The People vs. Money Tour was a 2008 concert tour by M.I.A. in support of her studio album Kala. Concerts also featured songs from her debut album Arular. It began on 26 April 2008 and ended on 13 June in Manchester, Tennessee. The tour featured dates in Central America, the US and Canada. Her 2008 dates began with two performances at the MX Beat festival in Monterrey, Mexico in March, following the end of her Kala Tour. M.I.A. later cancelled the European dates of the tour, which ended at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee on 13 June 2008.[1][2]

People vs. Money Tour
Tour by M.I.A.
M.I.A. performing at Bonnaroo festival, 2008
Associated albumKala (2007)
Start date1 March 2008
End date13 June 2008
Legs1
No. of shows2 in Mexico
27 in United States
29 in total
M.I.A. concert chronology

Tour details

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The 2008 tour was announced by M.I.A. in April 2008 via her Myspace and official website.[3] A continuation of the Kala Tour, dates included concerts at music festivals, universities and club venues. The set consisted of M.I.A., backup singer Cherry, DJs Low Budget and in other concerts Million Dollar Mano, dancers and supporting vocalists. M.I.A.'s DJs also perform opening sets before her shows. She met backup dancer Cisko after viewing videos of his dances on YouTube.

Holy Fuck opened for M.I.A. from 26 April – 12 May 2008.[4] Egyptian Lover supported M.I.A. on a few dates during the tour, as well as Rye Rye who, along with MGMT, opened for M.I.A. on 11 April 2008.[5][6]

Continuing with a similar set to her KALA Tour concerts during 2007, M.I.A. selects programming, beats and videos using a Lemur Input Device.[7] A panoramic back screen features film footage of Koichi Toyama's speech, break-dancing street kids, strippers, tigers, war, video games, political rhetoric, graphs, globes, laughing women, animated graphics of M.I.A. performing and large concert crowds from her previous shows, images of her artwork and holographic patterns.

Shows

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M.I.A.'s McCarren Park concert in June 2008

The setlist featured songs from both her studio albums Arular (2005) and Kala (2007), although M.I.A. did not perform the same setlist at every concert. The set often began with Kala's opening track, "Bamboo Banga."[8] M.I.A. performed at the final date of the 2008 MX Beat festival in Toluca.[9] Prior to her Coachella festival appearance in April 2008, M.I.A. filmed from her New York apartment window and posted on YouTube an incident involving a black man being apprehended by white police officers, which elicited commentary debating the force used for the arrest.[10] At the show, she sang a segment from The Verve's "The Drugs Don't Work", changing the lyrics to "The cops don't work, they make things worse, but I know I'll see your face again,"[11] after police tried to shut the set down. Stating "They were on the backside of the stage and they were trying to shut me down...I was really thinking about the situation in New York", referencing the Sean Bell shooting incident, she felt "getting people to be interactive makes me feel more and more connected to my fans."[12]

In May 2008, she stated in an interview "I figured I might as well do a few more shows in America before I may not be allowed back in or ever get a chance to come back again – It's nice to tour around America and do every gig like it's your last gig."[13]

M.I.A. performed additional dates during her tour. On 3 May 2008 she performed at the JazzFest in New Orleans, U.S.,[14] and at an afterparty for the MTV Movie Awards in West Hollywood, California, U.S. on 1 June 2008. At the show, Arulpragasam pledged, with the money she earned from the gig, to build new schools in Liberia, telling the crowd "It costs $52,000 to build a school in Liberia for 1000".[15][16] Updates on the building progress have been posted on her MySpace blog.[17] She also performed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, U.S. in June 2008, during which Mos Def performed with her onstage. Other performers there included past tour mates LCD Soundsystem. Proceeds from the event were donated towards benefitting the museum's general operating fund.[18][19][20] Arulpragasam announced her engagement at her Edmonton Events Centre concert in Canada.[21] Curating his first ever New American Music Union in August 2008, Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers described in an interview in May being very keen on Arulpragasam playing at the US festival, remarking "I think she's a rocking live performer. She wanted to play, she was very into it" but that she cancelled as she was getting married.[22]

Kat Bjelland, Kim Gordon and Susan Sarandon were among concert attendees.

Clothes

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Clothes worn during this tour were inspired by prints and artwork Arulpragasam created for her websites, her album cover for Kala and songs such as "Bird Flu", and were taken from her clothing line.[23][24] In 2008, she launched a limited edition fashion line held to reflect her personal style.[25][26] The limited edition "KALA Tour/Okley Run" line included Mexican and Afrika jackets and leggings, Islamic hoodies as well as tour-inspired designs including "People Vs. Money Tour Tees" and "KALA Tour Tees". In some concerts, she wore T-shirts imprinted with images of artists such as Ian Curtis.[5] Short-shorts, head bandannas, neon, retro stripes and sequin-clad attendees populated her Aragon ballroom performance in Chicago, with Althea Legaspi of the Chicago Tribune noting that "If her fans' clothing is any indication, M.I.A.'s cultural influence – with her flair for outrageous fashion – may be growing beyond her music. Fortunately, Friday's performance showed her showmanship has improved along with her popularity."[27]

Set list

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Below is the set list of Arulpragasam's concert at the Maplewood Myth. Throughout the People Vs. Money Tour, she played various combinations of these songs.

  • "Video Introduction"
  • "Bamboo Banga"
  • "World Town"
  • "XR2"
  • "Pull Up the People"
  • "Sunshowers"
  • "20 Dollar"

All Girls Went Up on Stage

All Boys Went Up on Stage

Encore

  • "Birdflu"
  • "Paper Planes"
  • "Amazon", "U.R.A.Q.T." and "Banana Skit" were performed at select shows.

Tour dates

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Date City Country Venue
March 1, 2008[a] Monterrey Mexico Deportivo Bancario
March 8, 2008[b] Toluca Centro Dinámico Pegaso
April 10, 2008 South Hadley United States Mount Holyoke College[28]
April 11, 2008 Poughkeepsie Vassar College[29]
April 12, 2008 Providence Brown University[30]
April 26, 2008[c] Indio Empire Polo Club
April 28, 2008 San Diego 4th & B
May 1, 2008 Austin La Zona Rosa
May 2, 2008 Dallas South Side Ballroom
May 5, 2008 Nashville City Hall
May 8, 2008 Detroit Fillmore Detroit
May 9, 2008 Chicago Aragon Ballroom
May 12, 2008 Milwaukee Turner Hall
May 13, 2008 Maplewood Myth
May 14, 2008 Lawrence Liberty Hall
May 17, 2008 Denver, Colorado Fillmore Auditorium
May 18, 2008 Salt Lake City The Depot
May 21, 2008 San Francisco Music Concourse
May 23, 2008 Portland Roseland Theater
May 24, 2008[d] Gorge The Gorge Amphitheatre
May 25, 2008 Vancouver Canada PNE Forum
May 27, 2008 Edmonton Edmonton Events Centre
May 28, 2008 Calgary MacEwan Hall
May 30, 2008 Winnipeg Burton Cummings Theatre
June 2, 2008 Toronto Sound Academy
June 3, 2008 Montreal Metropolis
June 5, 2008 Philadelphia United States Philadelphia Armory
June 6, 2008 New York City McCarren Pool
June 13, 2008[e] Manchester Great Stage Park

Cancelled dates

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Date City Country Venue
Europe
21 June 2008 Barcelona Spain Sonar by Night Festival
24 June 2008 Arendal Norway Hove Festival
27 June 2008 Dublin Ireland RedBox
1 July 2008 London United Kingdom The Roundhouse
4 July 2008 Roskilde Denmark Roskilde Festival
5 July 2008 Arvika Sweden Arvika Festival
6 July 2008 Gdynia Poland Heiniken Open'er Festival
8 July 2008 Montreux Switzerland Montreux Jazz Festival
10 July 2008 Novi Sad Serbia Exit Festival
11 July 2008 Leipzig Germany Splash! Festival
12 July 2008 Liège Belgium Les Ardentes
16 July 2008 Porto Portugal Casa da Música
19 July 2008 Madrid Spain Summercase
20 July 2008 Southwold United Kingdom Latitude Festival

Notes

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  1. ^ This concert is a part of MX Beat Soundfest.
  2. ^ This concert is a part of MX Beat Soundfest.
  3. ^ This concert is a part of Coachella.
  4. ^ This concert is a part of Sasquatch! Music Festival.
  5. ^ This concert is a part of Bonnaroo Music Festival.

References

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  1. ^ "M.I.A. info – June 2008 entry". MIAUK – M.I.A. Official Website. Archived from the original on 2009-01-30. Retrieved 2008-06-06.
  2. ^ "Potent Quotables:M.I.A. to go MIA". Spinner.com. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
  3. ^ "M.I.A. – New Tour dates". MIAUK – M.I.A. Official Website. Archived from the original on 2008-05-12. Retrieved 2008-06-06.
  4. ^ "MIA and Holy Fuck hit the road together". NME. 2008-05-27. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
  5. ^ a b Murphy, Tom (2008-05-19). "Over the Weekend...M.I.A., the Egyptian Love, and Low B at The Fillmore". Westword. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
  6. ^ Reeves, Jackson (2008-04-10). "M.I.A.-ViCE, students prep for year's biggest concert". The Miscellany News. Vassar College. Archived from the original on 2008-12-11. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
  7. ^ "M.I.A. travels the world on the back of a Lemur..." Dolphin Music. 2008-06-13. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
  8. ^ Tyler, Theresa (2008-05-28). "Concert Review:MacEwan Hall, Calgary". Jam! Canoe. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved 2008-08-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  9. ^ Hernandez, David (2008-03-10). "Bodies moving at MX Beat". LA Weekly blogs. Archived from the original on 2008-12-01. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
  10. ^ Gajewski, Josh (2008-04-24). "M.I.A. can be found at Bed Stuy (and soon at Coachella)". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  11. ^ "MIA orchestrates mass stage invasion at Coachella". NME. 2008-04-27. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  12. ^ Baltin, Steve (2008-05-06). "Concert blog – M.I.A. Bashes Cops, References Sean Bell". Spinner.com. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  13. ^ Lindsay, Cam (2008-05-28). "M.I.A. To Move To Canada?". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on 2009-02-15. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
  14. ^ "Jazz Fest at Night". Allaboutjazz.com. 17 May 2008. Archived from the original on 16 February 2009. Retrieved 5 June 2008.
  15. ^ Wappler, Margaret (2008-06-02). "The Guide:Los Angeles Time Soundboard". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-07-18.
  16. ^ Baltin, Steve (2008-06-04). "M.I.A. Takes the Money....for Charity". Spinner.com. Retrieved 2008-07-18.
  17. ^ Arulpragasam, Mathangi "Maya". "M.I.A. MySpace". MySpace. Retrieved 2008-10-24.
  18. ^ O'Connell, Michael (2008-06-12). "BizBash New York – Rock Garden". BizBash. Archived from the original on 2008-12-04. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
  19. ^ "Moma.org – Party in the Garden honouring Donald B. Marron and Mike Nichols". MOMA.org. 2008-06-10. Archived from the original on 2008-07-31. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
  20. ^ "M.I.A. to build schools in Liberia". NME. 2008-04-27. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  21. ^ MacNeil, Jason (2008-05-31). "M.I.A. to W.E.D." edmontonsun.com. Archived from the original on 2008-06-03. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  22. ^ Anderson, Kyle (2008-05-19). "Q&A: Anthony Kiedis". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on May 25, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  23. ^ Roberts, Michael (2008-05-14). "Q&A with M.I.A." Westword.com. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
  24. ^ Sperounes, Sandra (2008-05-27). "More on M.I.A." Edmonton Journal. Archived from the original on 2008-05-31. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
  25. ^ Sung, Hannah (2007). "M.I.A. is back in action". AOL Music Canada. Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
  26. ^ "10 Deep's Women's Collection Resembles M.I.A.'s Style Aesthetic". Groove Efeect. 2007-08-06. Archived from the original on 2012-09-10. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
  27. ^ Legaspi, Althea (2008-05-12). "M.I.A. packs punch at Aragon ballroom". Chicago Tribune.
  28. ^ Gordon, Kim (2008-06-15). "Out of This World, Catchy or Good for Driving". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-07-06.
  29. ^ Reeves, Jackson (2008-04-10). "Exclusive Interview with M.I.A." The Miscellany News. Vassar College. Archived from the original on 2008-10-05. Retrieved 2008-07-06.
  30. ^ Sriskandarajah, Ike (April 2008). "Lady Lanka Comes Armed". The College Hill Independent – the Brown/RISD Weekly Arts Section. 26 (10). Archived from the original on 2008-07-15. Retrieved 2008-07-06.
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