The Onyx Hotel Tour is the fifth concert tour by American pop singer Britney Spears, to support her fourth studio album In the Zone. The show toured North America and Europe, and was set to return to North America along with Asia and Australia. The tour was canceled after the European leg due to Spears' knee injury on the set of her "Outrageous" music video. The tour grossed US $39 million due to the cancellation.

Background

By way of introduction, Spears stated:

Before the tour started Spears stated that she wanted the tour to have a more intimate feeling than her previous shows, Spears stated:

Spears can be found saying this in the special features of the In The Zone DVD.While Spears' last tour, Dream Within A Dream was Vegas-style theatrical, The Onyx Hotel Tour was more New York-style theatrical. This show was purposely less lavish than the previous tour and featured little pyrotechnics or other visual effects, as compared to Dream Within A Dream, apparently to make the show more intimate and focused more on the songs and dancing. However, Spears' production team spared no expense on the show's setup. They were reportedly inspired by the city of Tokyo, with its futuristic, postmodern architecture, and designed their stage based on it, with state-of-the-art video screens and set pieces. Most of the songs performed were from her then-current album, In the Zone, but a few of her earlier efforts did appear on the set list, in remixed form.

Spears had eight costume changes throughout the show, with various outfits ranging from a black catsuit during the show's opener to a pair of bikini underwear. The clothes came courtesy of several designers such as Roberto Cavalli and Dsquared, who also designed costumes for Dream Within a Dream Tour.

Notes

The tour brought new criticism for Spears, for in certain routines she and her dancers were seemingly nude and performing explicit routines simulating gay sex, orgies, and masturbation during "Touch of My Hand" and "Breathe on Me".

Injury and Cancellation

During the show in Moline, Illinois (March 18, 2004), Spears suffered a fall during "(I Got that) Boom Boom" and injured her knee, which caused the show to come to a halt without an encore. Spears went on stage and told the audience, "I hurt my leg really bad, sorry I cannot finish the show. But thank you, Moline". Shows in Chicago and Detroit were postponed to the end of the first leg of the tour. The show in Cleveland was postponed to the summer leg because of illness, and canceled altogether when the summer shows were scrapped.

The third, fourth, and fifth legs of the tour, which would have been a second North American trek, Asia and Australia, were canceled because of the injury resulting from a fall on the set of Britney's video shoot for "Outrageous" in Queens, New York. She underwent arthroscopic knee surgery at a New York hospital to remove floating cartilage. Spears would not perform onstage again until The M+Ms Tour in 2007.

Concert synopsis

The show begins with a skit where a hotel master welcomes spectators to the Onyx Hotel. After this, he takes an onyx stone and throws it into the video screens. Spears briefly appears in the screens, as her dancers descend to the stage. She enters on a mini type bus dressed in a black PVC catsuit, where she performs "Toxic". She descends to the stage for the breakdown and then performs "Overprotected". In "Boys" she dances around luggage carts. “Showdown” is the final song of the first act.

A video interlude follows featuring Spears and her friends leaving a club, but she notices a woman (Jada Pinkett Smith) dressed in 1930’s fashion. She follows her and the woman asks Spears to enter "The Mystic Lounge". Spears reappears dressed as a cabaret singer and performs a cabaret-inspired version of "…Baby One More Time". In "Oops!... I Did It Again" she is joined on stage by her background singers. Spears and her dancers perform " Crazy" she then introduces the members of her band, before leaving the stage for a costume change.

In the next section, there is a video interlude of Spears wearing a flowered-themed dress and entering "The Mystic Garden". As the video ends, she appears onstage sitting at a piano which is covered with flowers, she plays the piano as she sings "Everytime". Her dancers join her to perform "The Hook Up" and a jungle inspired mix of "I'm a Slave 4 U".

The show continues with another video interlude featuring a parody of paranormal-themed shows, "The Onyx Zone", with a man introducing "The Shadow Room", a place full of spirits and shadows. Spears reappears sitting on a swing where she sings "Shadow". During the performance, Spears is lifted into the air, while two acrobats dance around her. Spears leaves the stage while the dancers perform to a ballet interlude in flesh coloured costumes.

The next section begins with a video projection of two guards watching Spears in her room through security cameras. Spears appears on a smaller stage wearing a white robe and performs "Touch Of My Hand". During the performance, she takes the robe off to reveal a nude body suit with crystals that resembles her "Toxic" video outfit. She leaves the stage briefly to a wardrobe change and reappears on the mini platform where she descends to the main stage on a pole, wearing pink lingerie and performs "Breathe on Me" on a bed with her male dancer Leo. Later, they go center stage and French kiss. She then puts on a white trench coat and performs “Outrageous”, the last song of the act.

In the next act, Spears and her dancers wear street clothes and perform "(I Got That) Boom Boom". Spears then introduces the dancers, her band and her background singers. She then takes a bow and thanks the audience whilst leaving the stage singing "Sometimes", where she often replies "I haven't sang sometimes yet! Oh, I don't like that song anyways. Peace!"

The encore begins with a system malfunction where a female voice counts down as the screen sketches Britney's outline, which then rises to reveal Spears stood at the top of a staircase. After this, "Me Against the Music" begins and Spears appears on stage wearing a red ensemble which is similar to the black outfit used in the music video. Midway through the song it switches into the "Rishi Rich's Desi Kulcha Remix". The shows ends with Spears and her dancers on the staircase where the screen is lowered and Spears makes her exit.

Merchandise

Spears' cumulative concert merchandise sales total reached more than $30 million, according to Signatures Network Inc., a merchandising and licensing company that handles Spears products. The $30 million total is based on Spears tours since June 1999, including 1999's ...Baby One More Time tour, 2001's Oops ... I Did It Again tour and 2002's Dream Within a Dream tour as well as the first leg of her North American Onyx Hotel tour.

The Onyx Hotel Tour alone, which begun its European dates on April 26 in London, was expected to gross more than $10 million in merchandise revenue. In the 25 tour dates of the North American leg, Spears' merchandise sales averaged $150,000-$170,000 a night, reaching a high of $180,000 during the Los Angeles show on March 8, according to Dell Furano, CEO of Signatures Network Inc.

Signature claims Spears total is the highest for any solo female artist since Spears began touring. Spears' best-selling products include the pink Toxic baby-doll shirt, the Onyx Hotel fashion jersey and tour programs and posters. "I think part of it reflects her songs like 'Toxic and 'Outrageous,'" Furano said. "A lot of the merchandise picks up themes of the songs and of the show."

Opening acts

• Kelis (North America and Europe) (select venues)
• Skye Sweetnam (North America and Europe) (select venues)
• JC Chasez (Europe) (select venues)
• Wicked Wisdom (Europe) (select venues)
• Dodger (North America) (select venues)
• Eamon (North America) (was to open third leg)

Set list

Act 1 - Check-In

• "Toxic"
• "Overprotected" [The Darkchild Remix]
• "Boys" [The Co-Ed Remix] (contains the original version bridge)
• "Showdown"

Act 2 - Mystic Lounge

• "...Baby One More Time" (Cabaret Mix)
• "Oops! I Did It Again" (Jazz Mix)
• " Crazy"

Act 3 - Mystic Garden

• "Everytime"
• "The Hook Up"
• "I'm a Slave 4 U"

Act 4 - The Onyx Zone

• "Shadow"

Act 5 - Security Cameras

• "Touch of My Hand"
• "Breathe on Me"
• "Outrageous"

Act 6 - Club

• " Boom Boom"

Act 7 - Check-Out

• "Me against the Music" (Rishi Rich's Desi Kulcha Remix)

Tour dates

Date	City	Country	Venue
North America
March 2, 2004	San Diego	United States	iPayOne Center
March 3, 2004	Glendale		Jobing.com Arena
March 5, 2004	Fresno		Save Mart Center
March 6, 2004	Las Vegas		MGM Grand Garden Arena
March 8, 2004	Los Angeles		Staples Center
March 9, 2004	Oakland		Oakland Arena
March 11, 2004	Portland		Rose Garden Arena
March 12, 2004	Seattle		KeyArena
March 15, 2004	Denver		Pepsi Center
March 17, 2004	Omaha		Qwest Center Omaha
March 18, 2004	Moline		The MARK of the Quad Cities
March 23, 2004	Atlanta		Philips Arena
March 24, 2004	Columbia		Colonial Center
March 25, 2004	Jacksonville		Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena
March 28, 2004	Miami		American Airlines Arena
March 29, 2004	Orlando		TD Waterhouse Centre
March 31, 2004	Philadelphia		Wachovia Center
April 3, 2004	Toronto	Canada	Air Canada Centre
April 4, 2004	Montreal		Bell Centre
April 6, 2004	Manchester	United States	Verizon Wireless Arena
April 8, 2004	Providence		Dunkin' Donuts Center
April 9, 2004	Trenton		Sovereign Bank Arena
April 10, 2004	East Rutherford		Continental Airlines Arena
April 13, 2004	Chicago		Allstate Arena
April 14, 2004	Detroit		The Palace of Auburn Hills
Europe
April 26, 2004	London	England	Wembley Arena
April 27, 2004
April 29, 2004	Glasgow	Scotland	Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre
April 30, 2004
May 1, 2004	Manchester	England	Manchester Evening News Arena
May 3, 2004	London		Wembley Arena
May 4, 2004
May 5, 2004	Birmingham		National Indoor Arena
May 7, 2004	Rotterdam	Netherlands	The Ahoy
May 9, 2004	Copenhagen	Denmark	Forum Copenhagen
May 10, 2004	Oslo	Norway	Oslo Spektrum
May 11, 2004	Stockholm	Sweden	Stockholm Globe Arena
May 14, 2004	Frankfurt	Germany	Festhalle
May 15, 2004	Hamburg		Color Line Arena
May 16, 2004	Berlin		Velodrom
May 18, 2004	Lyon	France	Halle Tony Garnier
May 19, 2004	Milan	Italy	Fila Forum
May 20, 2004	Zurich	Switzerland	Hallenstadion
May 22, 2004	Vienna	Austria	Wiener Stadthalle
May 23, 2004	Budapest	Hungary	Budapest Sports Arena
May 25, 2004	Munich	Germany	Olympiahalle
May 28, 2004	Oberhausen		König Pilsener Arena
May 29, 2004	Ghent	Belgium	Flanders Sports Arena
May 30, 2004	Paris	France	Palais omnisports de Paris-Bercy
June 1, 2004	Belfast	Northern Ireland	Odyssey Arena
June 2, 2004	Dublin	Ireland	The Point
June 3, 2004
June 5, 2004	Lisbon	Portugal	Parque da Bela Vista
June 6, 2004	Dublin	Ireland	RDS Arena
North America (CANCELED)
June 22, 2004	Hartford	United States	Meadows Music Theatre
June 23, 2004	Mansfield		Tweeter Center
June 25, 2004	Scranton		Ford Pavilion at Montage Mountain
June 26, 2004	Darien		Darien Lake
June 27, 2004	Toronto	Canada	Molson Amphitheatre
June 29, 2004	Cleveland	United States	Gund Arena
June 30, 2004	Noblesville		Verizon Wireless Music Center
July 1, 2004	Milwaukee		Marcus Amphitheatre
July 3, 2004	Columbus		Germain Amphitheatre
July 4, 2004	Hershey		Hershey Park Stadium
July 8, 2004	Wantagh		Jones Beach Amphitheatre
July 9, 2004
July 10, 2004	Bristow		Nissan Pavilion
July 12, 2004	Philadelphia		Tweeter Center
July 13, 2004	Holmdel		PNC Bank Arts Center
July 14, 2004	Burgettstown		Post Gazette Pavilion
July 16, 2004	Minneapolis		Target Center
July 17, 2004	Tinley Park		Tweeter Center
July 19, 2004	Maryland Heights		UMB Bank Pavilion
July 20, 2004	Nashville		Starwood Amphitheatre
July 22, 2004	Raleigh		TWC Music Pavilion
July 23, 2004	Charlotte		Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
July 24, 2004	Virginia Beach		Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
July 27, 2004	West Palm Beach		Sound Advice Amphitheatre
July 28, 2004	Tampa		Tampa Bay Amphitheatre
July 30, 2004	New Orleans		New Orleans Arena
July 31, 2004	Houston		Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
August 2, 2004	Dallas		Smirnoff Music Centre
August 3, 2004	San Antonio		Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
August 5, 2004	Albuquerque		Journal Pavilion
August 7, 2004	Irvine		Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
August 8, 2004	Concord		Chronicle Pavilion
August 10, 2004	Marysville		Sleep Train Amphitheatre
August 11, 2004	Mountain View		Shoreline Amphitheatre
August 13, 2004	Chula Vista		Coors Amphitheatre
August 14, 2004	Las Vegas		MGM Grand Garden Arena
August 15, 2004	Bakersfield		Centennial Gardens
Asia (CANCELED)
September 1, 2004	Bangkok	Thailand	Impact Arena
September 2, 2004	Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia	Merdeka Stadium
September 4, 2004	Dubai	UAE	Dubai Media Center
Australia (CANCELED)
September 9, 2004	Brisbane	Australia	Brisbane Entertainment Centre
September 10, 2004	Sydney		Sydney Entertainment Centre
September 12, 2004	Melbourne		Rod Laver Arena
September 13, 2004	Adelaide		Adelaide Entertainment Centre
September 15, 2004	Perth		Burswood Dome

Box office score data

Venue	City	Tickets Sold / Available	Gross Revenue
iPayOne Center	San Diego	11,578 / 11,578 (100%)	$666,015
Glendale Arena	Glendale	13,143 / 13,718 (96%)	$786,473
Save Mart Center	Fresno	12,710 / 13,000 (98%)	$760,384
MGM Grand Arena	Las Vegas	13,297 / 13,297 (100%)	$1,075,105
Staples Center	Los Angeles	15,059 / 15,171 (99%)	$1,060,057
Oakland Arena	Oakland	11,659 / 11,659 (100%)	$823,963
Rose Garden Arena	Portland	7,781 / 11,562 (62%)	$509,675
KeyArena	Seattle	10,107 / 11,085 (91%)	$650,208
Pepsi Center	Denver	11,439 / 15,700 (73%)	$639,682
Qwest Center Omaha	Omaha	11,871 / 13,567 (87%)	$626,871
The MARK of the Quad Cities	Moline	8,697 / 10,463 (83%)	$516,694
Philips Arena	Atlanta	12,456 / 14,144 (88%)	$793,814
Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena	Jacksonville	11,227 / 11,227 (100%)	$704,961
American Airlines Arena	Miami	12,880 / 12,880 (100%)	$826,543
TD Waterhouse Centre	Orlando	10,189 / 10,189 (100%)	$658,295
Wachovia Center	Philiadelphia	15,400 / 15,400 (100%)	$1,002,316
Air Canada Centre	Toronto	15,469 / 16,143 (96%)	$993,010
Bell Centre	Montreal	12,942 / 12,942 (100%)	$857,003
Verison Wireless Arena	Manchester NH	9,141 / 9,270 (99%)	$602,643
Dunkin' Donuts Center	Providence	10,628 / 10,762 (99%)	$668,506
Sovereign Bank Arena	Trenton	7,411 / 7,411 (100%)	$528,784
Continental Airlines Arena	New Jersey	17,000 / 17,219 (99%)	$959,306
All State Arena	Chicago	13,383 / 14,882 (90%)	$866,678
The Palace of Auburn Hills	Detroit	13,059 / 13,998 (93%)	$730,045
Welbemy Arena	London	41,852 / 43,840 (95.5%)	$2,117,064
Stockholm Globe Arena	Stockholm	13,635 / 14,045 (97.1%)	$681,891
Halle Tony Garnier	Lyon	15,795 / 16,200 (97.5%)	$659,889
Budapest Sports Arena	Budapest	11,649 / 12,000 (97.1%)	$659,538
Palais omnisports de Paris-Bercy	Paris	16,448 / 16,500 (99.7%)	$803,558
The Point	Dublin	16,461 / 16,500 (99.8%)	$868.561
RDS Arena	Dublin	25,367 / 27,500 (92.2%)	$1,352,383

Critical response

Spears' tour generated mixed reviews.

• The New York Times: "The Onyx Hotel Tour was a great spectacle, but it was also one of the weakest concept shows since U2's PopMart tour. The staging highlight was Shadow, in which Ms. Spears was raised over the stage in a swing, sitting at the crest of an immense, M-shaped blue ribbon, with performers twirling in the fabric."
• The Seattle Times: "Last night's show was high on spectacle and low on substance, veering crazily from burlesque to fairy tale to peep show."
• The Las Vegas Review-Journal gave the show a D- and quotes: "B.S.'s new tour is an unfocused bore of false sexuality, horrible songs, trite choreography, unfocused themes and less ambition than a house cat that sits around licking itself all day."
• The San Francisco Chronicle: "The huge video displays, specially produced film segments, Cirque du Soleil touches, high-tech staging and grotesque master of ceremonies made Spears' "Onyx Hotel Tour" pure Vegas glitz and spectacle."

Broadcasts and recordings

Parts of the European Leg were chronicled in Britney and Kevin: Chaotic. The Rock in Rio Festival in Lisbon aired live on SIC Radical. Since the show was nestled between already scheduled dates in Dublin, Ireland, the full set was not built. Screens were mounted on the main stage and staircases were assembled resembling the original stage set up. Props such as "the bus" were used. "Oops!...I Did It Again" and "Touch of My Hand" were not performed due to time constraints. A DVD featuring the Rock in Rio concert was released by Showtime in Scandinavian countries on October 5, 2009.

The show at the American Airlines Arena was filmed for a special that aired on Showtime, entitled Britney Spears: Live From Miami - The Onyx Hotel Tour attracted huge ratings. The show was rerun several times that year and still drew significantly large numbers. The show at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena was filmed as a backup to the Miami show.

DVD Release

"Onyx Hotel - Live In Lisbon" was released in some countries on October 2009. The DVD includes all the songs on the setlist excluding only the performances of "Oops!..I did it Again" and "Touch of my Hand". Unusually for Spears the DVD was not released by Jive Records/Zomba Label Group but under the label Showtime. It is unknown if the DVD will be released in the United States.You can buy the onyx hotel tour DVD via ebay international seelers.

References