I Am World Tour
| World tour by Beyoncé | |
 |
|
| Associated album | I Am... Sasha Fierce |
|---|---|
| Start date | March 26, 2009 |
| End date | February 18, 2010 |
| Legs | 6 |
| No. of shows | 47 in Europe 32 in North America 12 in Asia 9 in South America 7 in Oceania 1 in Africa 108 Total |
| Box office | $103.2 million (102 shows) |
| Beyoncé concert chronology | |
I Am... World Tour (sometimes referred to as the I Am... Tour) was the fourth concert tour by American recording artist Beyoncé. It was launched in support of her third studio album, I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008). The tour was announced in October 2008 and the first dates were revealed in December 2008. It kicked off in late-March 2009 with five rehearsal shows in North America, officially commencing in late April 2009. The tour visited the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia with 108 shows in total. Preparations for the shows began eight months prior to the beginning of the tour with twelve-hour rehearsals for two months. Knowles described the shows as her best and most theatrical from all of her tours. Pre-concert food drives were held during several stops of the I Am... World Tour as part of a campaign by General Mills' Hamburger Helper entitled, "Show Your Helping Hand" where fans were asked to bring food during the concerts.
The set list for the concerts included songs from Knowles' three studio albums as well as several covers of other artists and a Destiny's Child medley. The central theme of the tour was to showcase the difference between Knowles' dual personality; her emotional side and her onstage persona, Sasha Fierce which was also demonstrated in the dual album I Am... Sasha Fierce. The show featured two stages – the main one and a smaller B-stage where Knowles was transferred during the middle of the show. She was backed by an all-female band, female background dancers and a big LED screen. Thierry Mugler collaborated with Knowles on the costumes and had a creative advisor role further working on the choreography, lighting and production. Chris March made the costumes usable for stage and helped in their making. For the ballads, Knowles wore longer dresses while for the performances of the up-tempo songs, more make-up and more revealing outfits were worn. The fashion and Knowles' look and figure received praise from critics.
I Am... World Tour received critical acclaim from music critics who praised Knowles' performance abilities calling her the best female performer and chose the performances of "Ave Maria", "Listen" and "At Last" as highlights during the shows. A concert in Malaysia was cancelled by Knowles after several Muslim groups tried to ban it although she agreed to tone down her look according to the country's standards. The tour was commercially successful grossing $86.0 million from 93 shows in total. Separate performances of several songs were broadcast on different channels and two concerts were released as live albums; the live performance at the I Am... Yours revue was released in a CD/DVD format in 2009 and footage of the tour was released on an eponymous titled live album in 2010.
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