,358,788
17 October	Oberhausen		König Pilsener Arena		14,000 / 14,000	$1,453,036
20 October	Gothenburg	Sweden	Scandinavium		13,825 / 13,825	$1,492,102
21 October	Oslo	Norway	Oslo Spektrum		12,264 / 12,264	$1,287,726
22 October	Stockholm	Sweden	Stockholm Globe Arena		16,511 / 16,511	$1,717,142
25 October	Frankfurt	Germany	Festhalle Frankfurt		12,275 / 13,034	$1,264,359
26 October	Zürich	Switzerland	Hallenstadion		13,000 / 13,000	$1,376,050
29 October	Munich	Germany	Olympiahalle		29,472 / 29,472	$3,166,412
30 October
1 November	Rotterdam	Netherlands	Sportpaleis van Ahoy		59,412 / 59,412	$6,416,499
2 November
4 November
6 November	Berlin	Germany	Velodrom		7,026 / 7,026	$955,530
7 November	Hamburg		Color Line Arena		9,275 / 9,275	$1,317,053
9 November	Mannheim		SAP Arena		9,673 / 9,673	$1,102,726
11 November	Copenhagen	Denmark	Parken Stadium		46,918 / 46,918	$6,052,422
13 November	Cologne	Germany	Kölnarena		12,124 / 12,124	$1,757,920
14 November	Antwerp	Belgium	Sportpaleis		16,231 / 16,235	$1,227,164^[2]
17 November	Manchester	England	Manchester Evening News Arena		65,292 / 65,292	$9,271,547
18 November
21 November
22 November	Glasgow	Scotland	SECC Arena		26,145 / 26,145	$3,294,273
25 November	London	England	Earls Court		36,228 / 36,228	$3,840,169
26 November
28 November
2 December	Birmingham		NEC Arena		50,523 / 50,523	$6,669,042
3 December
4 December
7 December	Dublin	Ireland	Point Theatre		25,020 / 25,020	$3,123,926
8 December
11 December	London	England	Wembley Arena		41,180 / 41,180	$5,806,283
12 December
14 December
15 December
17 December

List of European concerts^[3]

Date (2007)	City	Country	Venue	Opening act	Attendance (Tickets sold / available)	Revenue
12 May	Coimbra	Portugal	Estádio Cidade de Coimbra		39,639 / 39,639	$4,439,568
18 May	Aarhus	Denmark	Atletion		44,966 / 44,966	$2,080,026
19 May
23 May	Budapest	Hungary	Ferenc Puskás Stadium		52,047 / 52,047	$2,133,947
25 May	Bratislava	Slovakia	Inter Football Stadium		6,875 / 15,801	$855,295
28 May	Sofia	Bulgaria	Lokomotiv Stadium		25,003 / 25,003	$1,125,184
31 May	Bucharest	Romania	Lia Manoliu Stadium		13,902 / 13,902	$2,432,846
6 June	Dublin	Ireland	RDS Arena	Sophie Ellis Bextor	64,154 / 64,154	$7,698,459
9 June	London	England	Wembley Stadium		172,458 / 172,458	$24,490,995
10 June
12 June	Norwich		Carrow Road	Sophie Ellis-Bextor	54,275 / 54,275	$7,869,385
15 June	Manchester		City of Manchester Stadium		60,195 / 60,195	$8,728,294
17 June	Glasgow	Scotland	Hampden Park		53,024 / 53,024	$7,751,504
19 June	Plymouth	England	Home Park		38,402 / 38,402	$5,491,886
22 June	Saint-Denis	France	Stade de France		63,583 / 63,583	$9,473,837
23 June	Antwerp	Belgium	Sportpaleis		14,230 / 14,230	$2,020,550
26 June	Amsterdam	Netherlands	Amsterdam Arena		55,384 / 55,384	$8,085,064
29 June	Stockholm	Sweden	Stockholm Globe Arena
1 July	Helsinki	Finland	Hartwall Arena
5 July	Moscow	Russia	Olympisky
6 July
9 July	Kyiv	Ukraine	Olympic Stadium
11 July	Warsaw	Poland	Służewiec		35,000
13 July	Vienna	Austria	Wiener Stadthalle
17 July	Padua	Italy	Stadio Plebiscito
19 July	Lucca		Stadio Porta Elisa
21 July	Rome		Stadio Olimpico
26 July	Athens	Greece	OAKA Olympic Stadium		40,000	5,340,316
1 August	Dublin	Ireland	Point Theatre
2 August
4 August	Belfast	Northern Ireland	Odyssey Arena

List of North American concerts^[4]

Date (2008)	City	Country	Venue	Opening act	Attendance (Tickets sold / available)	Revenue
17 June	San Diego	United States	San Diego Sports Arena
19 June	San Jose		HP Pavilion
21 June	Las Vegas		MGM Grand Garden Arena
22 June	Phoenix		US Airways Center
25 June	Inglewood		The Forum
27 June	Anaheim		Honda Center
2 July	Seattle		KeyArena
4 July	Vancouver	Canada	General Motors Place		12,000 / 15,000
7 July	Saint Paul	United States	Xcel Energy Center		7,504 / 12,999
9 July	Chicago		United Center		10,061 / 13,500	$1,375,690
13 July	Dallas		American Airlines Center
14 July	Houston		Toyota Center
17 July	Toronto	Canada	Air Canada Centre		14,802 / 14,802	$2,115,255
18 July	Montreal		Bell Centre		9,865 / 9,865	$1,454,257
21 July	New York City	United States	Madison Square Garden
23 July
26 July	Philadelphia		Wachovia Center
27 July	Boston		TD Banknorth Garden		10,325 / 14,000
29 July	Washington, D.C.		Verizon Center		8,331 / 13,000	$1,055,827
31 July	Atlanta		Philips Arena
2 August	Tampa		St. Pete Times Forum
3 August	Sunrise		Bank Atlantic Center

List of European and Middle Eastern concerts

Date (2008)	City	Country	Venue	Opening act	Attendance (Tickets sold / available)	Revenue
24 August	London	England	Earls Court
25 August
30 August	Copenhagen	Denmark	Telia Parken
1 December	Abu Dhabi	United Arab Emirates	Zayed Sports City Stadium

Cancelled dates

List of cancelled concerts^[5][6]

Date (2007)	City	Country	Venue	Reason
2 June	Prague	Czech Republic	Sazka Arena	Accident with equipment
7 June	Dublin	Ireland	RDS Arena
15 July^[a]	Nürnberg	Germany	easyCredit-Stadion	N/A

Personnel

Band

• George Michael – vocals
• Chris Cameron – musical director, arranger
• Lea Mullen – percussion
• Phil Palmer – guitars
• Andy Hamilton – sax, keyboards, EWI (electronic wind instrument)
• Steve Walters – bass
• Mike Brown – guitars
• Carlos Hercules – drums
• Graham Kearns – guitars
• Luke Smith – keyboards
• Shirley Lewis – backing vocals
• Jay Henry – backing vocals
• Lincoln Jean-Marie – backing vocals
• Lori Perry – backing vocals
• Sharon Perry – backing vocals
• Lucy Jules – backing vocals

Management and production

• Michael Lippman – artist manager
• Andy Stephens – artist manager
• Ken Watts – tour director
• Lisa Johnson – assistant tour director
• Looloo Murphy – GM tour manager
• Sharon Ashley – band tour manager
• Ronnie Franklin – security consultant
• Mark Spring – production manager
• Di Eichorst – production coordinator
• Scott Chase – stage manager
• James Kelly – show manager
• Willie Williams – video staging designer and director
• Vince Foster – set and lighting design and operator
• Gary Bradshaw – front of house sound
• Andy Bramley – video director
• Simeon Niel-Asher – Osteopath
• Barrie Marshall and Doris Dixon – agents

Promoters

• Belgium – Live Nation
• Denmark – DKB & Motor
• France – Interconcerts
• Germany – Peter Rieger Konzertagentur
• Greece – Cosmote
• Netherlands – MOJO Concerts
• Hungary – Live Nation Hungary (previously Multimedia Concerts)
• Ireland – Aiken Promotions
• Italy – D'Alessandro E Galli
• Norway – Gunnar Eide
• Spain – Sagliocco Group
• Sweden – EMA Telstar
• Switzerland – Good News
• UK – Marshall Arts
• USA – Live Nation
• Australia – Paul Dainty

Critical reception

The tour received positive reviews, with praise for the set list and overall production of the show.

Features

• The 25 Live tour marked the first time a 3000 piece LED screen has been used.
• The 25 Live tour featured a three dimensional video wall. The video screen was not just a backdrop to the stage, it also laid on the stage surface. Paul McCartney used a similar concept for his 2005 US Tour.
• The 25 Live tour marked the first time motion tracking came from the artist to video.
• The 25 Live tour marked the first time 490 frequency channels were transmitted to the audio mixing board, producing dynamic, richer sound for the performance.
• The 25 Live tour marked the first time on-screen visuals responded to the musicians performing.

Other details

• On 20 December 2006, Michael made special free concert for NHS nurses in the Roundhouse, North London. Michael claimed he wanted to thank the nurses who had cared for his late mother.
• On 31 December 2006, Michael was paid $3 million for a 75-minute private concert in Moscow, Russia, which made him the highest paid entertainer in Russian history.^[8]
• Michael became the first music artist to perform at the new Wembley Stadium when he played two shows at the venue on 9 June 2007 and 10 June 2007 during the tour.^[9]
• During his concert in Sofia, Bulgaria, Michael devoted to the Bulgarian nurses prosecuted in the HIV trial in Libya.^[10]
• On 17 June 2008, Michael launched the North American leg of his final world tour by congratulating lawmakers for legalising gay marriage in California.^[11]
• On 25 June 2008, during the L.A. concert, Michael celebrated his 45th birthday. The band played "Happy Birthday", while Bo Derek walked on stage with a huge birthday cake.
• On 27 July 2008, Michael's concert at TD Banknorth Garden in Boston was delayed 1½ hours due to weather conditions and flight delays. He later apologized for the delay and despite the holdup, played a full 3-hour set.

Notes

1. The 15 July 2007 show in Nürnberg, Germany, was originally scheduled to take place on 28 May 2007 in Düsseldorf, Germany, but was postponed due to technical difficulties.^[7]

References

1. "George Michael plays "final" major shows". The Independent. PA Media. 25 August 2008. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
2. "Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 118, no. 149. 12 September 2006.
3. "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 28 July 2007. p. 32. Retrieved 23 January 2022 – via Google Books.
4. "Concert review: George Michael glows in the afterburn". Twincities.com. 7 July 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
5. "Accident forces George Michael to cancel Prague gig". Uk.reuters.com. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
6. Newsdesk, The Hot Press. "George Michael cancels tonight's RDS show". Hotpress.com. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
7. "George Michael verlegt einziges Deutschlandkonzert nach Nürnberg". Nmz.de. 27 March 2007. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
8. "Michael 'Highest Paid Performer In Russian History'". Contactmusic.com. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
9. . Archived from the original on 8 January 2009. Retrieved 30 June 2008.
10. "George Michael: Free Bulgaria's Nurses in Libya! - Novinite.com - Sofia News Agency". Novinite.com. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
11. "George Michael – Michael Thrilled About Same-Sex Marriages". Contactmusic.com. Retrieved 23 January 2022.

External links