The Memphis Blues Tour was the eleventh concert tour by American recording artist

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper ( ; born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Known for her distinctive image, featuring a variety of hair colors and eccentric clothing, and for her powerful four-octave vocal range;Jerome, ...

, in support of her eleventh studio album. The tour visited the Americas, Asia, Australia and Europe. During the trek, Lauper performed at numerous jazz festivals including the

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (commonly called Jazz Fest or Jazzfest) is an annual celebration of local music and culture held at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana. Jazz Fest attracts thousands of vi ...

Jazz à Vienne Jazz à Vienne is a jazz festival in Vienne, Isère, near Lyon, France. The festival has been held since 6 July 1981 in the months of June and July for two weeks. Every evening during the festival, there are concerts in the ancient Roman theate ...

and

Jazz Fest Wien Jazz Fest Wien or Vienna Jazz Festival is a jazz festival in Vienna, held annually at the end of June and beginning of July since 1991. An international festival, in 2007 it was attended by some 60,000 spectators. It is now considered one of the w ...

. In the fall of 2011, Lauper continued the tour as a co-headlining show with

Dr. John Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. His music combined New Orleans blues, jazz, R&B, soul and funk. Active as a session mus ...

titled From Memphis to Mardi Gras. Lauper performed over a hundred concerts beginning in June 2010 and ending in November 2011.

Background

Lauper announced the tour in April 2010 via her official website. The singer stated the show will focus heavily on the blues sound of her album alongside her past hits. The tour was designed to be an intimate tour. mimicking the jazz culture of the 1920s. Lauper wanted the show to emulate hearing good music in a "smoky cafe". While on tour, concertgoers were able to donate to charities supported by the singer including the Give a Damn Foundation. Lauper was joined on tour by Charlie Musselwhite and Allen Toussaint, who helped contribute to the making of her recent album. While on tour in Japan, Lauper concerts occurred during the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number) * One of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''Eleven'', a 1970 collection of short stories by Patricia Highsmith *''Eleven'' ...

. Although the singer was urged to leave the island, Lauper stayed and continued to perform her shows as scheduled. She donated the funds from her shows to help relief efforts. In Argentina, Lauper gave an impromptu performance of her hit "

Girls Just Want to Have Fun "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" is a single made famous in 1983 by the American singer-songwriter Cyndi Lauper, written by Robert Hazard in 1979, with some of the lyrics changed by Lauper. It was released by Portrait Records as Lauper's debut s ...

" at the

Aeroparque Jorge Newbery Jorge Newbery Airfield , commonly known as Aeroparque, is an international airport northwest of Buenos Aires Central Business District, downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina. The airport covers an area of and is operated by ''Aeropuertos Argentina ...

Opening acts

* David Rhodes (North America—Leg 1, select dates) *

Charlie Musselwhite Charles Douglas Musselwhite (born January 31, 1944) is an American blues harmonica player and bandleader who came to prominence, along with Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, and Elvin Bishop, as a pivotal figure in helping to revive the Chicago ...

(North America—Leg 1, select dates) *

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings were an American funk and soul music, soul band signed to Daptone Records. They were part of a Retro-soul, revival movement of mid-1960s to mid-1970s style funk and soul music. They released their debut album Dap D ...

(Atlanta—August 2010) *

Allen Toussaint Allen Richard Toussaint (; January 14, 1938 – November 10, 2015) was an American musician, songwriter, arranger, and record producer. He was an influential figure in New Orleans rhythm and blues from the 1950s to the end of the century, descr ...

(Los Angeles—August 2010) *The Ferocious Few (North America—Leg 2, select dates) *Lan Lan (Brazil) * Casey Donovan (Australia, select dates) *Rainy Boy Sleep (England, Scotland) *NEeMA (Istres)

Setlist

Tour dates

;Festivals and other miscellaneous performances ;Cancellations and rescheduled shows

Box office score data

Broadcasts and recordings

Lauper's performance during Jazz á Vienne was broadcast on live on French radio station

France Inter France Inter () is a French public radio channel and part of Radio France. It is the successor to Paris Inter, later known as France I, and created as a merger of the France I and France II networks, first as RTF Inter in October 1963, then ren ...

. The show omitted "All Through the Night", with "Cross Road Blues" and "Down So Low" not broadcast in full. A DVD/ CD of her performance on December 2, 2010 at The Warehouse in Memphis, Tennessee was released in October 2011 and was titled "Cyndi Lauper '' To Memphis, with Love''." It was a unique film with documentary footage but included the performances of the entire set list of the show that night. The package includes a booklet that looked like a concert program with photos from the Memphis show in particular but also photos of Cyndi and her band in various places on the Memphis Blues tour.

Critical reception

The tour was praised by music critics and concertgoers. Katherine Feeny (''

Brisbane Times ''Brisbane Times'' is an online newspaper for Brisbane and Queensland, Australia. It is owned and run by Nine Publishing, publishers of ''The Age'', ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' and other mastheads. As of 2024, the editor is Sean Parnell. H ...

'') gave the pop singer's concert at the QPAC Concert Hall four out of five stars. She says, "It's just one of example of her ability to endear herself to the room, an ability testament to her skill and experience. So too is Lauper's lack of need for showy stage and lighting. The sheer scale and gutsy thrust of her vocal range coupled with a dynamic presence more than fills the stage". Michael Dwyer (''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'') gave the singer three and a half out of five stars. He writes, "Maybe the subtleties between thought and expression are redundant when a Broadway dynamo in a leather pantsuit is prowling the theatre, standing on chairs and bellowing that 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun'. But when she hit the right blend of power and soul—such as with Robert Johnson's Cross Roads Blues—Lauper channelled something more profound". The praise for the tour continued as Lauper began to perform in England. Kate Watkins ('' City Life'') gave the performance at the Bridgewater Hall four out of five stars. She explains, "The night ended with a sombre performance of 'True Colors' which showcased the depth and feeling of her vocals which have only improved since she started singing the Blues". Catherine Meek ('' The Argus'') gave the concert at the Brighton Dome Concert Hall a positive review. She states, "Whether she was singing a track from her most recent album, 'Memphis Blues', with full backing, or a solo of an old favourite with nothing but the microphone and her dulcimer, Lauper's voice bellowed harmony".

Personnel

;Band *Orris Warner – drums *Michael Toles – guitar *William Wittman – bass guitar *Archie Turner – keyboards *Stephen Gaboury, Sr. – piano *Kay Hanley, Tara Stone – backing vocals

References

{{Cyndi Lauper 2010 concert tours 2011 concert tours Cyndi Lauper concert tours Concert tours of Argentina Concert tours of Australia Concert tours of Austria Concert tours of Brazil Concert tours of Canada Concert tours of Chile Concert tours of Denmark Concert tours of France Concert tours of Germany Concert tours of Iceland Concert tours of Italy Concert tours of Japan Concert tours of Luxembourg Concert tours of Norway Concert tours of Panama Concert tours of the Philippines Concert tours of Spain Concert tours of Sweden Concert tours of Switzerland Concert tours of the United Kingdom Concert tours of the United States Concert tours of Venezuela