Magna Carter World Tour

Magna Carter World Tour

World tour by Jay Z
Associated album	Magna Carta Holy Grail
Start date	October 3, 2013
End date	January 31, 2014
Legs	2
Number of shows	17 in Europe 35 in North America 52 total
Box office	US$24.4 million[1]
Jay Z concert chronology

The Magna Carter World Tour was a concert tour by American rapper Jay Z. It was promoted by his twelfth studio album Magna Carta Holy Grail (2013). Following his headlining performance at the 2013 Wireless Festival, Jay Z and promoters Live Nation announced a European and North American headlining tour. The venture was Jay Z's first solo headlining tour in almost four years, following 2009's Fall Tour.^[2]

Background

On February 22, 2013, Jay Z and Justin Timberlake announced their co-headlining Legends of the Summer Tour^[3] Initially this tour was speculated to be in promotion of Timberlake's new album The 20/20 Experience and comeback to music, and was to only feature Jay Z's previous hits. However, on July 24, 2013, Jay Z released his twelfth studio album Magna Carta Holy Grail. Rumors begun of a solo headlining tour from Jay Z to support the new album and on July 26, 2013, the Magna Carter World Tour was officially announced.^[2]

Critical reception

The opening night of the tour received positive reviews from critics. Katie Fitzpatrick, from Manchester Evening News gave the performance 4 out of 5 stars, stating "If we aren't arm waving along to modern anthems such as 99 Problems and Empire State of Mind, we're standing with respectful attention as though we're beholding a life-altering church sermon."^[4] Nick Hasted from The Independent also gave the opening concert 4 out of 5 stars. He explained "Regularly tonight, he goes further, breaking down his wall of hip-hop sound for bursts of a cappella rapping. It’s the bare, breathing sound of one man’s talent, preciously rare at an arena show. His new, twelfth album, Magna Carta Holy Grail, wrestles with the challenges of fame and celebrity family, trying to make them as compelling as the drug-dealing street life he left behind in Brooklyn long ago. But while he’s on stage, those contradictions melt away."^[5]

Rave reviews continued throughout the European leg of the tour. Ed Power from The Telegraph, who attended the first show in Dublin concluded his review with "A tough guy with a gooey centre, little about Jay-Z's swagger is especially original but he carries it off better than anyone else in the game." He went on to give the performance 4 out of 5 stars.^[6] At the first of his 4 back to back London O₂ Arena shows, Hannah Britt from the Daily Express opened her praising review with "With a sea of screaming fans holding their palms up towards him, you’d never know that Jay Z once dealt crack cocaine on the streets of Brooklyn." and continued to positively speak on the rappers personality, stating "With a confidence that comes with being a highly respected artist, married to Beyoncé and mind-blowingly minted, he seemed as comfortable talking to the crowd as I would be sat on my living room sofa. Picking people from the audience at random, he thanked them for being there. It was a nice touch, adding a sense of humility to his on-stage persona."^[7] However, Alicia Adejobi from Entertainment Wise who attended the same show questioned whether the hip hop mogul could still hold a crowd on his own (after touring respectively for the past two years with collaborators Kanye West and Justin Timberlake). She concluded with a mixed review of the show stating "Perhaps we're so used to seeing him on stage with the likes of Kanye, Justin Timberlake and even his wife Beyonce, but it felt as though something was slightly missing from the night. It's clear from the frequent breaks and interludes that Jay Z just simply isn't as energetic as he once was in his 20s"^[8]

Commercial performance

Due to the "phenomenal" demand as well as all dates in the United Kingdom selling out, promoters added second shows in Manchester and London. Ticket prices for the UK leg ranged between £42-£78.^[9] Other sources reported that some of the UK dates had sold out within "seconds" with website Mirror.co.uk joking "[Jay Z] tickets are fast turning into the Holy Grail" (a pun based on the rappers hit song with Justin Timberlake).^[10] On September 6, 2013, a second leg of the tour was announced, to take place in North America during December 2013/early 2014.^[11]

Broadcasts and recordings

A promotional video for the tour was released by Live Nation's official YouTube account to promote the original ticket sales of the tour. The video showed footage from Jay Z's headlining performance at the 2013 Wireless Festival, including footage of the large crowd and him on stage (although no performances of songs were included)^[12]

Support acts

• Timbaland^[13]

Set list

This set list is representative of the first show in London. It does not represent all concerts for the duration of the tour.^[14]

1. "Higher" (Intro) / "U Don't Know"
2. "Crown"
3. "On to the Next One"
4. "Holy Grail"
5. "FuckWithMeYouKnowIGotIt"
6. "Beach Is Better"
7. "99 Problems"
8. "Big Pimpin'"
9. "Picasso Baby"
10. "Tom Ford"
11. "Dirt off Your Shoulder"
12. "Somewhereinamerica"
13. "Nigga What, Nigga Who (Originator 99)"
14. "Pound Cake"
15. "I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)"
16. "Niggas in Paris"
17. "Public Service Announcement"
18. "Clique"
19. "Run This Town"

Encore

20. "Encore"
21. "Empire State of Mind"
22. "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)"
23. "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)"
24. "Young Forever"

Shows

List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, opening act, tickets sold, amount of available tickets and gross revenue

Date	City	Country	Venue	Opening act	Attendance	Revenue
Europe[2][9][15][16][17]
October 3, 2013	Manchester	England	Manchester Arena	Timbaland	18,722 / 21,931	$1,774,570
October 4, 2013
October 6, 2013	Dublin	Ireland	The O2	—	—	—
October 8, 2013	Birmingham	England	National Indoor Arena	—	—	—
October 10, 2013	London		The O2 Arena	Timbaland	56,652 / 66,952	$5,600,680
October 11, 2013
October 12, 2013
October 14, 2013
October 17, 2013	Paris	France	Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy	—	—	—
October 18, 2013
October 20, 2013	Zurich	Switzerland	Hallenstadion	Timbaland	10,583 / 13,000	$1,229,150
October 21, 2013	Antwerp	Belgium	Sportpaleis	—	—	—
October 23, 2013	Oslo	Norway	Oslo Spektrum	—	—	—
October 25, 2013	Stockholm	Sweden	Ericsson Globe	—	—	—
October 27, 2013	Hamburg	Germany	O2 World	Timbaland	8,960 / 12,286	$737,820
October 28, 2013	Cologne		Lanxess Arena	—	—	—
October 29, 2013	Amsterdam	Netherlands	Ziggo Dome	—	—	—
North America[11][16][18]
November 30, 2013	Saint Paul	United States	Xcel Energy Center	—	—	—
December 1, 2013	Lincoln		Pinnacle Bank Arena	—	—	—
December 2, 2013	Denver		Pepsi Center	—	—	—
December 6, 2013	Anahein		Honda Center	—	—	—
December 7, 2013	San Diego		Valley View Casino Center	—	—	—
December 9, 2013	Los Angeles		Staples Center	N/A	13,380 / 13,380	$1,351,069
December 10, 2013	Fresno		Save Mart Center		6,735 / 9,627	$470,710
December 11, 2013	San Jose		SAP Center at San Jose	—	—	—
December 13, 2013	Las Vegas		Mandalay Bay Events Center	—	—	—
December 14, 2013
December 18, 2013	Oklahoma City		Chesapeake Energy Arena	—	—	—
December 19, 2013	Houston		Toyota Center	—	—	—
December 20, 2013	San Antonio		AT&T Center	—	—	—
December 21, 2013	Dallas		American Airlines Center	Timbaland	11,713 / 12,808	$966,269
December 27, 2013	Atlanta		Philips Arena	N/A	14,533 / 14,533	$1,207,942
December 28, 2013	Birmingham		BJCC Arena	—	—	—
January 2, 2014	Sunrise		BB&T Center	—	—	—
January 4, 2014	Charlotte		Time Warner Cable Arena	—	—	—
January 5, 2014	Greensboro		Greensboro Coliseum	—	—	—
January 8, 2014	Cleveland		Quicken Loans Arena	—	—	—
January 9, 2014	Chicago		United Center	—	—	—
January 10, 2014	Auburn Hills		The Palace of Auburn Hills	N/A	9,536 / 12,132	$590,525
January 12, 2014	Brooklyn		Barclays Center		26,079 / 26,079	$3,158,563
January 13, 2014
January 16, 2014	Washington, D.C.		Verizon Center		12,207 / 12,774	$1,259,563
January 17, 2014	Uncasville		Mohegan Sun Arena		6,133 / 6,441	$880,727
January 18, 2014	Boston		TD Garden	—	—	—
January 19, 2014	Uniondale		Nassau Coliseum	N/A	8,402 / 11,000	$673,304
January 21, 2014	Pittsburgh		CONSOL Energy Center	—	—	—
January 22, 2014	Newark		Prudential Center	N/A	9,914 / 9,914	$773,131
January 24, 2014	Montreal	Canada	Bell Centre		11,282 / 11,282	$1,007,060
January 27, 2014	Toronto		Air Canada Centre		14,149 / 14,149	$1,309,200
January 29, 2014	Philadelphia	United States	Wells Fargo Center		13,266 / 13,266	$1,104,466
January 30, 2014	Buffalo		First Niagara Center	—	—	—
January 31, 2014	State College		Bryce Jordan Center	—	—	—
Total					252,246 / 281,554	$10.8

Additional notes

• During the opening night of the tour in Manchester, Jay Z forgot and messed up the lyrics to "No Church in the Wild". A video of the incident received more than 60,000 views on YouTube and was reported by numerous online blogs and news sites.^[19]
• At the second and thirds shows in London on October 11 and 12, 2013, Coldplay front-man Chris Martin joined Jay Z on stage during the show. They went on to perform Jay Z's song off of his 2001 album "The Blueprint", "Ain't No Love (In The Heart Of The City)" together.^[20]
• Jay Z, Chris Martin and Timbaland all took the London Underground from Waterloo tube station to the O2 Arena, where Jay Z would perform his 3rd consecutive show in London on October 12, 2013.^[21]
• On November 1 Jay-Z & Timbaland performed at the F1 Grand Prix After-Race concert in Abu Dhabi on Yas Island's du Arena. The set list was the same as his European shows, though this wasn't part of the tour. There was a power-cut in the middle of the show, where Timbaland beat-boxed to improvise for the 37,000 fans.^[22]
• On January 2, 2014 Jay Z brought out Rick Ross in concert in Sunrise, Florida.

References

1. http://www.billboard.com/articles/list/5930326/music-s-top-40-money-makers-2014-the-rich-list?list_page=1
2. Baker, Soren (July 15, 2013). "Jay-Z Announces "Magna Carta" European Tour". Hip Hop DX. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
3. "Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake Announce 'Legends of the Summer' Tour Dates". Rap-Up. Devine Lazerine. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
4. Fitzpatrick, Katie (October 4, 2013). "Review: Jay Z @ Phones 4U Arena". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
5. Hasted, Nick (October 4, 2013). "Gig review: Jay Z, Magna Carter World Tour". The Independent. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
6. Power, Ed (October 8, 2013). "Jay-Z, O2 Dublin, review". The Telegraph. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
7. Britt, Hannah (October 11, 2013). "Gig review: Jay Z, O2 Arena, London". The Daily Express. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
8. Adejobi, Alicia (October 11, 2013). "LIVE REVIEW: Jay Z – London's O2 Arena". Entertainment Wise. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
9. "JAY Z ADDS EXTRA UK DATES TO THE ‘MAGNA CARTER WORLD TOUR’". Live Nation. Press Party. July 19, 2013. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
10. • Robertson, James (July 19, 2013). "Jay Z tickets Magna Carta UK tour sold-out in SECONDS! Rapper adds extra dates". Mirror. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
    • Rawle, Tom (July 19, 2013). "Jay Z's Magna Carta tour sells out in seconds". The Daily Star. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
11. "JAY Z Announces "Magna Carter World Tour" North American Dates". Roc Nation. September 6, 2013. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
12. "JAY Z - Magna Carter World Tour". The O2. Live Nation UK. August 9, 2013. Archived from the original on August 16, 2013. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
13. "Timbaland to join Jay Z's Magna Carter world tour in UK". Newsbeat. BBC. September 19, 2013. Retrieved October 3, 2013.
14. Robertson, James (October 11, 2013). "Jay Z live review, London O2 Arena: 8 things I learned from the rapper's tour". Mirror. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
15. "Jay-Z Announces UK Arena Tour Dates". MTV. July 16, 2013. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
16. "Jay Z tour dates". Pollstar. September 6, 2013. Archived from the original on September 8, 2013. Retrieved September 7, 2013.
17. Box score:
    • "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard (New York City, New York: Prometheus Global Media). November 13, 2013. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on November 13, 2013. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
    • "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard (New York City, New York: Prometheus Global Media). November 20, 2013. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on November 20, 2013. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
    • "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard (New York City, New York: Prometheus Global Media). February 22, 2014. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on February 12, 2014. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
18. Box score:
    • "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard (New York City, New York: Prometheus Global Media). November 12, 2013. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on November 12, 2013. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
    • "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard (New York City, New York: Prometheus Global Media). January 29, 2014. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on January 29, 2014. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
    • "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard (New York City, New York: Prometheus Global Media). February 16, 2014. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on February 6, 2014. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
    • "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard (New York City, New York: Prometheus Global Media). March 9, 2014. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on February 27, 2014. Retrieved February 27, 2014.
    • "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard (New York City, New York: Prometheus Global Media). April 12, 2014. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on April 2, 2014. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
    • "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard (New York City, New York: Prometheus Global Media). June 4, 2014. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on June 4, 2014. Retrieved June 4, 2014.
    • "Billboard Boxscore :: Current Scores". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. June 11, 2014. Archived from the original on June 11, 2014. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
    • "Billboard Boxscore :: Current Scores". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. June 18, 2014. Archived from the original on June 18, 2014. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
    • "Billboard Boxscore :: Current Scores". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. November 19, 2014. Archived from the original on November 20, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
19. "Oops: Jay Z Forgets Lyrics to ‘No Church in the Wild’ (Watch)". eurweb. eurpublisher. October 7, 2013. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
20. Baggs, Michael (October 12, 2013). "Video: Coldplay's Chris Martin joins Jay Z on stage at London's O2". Gigwise. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
21. Bitchie, Nicole (October 12, 2013). "Jay Z Takes The Tube To London’s 02 Arena [Plus Debuts Made In America Documentary]". Necole Bitchie. Retrieved October 13, 2013.
22. Nihal, Mariam (November 5, 2013). "Abu Dhabi's got 99 problems, but Jay Z wasn't one of them!". albawaba.com. Syndi Gate. Retrieved February 6, 2014.