Ciara: Live in Concert was the debut

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific to ...

of American recording artist

Ciara Ciara Princess Wilson ( ; Harris; born October 25, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, model and entrepreneur. She released her debut studio album, '' Goodies'' in 2004, which spawned four singles: " Goodies" (featuring Petey Pa ...

. It supported her second studio album, '' Ciara: The Evolution'' (2006) and visited venues in the United States and Canada. The 16-city tour began on October 26 and ended on December 10, 2006. Previously unreleased tracks from her then-upcoming second album were previewed during the tour. The singer described the tour as an exclusive event for fans to showcase the album's musical direction. Ciara: Live in Concert was accompanied by various radio concerts and a concert with hip hop group the

Black Eyed Peas Black Eyed Peas (also known as The Black Eyed Peas) is an American musical group consisting of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo. The group's line-up during the height of their popularity in the 2000s featured Fergie, who replaced Kim H ...

. The tour's

set list A set list, or setlist, is typically a handwritten or printed document created as an ordered list of songs, jokes, stories and other elements an artist intends to present during a specific performance. A setlist can be made of nearly any materi ...

consisted of tracks from ''Ciara: The Evolution'' and Ciara's debut studio album '' Goodies'' (2004), along with three featured singles. The show held at Nokia Theater in New York City was broadcast live via streaming on

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's website and it was later made available

on demand On-demand or on demand may refer to: Manufacturing * Build-on-demand * Just-in-time manufacturing, a methodology for production * Print on demand, printing technology and business process in which new copies of a document are not printed until an ...

. The tour received mixed to positive reviews; critics were divided regarding the pre-recorded backing tracks and remarked that Ciara was slightly under-prepared to host her own headlining tour, but ultimately praised her energetic choreography.

Background and development

Ciara: Live in Concert was announced by

Jive Records Jive Records was an American independent record label founded by Clive Calder in 1981 as a subsidiary to the Zomba Group. In the US, the label had offices in New York City and Chicago. Jive was best known for its successes with hip hop, R&B, ...

on October 10, 2006, via a

press release A press release is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public release. Press releases are also considere ...

. It was Ciara's first tour as a headliner; she had previously performed as the opening act for

Gwen Stefani Gwen Renée Stefani (; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer and actress. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, whose singles include " Just a Girl", " Spiderweb ...

at the

Harajuku Lovers Tour The Harajuku Lovers Tour was the first solo concert tour of American recording artist Gwen Stefani. The tour began through October to December 2005, to support of her debut studio album ''Love. Angel. Music. Baby.'' (2004). Although Stefani emba ...

(2005). Ciara: Live in Concert previewed previously unreleased tracks from the singer's then-upcoming second album '' Ciara: The Evolution'' (2006). The tour began on October 26, 2006, at the club Love in Washington, D.C. and ended on December 10 at the Nokia Theater in New York City. It was accompanied by several radio concerts and a concert with American hip hop group the

in Los Angeles on December 1, 2006, as part of the group's

Monkey Business Tour The Monkey Business Tour was the second concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often concert tours are named to differentiate differe ...

. Regarding the tour, Ciara stated:

Concert synopsis

The

for the tour consisted of songs from ''Ciara: The Evolution'' and ''Goodies''. As featured artists did not appear on the tour, their part of the songs were edited out, namely on " Oh" and " That's Right" and the featured singles " Like You" by Bow Wow and " Lose Control" by

Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette Elliott (born July 1, 1971), better known as Missy Elliott or Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliot, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She embarked on her music career with R&B girl group Sista in the earl ...

. The set decor included risers and multicolored lights. The show began with Ciara appearing on a platform one story above the stage floor. She performed her debut single " Goodies", which was quickly followed by "Oh". She wore tight metallic pants, a cut-up white T-shirt and sunglasses. The tempo of "Make It Last Forever" was increased and the backup dancers performed "old-school"

breakdancing Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in t ...

. The performance ended with Ciara and her dancers freezing in "

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poses". While performing "Lose Control", Ciara took off her shirt and revealed a silver bra underneath. The male back-up dancers also took their shirts off. Ciara performed her part in Bow Wow's "Like You" while appearing alone on stage. For "

Like a Boy "Like a Boy" is a song performed by American singer Ciara for her second album '' Ciara: The Evolution'' (2006). Written by Ciara, Candice Nelson, Balewa Muhammad, J. Que, Ezekiel Lewis, and Calvin Kenon, it is the third release in the U.S. and se ...

", Ciara and her female dancers switched to military-style clothing and performed male-oriented choreography. Later in the show came "

Promise A promise is a commitment by someone to do or not do something. As a noun ''promise'' means a declaration assuring that one will or will not do something. As a verb it means to commit oneself by a promise to do or give. It can also mean a capacity ...

", for which Ciara recreated dance moves from the music video while sporting black pants, a jacket and a

hoodie A hoodie (in some cases spelled hoody and alternatively known as a hooded sweatshirt) is a sweatshirt with a hood. Hoodies with zippers usually include two pockets on the lower front, one on either side of the zipper, while "pullover" hoodie ...

. She ended the song by lying face down while pounding on the stage with her fists. She closed the set with " Get Up". No musicians appeared on stage throughout the show and Ciara wore a headset microphone to fully focus on her dance moves. The show lasted 45 minutes.

Reception and recordings

The tour received mixed to positive reviews from critics. ''

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'' Dalondo Moultrie was positive in his review of the tour and wrote that Ciara "put on one of the best performances I have seen yet at rocodile Rock. Moultrie called her dance steps "incredible", noting that it was in sync with the music, "each pelvic thrust or body-bending twist" and the periodic bursts of light. In conclusion, Moultrie praised the concert and its "high-energy songs, sexy dance moves, flawless vocals and a top-flight light show". Bill White of ''

Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington, United States. The newspaper was fo ...

'' wrote that due to Ciara's high energy, "it hardly mattered that she was singing to backing tracks". Regarding the pre-recorded vocals, he said: "Usually this type of performance seems cut-rate and dishonest, but Ciara, with the help of slick lighting and sharp choreography, made it work". White concluded: "It may have been a 45-minute infomercial for her second release, 'Evolution', but Ciara's explosive display of crunk was a minispectacle in its own right." Sia Michel of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote a positive review, stating: "Ciara led a squad of hip-hop dancers through stylishly choreographed routines. Striding about in a headset, she was a commanding and relentlessly professional presence." Vincent Jackson of ''

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'' wrote that Ciara "exhibited a great deal of self-confidence during the course of the night". Jackson commented that Ciara is a "limited vocalist", stating that she made a "good decision to put most of her energy into her almost nonstop, aerobic dance performance". ''

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'' critic Glenn Gamboa was more critical, writing that "Pop concerts require strong personalities and, at 21, Ciara hasn't quite perfected hers yet". Gamboa called the show "as slick as an ice patch and often just as cool", but noted that sometimes she "got dwarfed by her surroundings" of eight dancers and recorded backing vocals. He praised the up-tempo songs and "Promise", but criticized the ballad "I'm Just Me" for "nearly halt ng the set. He ended on a more positive note, writing that "Ciara shows that she is well on her way to becoming a superstar herself". Jon Gilbertson of ''

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently ...

'' was largely critical of the show and criticized the singer for relying on backing tracks, stating that she failed to stand out as none of the songs "brought forth any recognizable vocal signatures".

announced on December 8, 2006, that it would broadcast Ciara's concert at the Nokia Theatre. The concert was available worldwide for free via

live streaming Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but n ...

on AOL Music's website. When the show had ended, viewers could access it via an

service.

Tour dates

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ciara: Live in Concert Ciara concert tours 2006 concert tours