Greatest Hits Tour (Björk)
| Tour by Björk | |
Promotional poster for August 22, 2003 concert
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| Associated album |
Greatest Hits |
|---|---|
| Start date | May 24, 2003 |
| End date | September 3, 2003 |
| Legs | 3 |
| No. of shows | 18 in Europe 1 in Asia 9 in North America 28 Total |
| Björk concert chronology | |
The Greatest Hits Tour was the fifth worldwide concert tour by Icelandic musician Björk. It was launched in support of the release of her Greatest Hits album, her box set Family Tree, and to coincide with the release of her Live Box collection. The tour was supposed to take place one year earlier, but it was delayed as Björk gave birth to her daughter. The first dates of the tour were announced just two months after the birth. The tour kicked off with two shows in London on May 24, 2003, and ended with a rescheduled performance in Toronto on September 3, 2003. The tour visited Europe, Asia and North America with 28 shows in total. Björk wore outfits and creations from Jeremy Scott, Alexander McQueen and Shoplifter.
The songs performed were mainly from Vespertine and Homogenic. The tour band was made up of members of previous tour bands: the Iceland string octet (which were featured also in the Homogenic Tour), electronic duo Matmos and harpist Zeena Parkins (who had previously been part of the touring band for Vespertine World Tour). Iranian musician Leila Arab (who had previously been part of the touring band for Post) joined the band for the European and Asian shows. There was a notable lack of focus on material from Debut and Post. The tour was appreciated by critics, who lauded Björk's performances, presence on scene and fashion choices. This is the only one of Björk's tours not to have had a corresponding DVD or CD release, although many performances were broadcast and a live track of "All is Full of Love" from this tour can be found on the soundtrack to the Icelandic film Screaming Masterpiece, whilst the film itself contains partial live performances of both "All is Full of Love" and "Pluto".
In 2001, Björk embarked on her fourth tour, the Vespertine World Tour, which featured the singer playing in opera houses and theatres backed by the 54-piece orchestra Il Novecento. During a press conference in Barcelona, Spain, before her concert at Liceu, Björk confirmed that there would have been another tour the following year, which would have featured more conventional locations and band. On January 26, 2002, it was announced that Björk would headline the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival which was to take place in April 2002. By the time of the show, the singer was pregnant with her second child, the first with partner Matthew Barney, and the show was the only planned appearance for the year. During the course of 2002, Björk released her first greatest hits album, aptly called Greatest Hits, and first box set, Family Tree, which followed a string of DVD releases which spanned her first ten years of solo career. Björk stated that the process "was like spring cleaning, complete with nostalgic, boring, and mushy moments, but ultimately, it was liberating to have an absolutely clean attic. Now, I have a brand-new chalkboard on which to work". The singer gave birth to her daughter, Ísadóra Bjarkardóttir Barney, on October 3, 2002. At the end of the year, the first dates for Björk's newest tour were announced in Verona, Paris and Hamburg. More dates were later added in March 2003, including two headlining shows in Russia, where the singer had never played before. Björk was confirmed to headline the Fuji Rock Festival in Yuzawa, Niigata, Japan and further shows were announced to take place in North America, including two shows at Brooklyn KeySpan Park. In April, it was confirmed that Zeena Parkins and Matmos, who have played with her during her last tour, would rejoin her, along with the Icelandic String Octet, that was part of the band during the Homogenic Tour.Leila Arab was later confirmed to be a part of the band too, but she appeared only during the European and Asian shows due to visa issues. On May 16, Björk streamed via webcast the final rehearsal for the upcoming tour live at the Loftkastalinn Theatre in Reykjavík.
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