Symphonica Tour

Symphonica (also promoted as Symphonica: The Orchestral Tour) was an orchestral concert tour by George Michael and his last tour. The singer performed the songs mainly from Songs from the Last Century and Patience albums as well as some cover versions in new arrangements.

Symphonica: The Orchestral Tour

Tour by George Michael
Promotional poster for LG Arena, Birmingham show
Location	Europe
Start date	22 August 2011 (2011-08-22)
End date	17 October 2012 (2012-10-17)
Legs	2
No. of shows	67 (75 scheduled)
George Michael concert chronology

Background

The tour was officially announced on 11 May 2011.^[1] Due to high demand for tickets, extra shows were added in Dublin, London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Cardiff, Rotterdam, Herning and Verona. A Brussels show was later announced on 3 June.^[2] Milan and Copenhagen shows were later announced.

Many of the shows had already sold out completely. Prague, Antwerp, Rotterdam, London (Royal Albert Hall and Royal Opera House), Dublin, Cardiff, Sheffield and Newcastle had all sold out.

The show included four new core band members who were selected by producer Phil Ramone and George Michael. These new members included musical director and pianist Henry Hey, guitarist Ben Butler, bassist David Finck, and drummer Mark McLean. In addition, percussionist Lea Mullen and guitarist Phil Palmer completed the band, along with Michael's long-time background vocalists Shirley Lewis, Lucy Jules, Lincoln Jean-Marie and Jay Henry. The stage had a semi-oval shape with a huge screen projecting different visual effects, sometimes featuring Michael himself. Some visuals were taken from the previous tour.

On 25 November it was announced that all further concerts in 2011 had been cancelled due to Michael's illness.^[3] Eventually, it took longer time for Michael to recover, resulting in all concerts postponed and scheduled for April and May being postponed to October and November 2012.

On 3 May 2012 it was announced that scheduled for early April shows in Australia would be postponed to November 2012. His performance in Perth on 10 November would've been the headline act for the Perth Arena Gala Opening.^[4] But later due to recovery restrictions from the illness, Michael was forced to cancel all Australian dates.^[3]

It was announced on Michael's website that his album Symphonica, released on 17 March 2014, would consist of studio material initially rehearsed for this tour including some live recordings.

Opening acts

• Wrocław Philharmonic Orchestra (Poland)
• Czech National Symphony Orchestra (Prague)

Setlist

The setlist of the premiere concert on 22 August 2011 at State Opera House – Prague, Czech Republic.^[5]

1. "Through"
2. "My Baby Just Cares for Me"
3. "Cowboys and Angels"
4. "True Faith"
5. "Let Her Down Easy" (Terence Trent D'Arby cover)
6. "Kissing a Fool"
7. "Going to a Town"
8. "Roxanne"
9. "It Doesn't Really Matter"
10. "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?"

    Intermission

11. "Patience"
12. "John and Elvis Are Dead"
13. "Russian Roulette"
14. "You Have Been Loved"
15. "You've Changed"
16. "Love Is a Losing Game"
17. "Where I Hope You Are"
18. "Praying for Time"
19. "Wild Is the Wind"
20. "A Different Corner"
21. "Feeling Good"
22. "You and I"

    Encore

23. "Amazing" / "I'm Your Man" / "Freedom! '90"

Additional notes

George Michael's symphony orchestra

• Closer to the end of the intermission a mix of different Michael's songs including "A Different Corner", "Older" and "John and Elvis Are Dead" was played with some light effects.
• From 3 September concert at Forum Copenhagen Michael performed the song "Understand" replacing "You and I".^[6]
• On 17 September, Michael performed a concert to celebrate the opening of a new stadium in Wrocław. He performed with the Wrocław Philharmonic Orchestra.^[7]
• From 19 September concert at Budapest Sportaréna Michael performed Elton John's song "Idol" replacing "It Doesn't Really Matter".^[8]
• From 7 October concert at Antwerp SportPaleis Michael performed "Song to the Siren" replacing "Understand".
• Michael performed the song "Safe" on 29 October concert in London's Royal Albert Hall, 1 and 3 November concerts in Dublin's The O₂
• From 14 November concert at Prague O₂Arena Michael performed the song "The Recluse" replacing "Kissing a Fool".^[9]
• During the second leg of the tour in 2012 the songs "Idol", "Song to the Siren", "You and I" and "Where I Hope You Are" were removed, the song "Father Figure" added to the first half of the setlist, the first song after the intermission was changed to "Waiting for that Day" and "Love Is a Losing Game" was not performed as well. Additionally, the last song performed live was "White Light".^[10]
• On 16 September concert in Birmingham Michael finished the concert with the song "I Remember You" instead of "White Light"
• On 9 October concert in Manchester, Michael finished the concert with the song "I Remember You" instead of "White Light" and performed "Star People" and "F.E.A.R." by Ian Brown.
• At concert in Liverpool and final shows in London Michael would finish the concert with "I Remember You".^[10]

Shows

List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, tickets sold, number of available tickets and amount of gross revenue

Date	City	Country	Venue	Attendance	Revenue
Europe[11][12][13][14][15]
22 August 2011	Prague	Czech Republic	State Opera House
29 August 2011	Herning	Denmark	Jyske Bank Boxen
31 August 2011
2 September 2011
3 September 2011	Copenhagen		Forum Copenhagen
5 September 2011	Berlin	Germany	Mercedes-Benz Arena
7 September 2011	Cologne		Lanxess Arena
8 September 2011	Mannheim		SAP Arena
10 September 2011	Florence	Italy	Piazza Santa Croce
11 September 2011	Naples		Arena Italsider
13 September 2011	Verona		Verona Arena
14 September 2011
17 September 2011	Wrocław	Poland	Stadion Miejski
19 September 2011	Budapest	Hungary	László Papp Budapest Sports Arena
20 September 2011	Zagreb	Croatia	Arena Zagreb
22 September 2011	Nice	France	Palais Nikaïa
24 September 2011	Bilbao	Spain	Bizkaia Arena
25 September 2011	Madrid		Barclaycard Center Madrid
27 September 2011	Barcelona		Palau Sant Jordi
28 September 2011	Marseille	France	Le Silo
30 September 2011	Toulouse		Zénith de Toulouse
1 October 2011	Montpellier		Park&Suites Arena
3 October 2011	Paris		AccorHotels Arena
4 October 2011
7 October 2011	Antwerp	Belgium	Sportpaleis	13,052 / 13,437	$1,457,370
8 October 2011	Brussels		Forest National
10 October 2011	Rotterdam	Netherlands	Rotterdam Ahoy
12 October 2011	Stuttgart	Germany	Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle
14 October 2011	Zürich	Switzerland	Hallenstadion
15 October 2011	Geneva		SEG Geneva Arena
18 October 2011	Hamburg	Germany	Barclaycard Arena Hamburg	11,099 / 11,897	$921,594
19 October 2011	Hanover		TUI Arena
21 October 2011	Rotterdam	Netherlands	Rotterdam Ahoy
22 October 2011
25 October 2011	London	England	Royal Albert Hall
28 October 2011
29 October 2011
1 November 2011	Dublin	Ireland	3Arena
3 November 2011
6 November 2011	London	England	Royal Opera House
9 November 2011	Oberhausen	Germany	König Pilsener Arena
11 November 2011	Milan	Italy	Mediolanum Forum
12 November 2011
14 November 2011	Prague	Czech Republic	O2 Arena
15 November 2011	Berlin	Germany	Mercedes-Benz Arena	7,341 / 7,341	$382,960
17 November 2011	Munich		Olympiahalle
19 November 2011	Frankfurt		Festhalle Frankfurt
4 September 2012	Vienna	Austria	Wiener Stadthalle
6 September 2012
9 September 2012	Paris	France	Palais Garnier
11 September 2012	Brussels	Belgium	Forest National
14 September 2012	Amsterdam	Netherlands	Ziggo Dome
16 September 2012	Birmingham	England	LG Arena
17 September 2012
21 September 2012	Manchester		Manchester Arena	11,356 / 12,876	$1,535,440
23 September 2012	Glasgow	Scotland	Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre
24 September 2012
29 September 2012	London	England	Royal Albert Hall
1 October 2012	Sheffield		Sheffield Arena
3 October 2012	Newcastle		Metro Radio Arena
5 October 2012	Cardiff	Wales	Motorpoint Arena Cardiff
6 October 2012
9 October 2012	Manchester	England	Manchester Arena	8,756 / 9,544	$1,181,680
10 October 2012	Liverpool		Echo Arena Liverpool
13 October 2012	London		Earls Court
14 October 2012
17 October 2012

Cancellations and rescheduled shows

26 October 2011	London, England	Royal Albert Hall	Postponed to 2 May 2012[16]
2 May 2012	London, England	Royal Albert Hall	Postponed to 29 September[17]
21 November 2011	Vienna, Austria	Stadthalle	Postponed to 6 September[18]
23 November 2011	Strasbourg, France	Zénith	Cancelled
26 November 2011	Cardiff, Wales	Motorpoint Arena	Postponed to 5 October 2012[19]
27 November 2011	Cardiff, Wales	Motorpoint Arena	Postponed to 6 October 2012[19]
30 November 2011	Liverpool, England	Echo Arena	Postponed to 10 October 2012
2 December 2011	Sheffield, England	Motorpoint Arena	Postponed to 10 October 2012
3 December 2011	Newcastle, England	Metro Radio Arena	Postponed to 3 October 2012
6–7 December 2011	Glasgow, Scotland	SECC	Postponed to 23–24 September 2012
9–10 December 2011	Birmingham, England	Genting Arena	Postponed to 16–17 September 2012
12–13 December 2011	Manchester, England	Manchester Arena	Postponed to 21 September and 9 October 2012
16–19 December 2011	London, England	Earls Court	Postponed to 13, 14 and 17 October 2012.
10 November 2012	Perth, Australia	Perth Arena	Cancelled[20]
13–14 November 2012	Adelaide, Australia	Adelaide Entertainment Centre	Cancelled
17–18 November 2012	Sydney, Australia	Qudos Bank Arena	Cancelled
21–22 November 2012	Melbourne, Australia	Rod Laver Arena	Cancelled
27 November 2012	Brisbane, Australia	Brisbane Entertainment Centre	Cancelled
1 December 2012	Hunter Valley, Australia	Hope Estate Winery	Cancelled

References

1. "George Michael announces Symphoninca: The Orchestral Tour". georgemichael.com. 11 May 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
2. "Symphonica performance added in Brussels". George Michael's Official Website. 3 June 2011. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
3. "George Michael shelves all 2011 tour dates due to illness | News". NME. 15 September 2011. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
4. "GEORGE MICHAEL'S SYMPHONICA TOUR TO OPEN PERTH ARENA". Perth Arena. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
5. "Symphonica Tour Prague Setlist announced". George Michael's Official Website. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
6. "Tour - GeorgeMichael.com". www.georgemichael.com. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012.
7. "George Michael will sing with the Wrocław Philharmonic Orchestra". 16 May 2011. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
8. "Tour - GeorgeMichael.com". www.georgemichael.com. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012.
9. "Tour - GeorgeMichael.com". www.georgemichael.com. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012.
10. "www".
11. "More Symphonica Performances, Confirmed". George Michael's Official Website. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
12. "Symphonica dates added in London". George Michael's Official Website. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
13. "Symphonica dates added in Rotterdam". George Michael's Official Website. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
14. "Announced new dates". George Michael's Official Website. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
15. "Brussels show added". George Michael's Official Website. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
16. "Concert at Royal Albert Hall on 26 October has postponed to 2 May 2012". George Michael's Official Website. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
17. "Concert at Royal Albert Hall on 2 May has postponed again to 29 September 2012". George Michael's Official Website. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
18. "George Michael Announces Rescheduled + Newly Added Symphonica Dates!". George Michael's Official Website. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
19. "Motorpoint Arena Cardiff on Facebook". Facebook. Archived from the original on 30 April 2022.^{[user-generated source]}
20. "SYMPHONICA: AUSTRALIA!". George Michael's Official Website. Retrieved 3 May 2012.

External links

• Official website (archived)