The Onyx Hotel Tour

The Onyx Hotel Tour
Dates : 2 March 2004 - 6 June 2004
Shows : 54
Opening Acts : Kelis, Skye Sweetnam , JC Chasez, Wicked Wisdom


The Onyx Hotel Tour was Britney Spears’ tour in support of her fourth #1 album In the Zone.

Before the tour even began Spears made surprise appearances in New York (Being featured on MTV) First she went to Splash bar, and then she went to Avalon, this was in November 2003.

Beginning in San Diego, California on March 2, 2004, the tour featured futuristic postmodern architecture supposedly inspired by Tokyo. The show didn't feature as much lavish routines as her last tour in favor of a more intimate setting. The tour was canceled after the second leg due to Spears' knee injury on the set of her "Outrageous" music video. Immediately after what was supposed to be her last show, Spears married Kevin Federline. The tour grossed $48.7 million in the first two legs. Spears would have grossed an additional $30 million if she continued onto the third leg. Spears' tour merchandise grossed over $30 million in sales, breaking records for the most grossed in tour merchandise by a female performer.

Performances Controversies

The 2004 Onyx Hotel Tour brought new criticism for Spears, for in certain routines she and her dancers were seemingly nude and performing explicit routines simulating sex, orgies, and masturbation during "Touch of My Hand" (picture left) and "Breathe on Me". During the performance of "Touch of My Hand", Spears emerged onstage in a white robe, then after the second verse, removed it, revealing a tight flesh-colored suit covered in crystals (an obvious homage to her diamond-encrusted nude body in her "Toxic" video). At her Toronto performance in April of 2004, her music equipment malfunctioned on two occasions. Britney continued to sing as if nothing was happening.

The Show

While Britney's 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 also played piano briefly during her fan-favorite ballad "Everytime".

Britney 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.

The March 28 show in Miami was filmed for a special that aired on Showtime and attracted huge ratings. The show was rerun several times that year and still drew significantly large numbers.Unlike Spears' previous televised concerts, this show has not been released to DVD.

During the show in Moline, Illinois (18 March 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 leg of the tour, which would have been a second North American trek, as well as Asia and Australia, was canceled because of the injury resulting from a fall on the set of Britney's video shoot for "Outrageous" in Queens, NY. 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.

Opening acts were Skye Sweetnam in the US and Europe, Kelis in the US and the final show in Dublin, JC Chasez in Europe, and Wicked Wisdom in Europe, and Toronto based rock/reggae band Dodger filling in for five dates that Kelis canceled due to illness.

Set List

01.  Video Introduction : The Onyx Hotel Intro
02. Toxic
03. Overprotected
04. Boys
05. Showdown
06. Video Interlude: Mystic Lounge
07. ...Baby One More Time
08. Oops!...I Did It Again
09. (You Drive Me) Crazy
10. Video Interlude: Mystic Garden
11. Everytime
12. The Hook Up
13. I'm A Slave 4u
14. Video Interlude: The Onyx Zone
15. Shadow
16. Video Interlude: Hotel Security Cameras
17. Touch Of My Hand
18. Breathe On Me
19. Outrageous
20. Drunken MC Interlude
21. (I Got That) Boom Boom
22. Me Against The Music

Tour Dates

U.S.A. Tour :
Date - City, State
March, 2 2004 - San Diego, California
March, 3 2004  - Glendale, Arizona
March, 5 2004  - Fresno, California
March, 8 2004  - Los Angeles, California
March, 9 2004  - Oakland, California
March, 11 2004  - Portland, Oregon
March, 12 2004  - Seattle, Washington
March, 15 2004  - Denver, Colorado
March, 17 2004  - Omaha, Nebraska
March, 18 2004  - Moline, Illinois
March, 23 2004  - Atlanta, Georgia
March, 24 2004  - Columbia, South Carolina
March, 25 2004  - Jaksonville, Florida
March, 28 2004  - Miami, Florida
March, 29 2004  - Orlando, Florida
March, 31 2004  - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
April, 1 2004 -  Cleveland, Ohio
April, 8 2004 -  Providence, Rhode Island
April, 9 2004 -  Treton, New Jersey
April, 10 2004 -  East Rutherford, New Jersey
April, 13 2004 -  Rosemont, Illinois
April, 14 2004 -  Auburn Hills, Michigan

Canada Tour :
Date - City, State
April, 3 2004 - Toronto, Ontario
April, 6 2004 - Montreal, Quebec

Europe Tour :
Date - City, Country
April, 26 2004 -  London, U.K.
April, 27 2004 -  London, U.K.
April, 29 2004 -  Glasgow, U.K.
April, 30 2004 -  Glasgow, U.K.
May,1 2004 - Manchester, U.K.
May,3 2004 - London, U.K.
May,4 2004 - London, U.K.
May,5 2004 - Birmingham, U.K.
May,7 2004 - Rotterdam, The Netherlands
May,9 2004 - Copenhagen, Denmark
May,10 2004 - Orlo, Norway
May,11 2004 - Stockholm, Sweden
May,14 2004 - Frankfurt, Germany
May,15 2004 - Hamburg, Germany
May,16 2004 - Berlin, Germany
May,18 2004 - Lyon, France
May,19 2004 - Milan, Italy
May,20 2004 - Zurich, Switzerland
May,22 2004 - Vienna, Austria
May,23 2004 - Budapest, Hungary
May,25 2004 - Munich, Germany
May,28 2004 - Oberhausen, Germany
May,29 2004 - Ghent, Belgium
May,30 2004 - Paris, France
June,1 2004 - Belfast, U.K.
June,2 2004 - Dublin, Ireland
June,3 2004 - Dublin, Ireland
June,5 2004 - Lisbon, Portugal
June,6 2004 - Dublin, Ireland


Canceled Tour Dates :
Date - City, Country

Asia Tour Canceled Dates :
August,22 2004 - Shanghai, China
August,23 2004 - Shanghai, China
September,1 2004 - Bangkok, Thailand
September,2 2004 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Oceania Tour Canceled Dates :
September,9 2004 - Brisbane, Australia
September,10 2004 - Brisbane, Australia
September,12 2004 - Sydney, Australia
September,13 2004 - Sydney, Australia
September,14 2004 - Sydney, Australia
September,17 2004 - Melbourne, Australia
September,18 2004 - Melbourne, Australia
September,20 2004 - Melbourne, Australia
September,22 2004 - Adelaide, Australia
September,23 2004 - Adelaide, Australia
September,26 2004 - Perth, Australia
September,27 2004 - Perth, Australia

Latin America Tour Canceled Dates :
No Dates were scheduled in Latin America, Rumors it would be scheduled after the Australia shows, But since it was cancelled due to injury, No latin america dates were scheduled.