Here We Go Again Tour Explained

Concert Tour Name:	Here We Go Again Tour
Artist:	Cher
Type:	World
Album:	Dancing Queen
Number Of Legs:	4
Number Of Shows:	85
Last Tour:	Classic Cher (2017–20)
This Tour:	Here We Go Again Tour (2018–20)
Next Tour:	...
Attendance:	933,526
Gross:	$112,476,116

The Here We Go Again Tour^[1] was the seventh solo concert tour by American singer-actress Cher in support of her twenty-sixth studio album Dancing Queen. This was the first time the singer had embarked on a world tour since her (2002–2005). The tour started on September 21, 2018, and was forced to conclude on March 10, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^{[2] [3] [4] [5]}

Background

On May 7, 2018, it was announced via various media outlets that Cher would embark on her first Australian solo tour in more than a decade and her seventh solo concert tour overall.^[6] On May 17, 2018, it was announced that Cher would add two more dates in Melbourne and Sydney due to "overwhelming demand".^[3] On June 27, 2018, it was announced that Cher will visit New Zealand for a concert before continuing the tour in Australia. A second concert in New Zealand was announced shortly after.^{[7] [8]} On September 3, 2018, it was announced that Cher would "farewell Melbourne" for a "third and final show" on October 6, 2018, due to high demand.^{[9] [10]} Later that same week, it was announced that Cher will take the Here We Go Again Tour to North America for 34 dates. The second leg of the tour started on January 17, 2019, in Florida and ended on May 30, 2019, in Vancouver.^[4]

On December 11, 2018, it was announced that Cher would tour Europe for the first time in 15 years. The European leg of the tour started on September 26, 2019, in Berlin, Germany and finished on November 3, 2019, in Belfast, Northern Ireland.Following this, Cher announced new tour dates in North America, beginning in Portland, Oregon on November 19, 2019.^{[11] [12]} On March 12, 2020, Cher announced her spring tour dates would be postponed to the fall, amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, with the exception of Birmingham, Alabama, which was cancelled, due to planned renovations at the Legacy Arena during the rescheduled run.^{[13] [14]} However, due to the persistence of the pandemic in the United States, the rescheduled dates were all canceled.^[15]

Concert synopsis

A giant curtain is set up where, during the start of the concert, a video montage featuring many moments of Cher's career is projected onto it. After the intro ends and the curtain drops, Cher appears wearing a purple toga and a blue wig, while standing on a bedazzled arched lift performing "Woman's World". The song is followed by "Strong Enough" and a 15-minute^[16] on stage monologue where she infamously asks the crowd "what's your granny doing tonight?"^{[17] [18]} She leaves for a costume change, while the "Gayatri Mantra" is played. She returns on a mechanical elephant lip syncing the last part, and then she gets off the elephant and she performs "All or Nothing".^[19] The next act is started with a video interlude of Cher and her late ex-husband, Sonny Bono, singing a medley of "Little Man" and "All I Ever Need is You". She starts performing "The Beat Goes On" followed by a brief speech where Cher talks about how she rarely performs the song "I Got You Babe" live with Bono joining her via a large-screen video monitor.^[20] A video interlude of Cher performing "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me" follows and the next act starts with her dancers performing a Burlesque-inspired dance routine. Finally, Cher enters the stage in a Burlesque inspired outfit and sings "Welcome to Burlesque", followed by a costume change, with "Lie to Me" acrobatic interlude. She and her dancers reappear in 70's inspired clothes as she sings her covers of ABBA's "Waterloo" and "SOS". Cher then goes to an elevated platform and sings "Fernando", accompanied by a backdrop of fireworks.^[21]

After a video montage of her career highlights as an actress, the next act sees Cher performing "After All". An interlude of "Heartbreak Hotel" plays as Cher changes costumes and sings "Walking In Memphis", which she dedicated to the first time she saw Elvis in concert. "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)" ends the act, and a guitar solo of "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" plays as a final intermission. Cher, in a black see-through bodysuit, appears to close the main set with performances of "I Found Someone" and "If I Could Turn Back Time". She leaves, and after a minute, returns to close the show with an encore performance of "Believe".

Commercial reception

Cher, with the Here We Go Again Tour, was the third top-grossing female touring artist of 2019 and ranked at number 11 on Billboard's Year End Top 40 Tours.^[22] Pollstar's Year End Top 100 Tours chart ranked Cher at number 20.^[23] In 2019, Cher became the first female artist in history with the age of over 70 to gross over $100 million in one concert tour.

Critical reception

The tour has received mostly positive reception from critics, praising Cher's vocals as well as the elements of the show and the costume changes.^{[24] [25]} The European leg of the tour gained critical acclaim praising Cher's energy, performances, and humor.^[26] The tour was nominated for a People's Choice Award in the "Favorite Concert Tour of 2019" category.^[27]

Set list

The following set list is from the concert on January 17 in Estero, Florida. It does not represent all shows.^[28]

1. "Woman's World"
2. "Strong Enough"
3. "Gayatri Mantra"
4. "All or Nothing"
5. "All I Ever Need Is You" / "Little Man"
6. "The Beat Goes On"
7. "I Got You Babe"
8. "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me"
9. "Welcome to Burlesque"
10. "Lie To Me"
11. "Waterloo"
12. "SOS"
13. "Fernando"
14. "After All"
15. "Heartbreak Hotel"
16. "Walking in Memphis"
17. "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)"
18. "Bang Bang"
19. "I Found Someone"
20. "If I Could Turn Back Time"

Encore

21. "Believe"

Shows

List of Oceania concerts^[29]

Date (2018)	City	Country	Venue	Opening acts	Attendance (Tickets sold / total available)	Revenue
September 21	Auckland	New Zealand	Spark Arena	DJ Andrew McClelland	16,020 / 16,710	$1,711,012
September 22
September 26	Newcastle	Australia	Newcastle Entertainment Centre		5,520 / 5,718	$819,642
September 28	Brisbane		Brisbane Entertainment Centre		13,669 / 13,669	$1,748,280
September 29
October 3	Melbourne		Rod Laver Arena		28,812 / 30,688	$3,467,164
October 5
October 6
October 9	Adelaide		Adelaide Entertainment Centre		7,163 / 7,500	$793,794
October 12	Perth		RAC Arena		13,132 / 13,132	$1,727,210
October 16	Wollongong		WIN Entertainment Centre		3,893 / 4,012	$526,301
October 18	Sydney		Qudos Bank Arena		21,791 / 22,547	$2,710,879
October 20
October 21			ICC Sydney Theatre		5,776 / 5,776	$473,641

Date
(2019)! scope="col" style="width:10em;"

City	Country	Venue	Opening acts	Attendance (Tickets sold / total available)	Revenue
January 17	Estero	United States	Hertz Arena	Nile Rodgers & Chic	5,725 / 5,780	$993,700
January 19	Sunrise		BB&T Center		13,774 / 14,231	$1,707,710
January 21	Orlando		Amway Center		11,782 / 11,790	$1,421,883
January 23	Jacksonville		Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena		10,024 / 10,024	$1,078,433
January 25	Duluth		Infinite Energy Arena		9,903 / 9,903	$1,404,811
January 27	Raleigh		PNC Arena		11,680 / 11,680	$1,076,880
January 29	Charlotte		Spectrum Center		12,021 / 12,021	$1,147,111
January 31	Nashville		Bridgestone Arena		13,262 / 13,262	$1,409,202
February 2	Biloxi		Mississippi Coast Coliseum		10,069 / 10,069	$1,278,410
February 4	Louisville		KFC Yum! Center		12,813 / 12,813	$1,319,776
February 6	Cleveland		Quicken Loans Arena		12,504 / 12,504	$1,179,772
February 8	Chicago		United Center		14,984 / 14,984	$2,009,018
February 10	Columbus		Nationwide Arena		13,794 / 13,794	$1,513,123
February 12	Detroit		Little Caesars Arena		11,695 / 11,695	$1,290,912
February 14	Indianapolis		Bankers Life Fieldhouse		11,484 / 11,484	$1,346,158
April 18	Pittsburgh		PPG Paints Arena		14,603 / 14,603	$1,584,708
April 20	Philadelphia		Wells Fargo Center		14,823 / 14,823	$1,849,979
April 22	Toronto	Canada	Scotiabank Arena		15,657 / 15,657	$2,083,273
April 24	Ottawa		Canadian Tire Centre		12,366 / 12,366	$1,095,738
April 26	Buffalo	United States	KeyBank Center		14,371 / 14,371	$1,529,362
April 28	Boston		TD Garden		13,192 / 13,192	$1,786,640
April 30	Springfield		MassMutual Center		6,049 / 6,049	$959,190
May 2	Brooklyn		Barclays Center		13,971 / 13,971	$2,249,111
May 3	Newark		Prudential Center		13,374 / 13,374	$1,985,259
May 8	Grand Rapids		Van Andel Arena		10,410 / 10,410	$1,174,426
May 10	St. Louis		Enterprise Center		14,404 / 14,404	$1,617,911
May 12	Milwaukee		Fiserv Forum		11,719 / 11,719	$1,438,187
May 14	Omaha		CHI Health Center Omaha		12,876 / 12,876	$1,324,294
May 16	Sioux Falls		Denny Sanford Premier Center		10,415 / 10,415	$1,202,976
May 18	Saint Paul		Xcel Energy Center		15,191 / 15,191	$1,874,158
May 23	Saskatoon	Canada	SaskTel Centre		8,233 / 8,233	$621,567
May 25	Edmonton		Rogers Place		13,310 / 13,310	$1,302,866
May 28	Calgary		Scotiabank Saddledome		11,669 / 11,669	$1,080,542
May 30	Vancouver		Rogers Arena		13,604 / 13,604	$1,210,342

Date
(2019)! scope="col" style="width:10em;"

City	Country	Venue	Opening acts	Attendance (Tickets sold / total available)	Revenue
September 26	Berlin	Germany	Mercedes-Benz Arena	Bright Light Bright Light	11,599 / 12,311	$1,266,973
September 28	Antwerp	Belgium	Sportpaleis		10,192 / 10,924	$1,114,603
September 30	Amsterdam	Netherlands	Ziggo Dome		9,576 / 10,674	$1,092,907
October 3	Munich	Germany	Olympiahalle	Bright Light Bright Light KidCutUp	10,218 / 10,943	$1,111,549
October 5	Cologne		Lanxess Arena		13,855 / 14,153	$1,336,597
October 7	Vienna	Austria	Wiener Stadthalle	Crimer KidCutUp	10,092 / 10,642	$1,209,739
October 9	Zürich	Switzerland	Hallenstadion		6,806 / 9,500	$1,012,549
October 11	Mannheim	Germany	SAP Arena	Bright Light Bright Light KidCutUp	7,868 / 8,192	$910,550
October 13	Hamburg		Barclaycard Arena		9,919 / 11,000	$1,072,640
October 15	Copenhagen	Denmark	Royal Arena		13,015 / 13,015	$1,699,053
October 17	Stockholm	Sweden	Friends Arena		27,025 / 27,025	$2,274,898
October 20	London	England	The O2 Arena	Paul Young KidCutUp	28,440 / 31,092	$4,383,106
October 21
October 24	Manchester		Manchester Arena		11,900 / 13,611	$1,855,063
October 26	Birmingham		Arena Birmingham		11,296 / 13,255	$1,699,422
October 28	Glasgow	Scotland	SSE Hydro		10,703 / 11,701	$1,673,094
October 30	Leeds	England	First Direct Arena		9,407 / 11,206	$1,557,972
November 1	Dublin	Ireland	3Arena	Paul Young	7,905 / 8,323	$1,374,840
November 3	Belfast	Northern Ireland	SSE Arena	Spring Break	7,199 / 7,650	$935,368

Date! scope="col" style="width:10em;"

City	Country	Venue	Opening acts	Attendance (Tickets sold / total available)	Revenue
November 19, 2019	Portland	United States	Moda Center	Nile Rodgers Chic	13,399 / 13,399	$1,634,061
November 21, 2019	San Francisco		Chase Center		13,115 / 13,115	$1,739,513
November 23, 2019	Glendale		Gila River Arena		12,936 / 12,936	$1,608,662
November 25, 2019	Denver		Pepsi Center		11,402 / 11,402	$1,212,663
November 27, 2019	Chicago		United Center		12,161 / 12,161	$1,270,763
November 29, 2019	Toronto	Canada	Scotiabank Arena		12,450 / 12,450	$1,212,479
December 3, 2019	New York City	United States	Madison Square Garden		27,495 / 27,495	$3,842,660
December 4, 2019
December 6, 2019	Philadelphia		Wells Fargo Center		12,430 / 12,430	$1,469,074
December 8, 2019	Boston		TD Garden		11,511 / 11,511	$1,378,938
December 10, 2019	Washington, D.C.		Capital One Arena		8,638 / 8,638	$1,069,268
December 13, 2019	New Orleans		Smoothie King Center		11,829 / 11,829	$1,466,665
December 15, 2019	Houston		Toyota Center		11,640 / 11,640	$1,518,495
December 17, 2019	San Antonio		AT&T Center		12,666 / 12,666	$1,535,735
December 19, 2019	Dallas		American Airlines Center		13,312 / 13,312	$1,809,893
March 6, 2020	El Paso		Don Haskins Center		N/A	N/A
March 8, 2020	Edinburg		Bert Ogden Arena		N/A	N/A
March 10, 2020	Bossier City		CenturyLink Center		N/A	N/A
Total for tour					933,526 / 958,130	$112,476,116

Cancelled shows

List of cancelled concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, and reason for cancellation

Date	City	Country	Venue	Reason
May 21, 2019	Winnipeg	Canada	Bell MTS Place	Illness^[30] ^[31]
March 18, 2020	Birmingham	United States	Legacy Arena	Arena renovation during the rescheduled Fall 2020 leg
September 8, 2020	Tampa		Amalie Arena	COVID-19 pandemic^[32]
September 10, 2020	Pensacola		Pensacola Bay Center
September 12, 2020	North Charleston		North Charleston Coliseum
September 14, 2020	Cincinnati		Heritage Bank Center
September 16, 2020	Memphis		FedExForum
September 18, 2020	Oklahoma City		Chesapeake Energy Arena
September 20, 2020	North Little Rock		Simmons Bank Arena
September 22, 2020	Green Bay		Resch Center
September 24, 2020	Madison		Kohl Center
September 26, 2020	Fargo		Fargodome
September 28, 2020	Des Moines		Wells Fargo Arena
September 30, 2020	Wichita		Intrust Bank Arena
October 2, 2020	Kansas City		Sprint Center
October 4, 2020	Casper		Casper Events Center
October 6, 2020	Billings		First Interstate Arena
October 8, 2020	Nampa		Ford Idaho Center
October 10, 2020	Spokane		Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena
October 12, 2020	Everett		Angel of the Winds Arena
October 14, 2020	Sacramento		Golden 1 Center
October 17, 2020	Salt Lake City		Vivint Arena
November 12, 2020	Lincoln		Pinnacle Bank Arena
December 5, 2020	Miami		American Airlines Arena

Personnel

Adapted from the Here We Go Again Tour program credits.^[33]

• Cher – lead vocals
• Nick Cua – tour director
• Ollie Marland – musical director
• Bob Mackie – costume designer

Band

• Ollie Marland and Darrell Smith – keyboards
• Joel Hoekstra / Ben Mauro – guitar
• Ashley Reeves – bass
• Jason Sutter – drums
• Jodi Katz – background vocals
• Nikki Tillman – background vocals
• Jenny Douglas-Foote – background vocals

Dancers

• Ferly Prado – dancer
• Marlon Pelayo – dancer
• Daniel Dory – dancer
• Melanie Lewis-Yribar – dancer
• Jamal Story – dancer
• Ben Bigler – dancer
• Britta Grant – dancer
• Bailey Swift – dancer
• Sumayah McRae – dancer
• SheilaJoy Burford – dancer
• Dujuan Smart Jr. – dancer
• Ryan Ramírez – dancer

Notes and References

1. Web site: Upcoming events. Cher's Official Website. September 13, 2018.
2. Web site: Cher. Live Nation Australia. July 21, 2018.
3. Web site: Cher Adds New Shows To Australian Tour Due To Overwhelming Demand. Themusic.com.au. July 21, 2018.
4. Cher - the Here We Go Again Tour dates announced. prnewswire.com. September 7, 2018.
5. Web site: Cher announces more shows for the Here We Go Again Tour. iconvsicon.com. November 4, 2019. November 4, 2019.
6. Web site: Hirst . Jordan . Cher Is Touring Australia, And People Can't Handle It . . May 28, 2019 . May 9, 2019 .
7. Web site: Cher coming to NZ for one-off concert in September. Stuff.co.nz. June 26, 2018. July 21, 2018.
8. Web site: Cher announces second New Zealand show for Here We Go Again Tour. Stuff.co.nz. July 10, 2018. August 19, 2018.
9. Web site: Cher 3rd & final Melbourne show. livenation.com.au. September 3, 2018.
10. Web site: Cher 3rd & final Melbourne show. facebook.com. September 3, 2018.
11. Cher announces 2019 fall tour of Europe and UK. . October 11, 2019. December 11, 2018 .
12. Mims . Taylor . Cher Adds 14 Dates to North American Tour . . . June 11, 2019 . United States . March 29, 2019 .
13. Web site: Martoccio. Angie. Cher Postpones Here We Go Again Tour Due to Coronavirus. rollingstone.com. March 12, 2020. March 12, 2020.
14. Web site: Colurso. Mary. Cher cancels concert in Birmingham due to coronavirus spreads All concert have been postponed till 2021 due to the ongoing CoronaVirus Pandemic . al.com. March 12, 2020. March 12, 2020.
15. News: UPCOMING EVENTS. Cher.com. December 28, 2020. en.
16. Web site: Concert review: Did Cher's Charlotte show leave enough time for Cher to do Cher?. Janes. Théoden. January 30, 2019. The Charlotte observer. March 25, 2019.
17. Web site: Review: If you're Cher, normal rules of time and space do not apply. She's still fabulous.. Menconi. David. January 28, 2019. News & Observer. March 25, 2019.
18. Web site: Concert review: Cher delivers during Columbus stop on "Here We Go Again" tour. Blues. Rachel. February 11, 2019. The Lantern. March 25, 2019.
19. Web site: REVIEW: Cher turns back time to entertain packed house at RAC Arena. Cipriano. Belinda. October 12, 2018. Western Suburbs Weekly. March 25, 2019.
20. Web site: Sequin leotard-wearing Cher, definitely not your Grandma. Corcoran. Sineadl. September 22, 2018. Stuff. March 25, 2019.
21. Web site: Cher delivers high-color show at Hertz Arena, making her audience easily 'Believe'. Heithaus. Harriet Howard. January 18, 2019. Naples Daily News. March 25, 2019.
22. The Year in Touring Charts 2019: Ed Sheeran Meets The Rolling Stones in Boxscore History. Frankenburg. Eric. 2019-12-05. Billboard. 2019-12-20.
23. Web site: 2019 Year End Charts Top 100 Worldwide Tours. Pollstar. 17 December 2019.
24. Web site: Review: If you're Cher, normal rules of time and space do not apply. She's still fabulous. . newsobserver.com . The News & Observer.
25. Cher Succeeds at Everything She Does During Brooklyn 'Here We Go Again' Stop . May 3, 2019 . Rolling Stone.
26. News: Cher review – fabulous show turns back time and turns up camp. Alexis. Petridis. The Guardian . October 21, 2019. www.theguardian.com.
27. Web site: Cher became the first female artist in history with the age of over 70 to gross over $100 million in one concert tour. Touring Data. 31 December 2019.
28. Web site: Cher Setlist at Hertz Arena, Estero. setlist.fm .
29. Current Boxscore. Billboard. October 2, 2018. en.
30. News: Ketcheson . Meaghan . Winnipeg Cher fans disappointed after show suddenly cancelled . . June 8, 2019 . May 22, 2019 .
31. Web site: 'I hope Winnipeg understands': local drummer on Cher's cancellation. May 23, 2019. Global News.
32. Web site: 2020-07-25. Cher's official website showing all the postponed shows. 2020-07-25.
33. Book: Cher Tour Program. 44–45. 2018.