Saint Pablo Tour Explained

Concert Tour Name:Saint Pablo Tour
Artist:Kanye West
Album:The Life of Pablo
Type:North American
Number Of Legs:1
Number Of Shows:41
Gross:$52.8 million[1]
Last Tour:The Yeezus Tour
(2013–14)
This Tour:Saint Pablo Tour
(2016)
Next Tour:Free Larry Hoover Benefit Concert
(2021)

The Saint Pablo Tour was the fifth concert tour by American rapper Kanye West which ran from August 25, 2016 to November 19, 2016 in support of West's seventh solo studio album, The Life of Pablo (2016). The tour was originally planned to run until December 31, 2016,[2] but was canceled prematurely on November 21, 2016 due to West's hospitalization.[3] It was the 18th highest-grossing tour of 2016 in North America.[4] The shows played at The Forum in Inglewood, California were the most lucrative.[5]

History

Design

The design of Saint Pablo Tour featured a "first-of-its-kind floating stage" which was composed of a main stage and an auxiliary stage that had an intricate system of pulleys and tracks designed to be connected to the frame of each arena. The floating main stage had lights on the edge as well as on the bottom portion, which would occasionally shine on the audience. The second stage was composed of four rectangular portions which would move and provided ambient light for each song. The stages could then be manipulated to the needs of the tour, incorporating the audience into the experience at each concert as visitors would be able to engage with Kanye West. Each show had three sections separated by two intermissions, with uses of light increasing as the performance progresses. Some of the portions appeared to be influenced by various themes in popular culture, such as the show's intermissions which were similar to Close Encounters of the Third Kind by Steven Spielberg.[6]

Tour

West began the Saint Pablo Tour in Indianapolis, Indiana on August 25, 2016, introducing his new stage design to the public, impressing the attending audience.[7] On October 2, 2016, West cut his performance short at Citi Field in New York City following news of his wife Kim Kardashian being robbed at gunpoint in Paris.[8] Two tour dates were also cancelled the following week.[8]

Kanye's returning concert following Kim Kardashian's incident was performed in his hometown of Chicago at the United Center on October 7, 2016, where he arrived on stage an hour and a half past schedule and "made no mention of his wife or the incident, in a show in which he barely spoke to the crowd at all".[8] In San Jose, California during his November 17 performance, West spoke about American politics and stated "If I would have voted, I would have voted for Trump", with some fans booing and throwing items on stage.[9] In Sacramento on November 19, 2016, West performed three songs before he diverted the performance and spoke about Facebook, Jay Z, Hillary Clinton, Beyoncé, and then proceeded to walk off stage, later cancelling further dates of the tour due to stress and exhaustion while ticketholders were given a refund.[9]

Set list

This set list is an example of one typically performed from the Boston show onwards. Songs included in the five prior shows' setlists not included further include "FML," "Amazing," "Devil in a New Dress," "30 Hours," and "All Falls Down."

  1. ''Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1"
  2. "Pt. 2"
  3. "Famous"
  4. "Pop Style"
  5. "That Part"
  6. "Facts"
  7. "Mercy"
  8. "Don't Like.1"
  9. "All Day"
  10. "Black Skinhead"
  11. "Niggas in Paris"
  12. "Can't Tell Me Nothing"
  13. "Power"
  14. "Blood on the Leaves"
  15. "Freestyle 4"
  16. "Jesus Walks"
  17. "Flashing Lights"
  18. "Highlights"
  19. "Feedback"
  20. "Wolves"
  21. "Heartless"
  22. "Runaway"
  23. "Only One"
  24. "I Love Kanye"
  25. "Waves"
  26. "All of the Lights"
  27. "Good Life"
  28. "Stronger"
  29. "Touch the Sky"
  30. "Fade"
  31. "Ultralight Beam"

Tour dates

Dates performed

DateCityCountryVenueAttendanceBox office
North America[10]
August 25, 2016IndianapolisUnited StatesBankers Life Fieldhouse
August 27, 2016BuffaloFirst Niagara Center11,678/ 11,678$844,143
August 30, 2016TorontoCanadaAir Canada Centre26,716 / 26,716$2,439,870
August 31, 2016
September 2, 2016MontrealBell Centre
September 3, 2016BostonUnited StatesTD Garden16,182 / 16,495$1,512,328
September 5, 2016New York CityMadison Square Garden37,005 / 37,005$4,852,888
September 6, 2016
September 8, 2016Washington, D.C.Verizon Center16,838 / 16,838$1,786,000
September 12, 2016AtlantaPhilips Arena16,011 / 16,011$1,358,087
September 14, 2016TampaAmalie Arena14,027 / 14,027$1,066,669
September 16, 2016MiamiAmerican Airlines Arena37,820 / 37,820$3,150,183
September 17, 2016
September 20, 2016HoustonToyota Center14,883 / 14,883$1,389,472
September 21, 2016AustinFrank Erwin Center13,247 / 13,247$1,243,591
September 22, 2016DallasAmerican Airlines Center16,999 / 21,192$1,444,680
September 24, 2016NashvilleBridgestone Arena18,211 / 18,211 $1,070,994
September 25, 2016ColumbusValue City Arena14,970 / 18,384$972,855
September 27, 2016Grand RapidsVan Andel Arenarowspan="14"
September 28, 2016DetroitJoe Louis Arena
September 30, 2016University ParkBryce Jordan Center
October 1, 2016ClevelandQuicken Loans Arena
October 2, 2016New York CityCiti Field
October 7, 2016ChicagoUnited Center
October 8, 2016RosemontAllstate Arena
October 10, 2016Saint PaulXcel Energy Center
October 12, 2016WinnipegCanadaMTS Centre
October 15, 2016EdmontonRogers Place
October 17, 2016VancouverRogers Arena
October 19, 2016SeattleUnited StatesKeyArena
October 22, 2016OaklandOracle Arena
October 23, 2016
October 25, 2016InglewoodThe Forum97,360 / 97,360$8,292,767
October 26, 2016
October 27, 2016
October 29, 2016Las VegasT-Mobile Arena18,100 / 18,100$2,107,440
November 1, 2016InglewoodThe Forum
November 2, 2016
November 3, 2016
November 17, 2016San JoseSAP Centerrowspan="2"
November 19, 2016SacramentoGolden 1 Center
TOTAL352,769 / 361,129 (97%)$31,745,967

Cancelled dates

List of cancelled concerts, showing date, city, country, venue and reason for cancellation
DateCityCountryVenueReason
November 20, 2016InglewoodUnited StatesThe ForumStress and exhaustion
November 22, 2016FresnoSave Mart Center
November 23, 2016AnaheimHonda Center
November 26, 2016DallasAmerican Airlines Center
November 28, 2016DenverPepsi Center
December 1, 2016San AntonioAT&T Center
December 2, 2016HoustonToyota Center
December 4, 2016SunriseBB&T Center
December 6, 2016OrlandoAmway Center
December 8, 2016AtlantaPhilips Arena
December 9, 2016ColumbiaColonial Life Arena
December 11, 2016AlbanyTimes Union Center
December 13, 2016PhiladelphiaWells Fargo Center
December 15, 2016
December 16, 2016NewarkPrudential Center
December 18, 2016TorontoCanadaAir Canada Centre
December 20, 2016LouisvilleUnited StatesKFC Yum! Center
December 22, 2016Auburn HillsThe Palace of Auburn Hills
December 27, 2016Washington, D.C.Capital One ArenaVerizon Center
December 28, 2016BostonTD Garden
December 30, 2016BrooklynBarclays Center
December 31, 2016

Reception

The architectural website ArchDaily stated:[6]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Top 100 Tours Worldwide . Pollstar . https://web.archive.org/web/20200429234602/https://www.pollstar.com/Chart/2017/01/2016YearEndTop100WorldwideTours_343.pdf . 29 April 2020 . live.
  2. Web site: Kanye West announces Saint Pablo Tour. The Verge. James. Vincent. June 14, 2016. June 14, 2016.
  3. Web site: Kanye West cancels remainder of Saint Pablo Tour. consequence.net. 21 November 2016 . 21 November 2016.
  4. Web site: Top 200 North American Tours . Pollstar . 29 April 2020.
  5. Web site: 2016 Year End - Top Concert Grosses . Pollstar . 22 June 2022.
  6. Web site: INTERIORS: Kanye West's Saint Pablo Tour. ArchDaily. 12 January 2017. 2 November 2016.
  7. Reiff. Corbin. Kanye West Floats Over Crowd in Unique Saint Pablo Tour Kickoff. Rolling Stone. 12 January 2017.
  8. News: Crowd worships at floating altar of Kanye West at United Center. 12 January 2017. Chicago Sun-Times. 8 October 2016.
  9. Web site: Kanye West 'cancels entire Saint Pablo tour' following stage rant. BBC News. 21 November 2016. November 21, 2016.
  10. Box score: