| Concert Tour Name: | Arular Tour |
| Number Of Legs: | 9 |
| Album: | Arular |
| Start Date: | 2 February 2005 |
| End Date: | 5 February 2006 |
| This Tour: | Arular Tour (2005) |
| Next Tour: | Kala Tour (2007) |
The Arular Tour is a global concert tour by M.I.A. performed in support of her first studio album Arular (2005). It took place from 2005 to 2006.
The tour featured dates across North America, South America, Canada, Europe, Asia and Australasia. M.I.A. performed sporadically near the end of 2004. One of M.I.A.'s first live performances in London took place in November 2004.[1] She also performed at an event in Puerto Rico and minor gigs in places such as Philadelphia and New York City in the U.S., as well as Hamburg and Berlin in Germany in 2004.[2] Her 2005 tour began with her North American debut performance at the Drake Hotel in Toronto, Ontario on 2 February 2005.[3]
The Arular Tour setlist featured songs from her debut album Arular. Some mixes from her mixtape Piracy Funds Terrorism were also performed. M.I.A. did not follow the same setlist at every show. M.I.A. spoke in 2005 of wanting to make her live set "minimal," inspired by gigs of acts such as electroclash musician Peaches which she attended whilst travelling and filming a documentary on her.[4] M.I.A.'s concert following the Drake Hotel gig received a response described as "phenomenal" by organiser Jacob Smid, with attendees already knowing many of her songs.[3]
Sets were sometimes decorated with palm fronds. The stage featured coloured drapes, canvasses and flags she created with prints of her graffiti stencils, paintings, and her album and singles artwork. These featured pictures of anonymous rebel soldiers, tigers, tanks and guns amid jagged colourful patterns. Her stage attire featured similar prints. She wore many contrasting outfits, nearly every item of clothing hand made by friends such as Carri Mundane and herself.[1] In some shows, a video screen displayed images of tigers, looping fighter jets, maps of London and oil rigs.
M.I.A ended her set in the Gobi tent at the 2005 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival with the song "Galang", leading to an encore in response to crowd enthusiasm, a rarity for the festival and the first tent encore at Coachella.[5] [6] Describing the performance she said, "When I played three years ago, it was such a crazy moment. It was my first festival and I had only done about five shows in my entire life...They dismantled the stage and had to put it back together because all the people started going, 'M.I.A! M.I.A!' I don't think I'd ever be able to do something like that again, because it was my moment."[6]
Additionally, M.I.A. co-headlined tours with Roots Manuva and LCD Soundsystem during 2005.[7] Her dates from 10 May at the Commodore Ballroom, Canada to 12 June at the 9:30 Club, US were performed with LCD Soundsystem.[8] M.I.A. performed with backup singer Cherry and DJ Diplo on many dates. Spank Rock opened for M.I.A. on a few dates, as did DJ's Rekha, Marlboro and Contra who made appearances on some dates during the tour.[9] Concerts took place at club venues and music festivals. She joined Gwen Stefani on her 2005 tour and ended the Arular tour with performances in Japan in February 2006. M.I.A. performed several sold-out shows during her tour, with Aziz Ansari, Feist, David Byrne, Nas, Kelis, Matt Damon and Natalie Portman among those attending concerts.[10] [11] [12] [13] Recording for her second album Kala followed this tour, which preceded the 2007 KALA Tour.
This is the set-list from M.I.A.'s sold-out concert at the club S.O.B.s in Manhattan U.S..
| Date | City | Country | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| North America | |||
| 2 February 2005 | Toronto | Canada | Drake Hotel |
| 3 February 2005 | United States | ||
| 5 February 2005 | |||
| 1 May 2005 | Indio | Empire Polo Club | |
| 10 May 2005 | Vancouver | Canada | Commodore Ballroom |
| 11 May 2005 | Seattle | United States | The Showbox |
| 13 May 2005 | San Francisco | The Independent | |
| 14 May 2005 | The Fillmore | ||
| 15 May 2005 | Los Angeles | El Rey Theatre | |
| 17 May 2005 | The Echo | ||
| 19 May 2005 | Chicago | Metro Chicago | |
| 20 May 2005 | Detroit | Saint Andrew's Hall | |
| 21 May 2005 | Toronto | Canada | The Opera House |
| 22 May 2005 | Montreal | La Tulipe | |
| 7 June 2005 | New York City | United States | SOB's |
| 9 June 2005 | Boston | Avalon Ballroom | |
| 10 June 2005 | New York City | Webster Hall | |
| 11 June 2005 | Philadelphia | Transit | |
| 12 June 2005 | Washington, D.C. | ||
| Europe | |||
| 16 June 2005 | Hultsfred | Sweden | Hultsfred Folkets Park |
| 17 June 2005 | London | England | Fabric |
| 18 June 2005 | Barcelona | Spain | Fira Gran Via |
| 23 June 2005 | Norwich | England | The Waterfront |
| 24 June 2005 | Pilton | Worthy Farm | |
| 25 June 2005 | London | Hyde Park | |
| 5 July 2005 | Kristiansand | Norway | Odderøya |
| 14 July 2005 | Brussels | Belgium | Ancienne Belgique |
| 15 July 2005 | Ghent | Vooruit | |
| 16 July 2005 | Amsterdam | Netherlands | Melkweg |
| North America | |||
| 7 August 2005 | New York City | United States | Rumsey Playfield |
| Asia | |||
| 13 August 2005 | Chiba | Japan | |
| 14 August 2005 | Osaka | Intex Osaka | |
| Europe | |||
| 26 August 2005 | Leeds | England | Bramham Park |
| 28 August 2005 | Reading | Little John's Farm | |
| North America | |||
| 19 September 2005 | Athens | United States | 40 Watt Club |
| 21 September 2005 | Washington, D.C. | 9:30 Club | |
| 23 September 2005 | Boston | Paradise Rock Club | |
| 24 September 2005 | Montreal | Canada | Metropolis |
| 26 September 2005 | Toronto | Phoenix Concert Theatre | |
| 27 September 2005 | Detroit | United States | Saint Andrew's Hall |
| 28 September 2005 | Chicago | Metro Chicago | |
| 29 September 2005 | Minneapolis | Fine Line Music Cafe | |
| 1 October 2005 | Englewood | Gothic Theatre | |
| 4 October 2005 | Los Angeles | The Fonda Theatre | |
| 5 October 2005 | San Francisco | The Regency Ballroom | |
| South America | |||
| 22 October 2005 | Rio de Janeiro | Brazil | Museum of Modern Art |
| 25 October 2005 | São Paulo | Arena Anhembi | |
| 29 October 2005 | Buenos Aires | Argentina | Club Ciudad de Buenos Aires |
| North America | |||
| 16 November 2005 | Winnipeg | Canada | MTS Centre |
| 18 November 2005 | Edmonton | Rexall Place | |
| 20 November 2005 | Vancouver | General Motors Place | |
| 21 November 2005 | Seattle | United States | KeyArena |
| 23 November 2005 | Portland | Veterans Memorial Coliseum | |
| 25 November 2005 | Fresno | Save Mart Center | |
| 26 November 2005 | Anaheim | Arrowhead Pond | |
| 28 November 2005 | |||
| 29 November 2005 | Bakersfield | Rabobank Arena | |
| 1 December 2005 | Oakland | The Arena in Oakland | |
| Oceania | |||
| 22 January 2006 | Gold Coast | Australia | Gold Coast Parklands |
| 26 January 2006 | Sydney | Sydney Showground Stadium | |
| 28 January 2006 | Metro Theatre | ||
| 29 January 2006 | Melbourne | Princes Park | |
| 3 February 2006 | Adelaide | Adelaide Showground | |
| 5 February 2006 | Perth | Claremont Showground | |