| Tour by Britney Spears | |
 Promotional poster for the tour | |
| Location |
|
|---|---|
| Associated album | In the Zone |
| Start date | March 2, 2004 |
| End date | June 6, 2004 |
| Legs | 2 |
| No. of shows | 54 |
| Supporting acts | |
| Attendance | 616,887 |
| Box office | U$35.3 million ($56.94 in 2023 dollars)[1] |
| Britney Spears concert chronology | |
The Onyx Hotel Tour was the fifth concert tour by American entertainer Britney Spears. It showcased her fourth studio album, In the Zone (2003), and visited North America and Europe. A tour to promote the album was announced in December 2003. Its original name was the In the Zone Tour, but Spears was sued for trademark infringement and banned from using the name. Spears felt inspired to create a show with a hotel theme which she later mixed with the concept of an onyx stone. The stage, inspired by Broadway musicals, was less elaborate than her previous tours. The setlist was composed mostly by songs from In the Zone as well as some of her past songs reworked with different elements of jazz, blues, and Latin percussion. Tour promoter Clear Channel Entertainment marketed the tour to a more adult audience than her previous shows, while sponsor MTV promoted the tour heavily on TV shows and the network's website.
The tour was divided into seven segments: Check-In, Mystic Lounge, Mystic Garden, The Onyx Zone, Security Cameras, Club, and the encore. Check-In displayed performances with dance and advanced in the hotel theme. Mystic Lounge featured an homage to Cabaret and other musicals, while remixing some of Spears's early hits. Mystic Garden displayed a jungle-inspired stage. The Onyx Zone displayed a ballad performance with acrobats. Security Cameras was the raciest part of the show, with Spears and her dancers emulating different sexual practices. Club displayed a performance with urban influences. The encore consisted of a system malfunction interlude and Spears performed wearing a red ensemble. The tour received generally favourable reviews from contemporary critics, who praised it for being an entertaining show while criticizing it for looking "more [like] a spectacle than an actual concert".
The Onyx Hotel Tour was commercially successful. According to Billboard, the 25 shows in North America grossed nearly $19 million with 300,460 tickets and $34 million with 601,040 tickets sold in 52 of 53 shows worldwide.[2][3] According to Pollstar, the Onyx Hotel Tour sold 641,428 tickets in 2004.[4] On June 6, 2004, Spears performed for 25,367 fans at RDS Arena in Dublin with $1,359,648 gross. The four nights at Wembley Arena in London grossed $2,179,820 with 41,823 tickets sold.[5] In March, Spears suffered a knee injury onstage which forced her to reschedule two shows. In June, Spears fell and hurt her knee again during a music video shoot. She underwent arthroscopic surgery and the remainder of the tour was canceled. In 2005, Spears sued her insurance companies for denying her a reimbursement for the cancellation. Showtime broadcast live the March 28, 2004 show at the American Airlines Arena, in a special titled Britney Spears Live from Miami. Backstage footage was included in the reality show Britney and Kevin: Chaotic.
- ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ "Billboard Mid Year Top 25 Tours 2004" (PDF). Billboard. July 24, 2004.
- ^ "Billboard Year End Top 25 Tours 2004" (PDF). Billboard. December 25, 2004.
- ^ "2004 Top 100 Tours" (PDF). Pollstar. January 17, 2005. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 17, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
- ^ "2004 Top 100 International Boxoffice" (PDF). Pollstar. January 17, 2005. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 29, 2017. Retrieved August 26, 2017.