MasterCard Priceless Surprises Presents Gwen Stefani

MasterCard Priceless Surprises Presents Gwen Stefani
Concert by Gwen Stefani

A black background containing MasterCard's logo and white text displaying "Gwen Stefani"

Promotional banner for the concert
Associated album This Is What the Truth Feels Like
Start date February 7, 2015
End date March 16, 2016
Duration 90 minutes
Legs 2
No. of shows 2 in North America
1 in Asia
3 Total
Gwen Stefani concert chronology

MasterCard Priceless Surprises Presents Gwen Stefani is a promotional concert tour by American singer and songwriter Gwen Stefani. This became Stefani's first tour since 2007's The Sweet Escape Tour; however, tickets available for the tour were only accessible by MasterCard holders. Stefani's recent partnership with MasterCard allowed her to create a concert experience for her fans in a more intimate setting, as she did not perform in large concert venues. The shows contained material from all three of Stefani's studio albums, but was used mainly to promote her latest release, This Is What the Truth Feels Like (2016).

Each show contained a different set list, so each concert was individual and personalized. Stefani premiered several of her songs during these shows, including "Start a War" at the February 7, 2015 concert, "Used to Love You" at the October 17, 2015 concert, and "Misery" at the March 16, 2016 concert. All three shows were sold-out within hours of the tickets being available for purchase; Stefani performed to nearly 6,700 fans during the tour.

Background

Orpheum Theatre, the location of the opening show in Los Angeles

Stefani initially announced the tour alongside a partnership with MasterCard on December 8, 2014; the partnership enabled MasterCard holders to win several different prizes, including handbags, golf getaways, and concert tickets to see Stefani perform live.[1] The collaboration began with a 30-second television commercial announcing the partnership and debuting Stefani's single, "Spark the Fire". In an interview with MasterCard regarding the concert series, Stefani said "I'm excited to be part of a collaboration that offers me the opportunity to connect and engage with fans through amazing surprises when they least expect it," further stating that "I look forward to working with them to bring something truly unique to fans.”[2]

The February 7th show opened doors to the public at 7:00 pm, but the concert itself did not start until 8:00 pm.[3] Each attendee could purchase a maximum of two tickets, exclusively through Ticketmaster; the starting price for a ticket was $79. The New York City concert was announced on September 15, 2015, and was billed as a "special" event by MasterCard and Stefani herself.[4] The show was again, only available to MasterCard holders and became sold-out quickly after tickets were made available for purchase.[5]

After the second show was completed, it was originally thought that the concert series was over; however, MasterCard announced on February 8, 2016 that Stefani planned to perform one last show in Japan at the Zepp Diver City event center.[6] At the same venue, Stefani premiered her promotional single, "Misery" to her fans as "a special surprise".[7]

Synopsis

Zepp Diver City, the location of the final show in Tokyo

For the Los Angeles performance, Stefani opened the show with "Spark the Fire", her then-latest single.[8] Immediately after performing a medley of "Harajuku Girls", "Yummy", "Don't Get It Twisted", "Now That You Got It", and "Bubble Pop Electric", Stefani debuted the third single from her then-untitled studio album, "Start a War"; however, the release of the single never occurred despite the performance.[8]

During the New York and Tokyo performances, the show was opened by a performance of Stefani's 2006 single, "Wind It Up";[9][10] Stefani wore "red plaid pants, a fishnet body stocking, a cropped black beaded top, and black combat boots", which continued into the performance of "Rich Girl".[7] During the performances of "Misery" and "Make Me Like You", Stefani wore "cropped red track pants and a red sequined cage top over a black bra" as the lyric video for "Misery" was displayed as the backdrop.[7] In between "4 in the Morning" and "Danger Zone", Stefani shouted "these songs are taking on new meaning[s]!", referencing her recent divorce from singer Gavin Rossdale.[11] At the Hammerstein Ballroom show, Stefani debuted her single "Used to Love You", along with the music video which was played during the background.[12] The performance was deemed as "emotional" by several critics.[13] The night ended with an encore performance of "Hollaback Girl" and "The Sweet Escape".[14]

Critical reception

After all three of Stefani's sold-out shows, the concert series received favorable reviews from critics. In his review of the New York City show, Andrew Hampp of Billboard praised Stefani for bringing "an arena-level production to an intimate theater."[8] Jeffery Slonim, writing for Gotham, similarly enjoyed the performance for being "personal" and particularly favored her track premiere of "Used to Love You" during the event.[15] Milos Balac of The Huffington Post was also impressed, claiming that the tour would "cement [Stefani's] status as of one of pop's reigning acts."[11] A reviewer from Hidden Jams Music stated that the New York performance allowed Stefani to prove herself and predicted that "Used to Love You" would be "all over [the] radio soon."[16]

Set list

Sources:[9][10]

Shows

List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue and attendance
Date City Country Venue Attendance
North America[3][17]
February 7, 2015 Los Angeles United States Orpheum Theatre 2,000 / 2,000
October 17, 2015 New York City Hammerstein Ballroom 2,200 / 2,200
Asia
March 16, 2016 Tokyo Japan Zepp Diver City 2,473 / 2,473
Total 6,673 / 6,673

References

  1. ↑ Ely, Sarah (8 December 2014). "MasterCard and Gwen Stefani Join Forces to Surprise Cardholders". MasterCard. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  2. ↑ "MasterCard Airs New 'Priceless Surprises' Apple Pay Ad Featuring Gwen Stefani [Video]". Clarified. 8 December 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  3. 1 2 Kuchik, Natalie (28 January 2015). "Gwen Stefani is playing a Grammy weekend date at The Orpheum Theatre". Axs. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  4. ↑ Maslow, Nick (15 September 2015). "Gwen Stefani Set to Perform Special Concert in N.Y.C.". People Magazine. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  5. ↑ Ely, Sarah (15 September 2015). "Gwen Stefani Heads to New York City for an Exclusive MasterCard Performance". MasterCard. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  6. ↑ "International Pop Icon Gwen Stefani Announces Exclusive Performance in Tokyo for MasterCard Priceless Japan". MasterCard. 8 February 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 Wetherille, Kelly (16 March 2016). "Gwen Stefani Rocks Out in Tokyo". WWD. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  8. 1 2 3 Hampp, Andrew (8 February 2015). "Gwen Stefani Plays First Solo Show in Six Years at L.A.'s Orpheum Theatre". Billboard. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  9. 1 2 "2015". Beacon Street Online. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  10. 1 2 "2016". Beacon Street Online. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  11. 1 2 Balac, Milos (18 October 2015). "Gwen Stefani Debuts Breakup Song Following Split From Gavin Rossdale". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  12. ↑ Golding, Shenequa. "Gwen Stefani Lights Up The Stage At The Hammerstein Ballroom". Vibe. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  13. ↑ "Gwen Stefani Performs an Emotional Ballad; New Single for Gavin Rossdale? [Watch]". Realty Today. 19 October 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  14. ↑ Romano, Nick (18 October 2015). "Gwen Stefani debuts new song, 'Used to Love You,' at New York concert". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  15. ↑ Slonim, Jeffrey (19 October 2015). "Seen & Heard: Gwen Stefani's Personal Song; Carey Mulligan's Hopes for Her Baby Daughter". Gotham. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  16. ↑ "Live Performances". Hidden Jams Music. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  17. ↑ "Mastercard Presents Gwen Stefani". Manhattan Center. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
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