24K Magic World Tour

The 24K Magic World Tour was officially announced on November 15, 2016, with 85 dates across Europe and North America.[1] On November 22, 2016, 15 additional shows were added bringing the total to 100. At the time, Live Nation, who produced the tour, reported that over one million tickets for the tour were sold in a single day.[2] Promotional trailers and behind-the-scenes footage of the tour were released through Live Nation on various official YouTube channels as additional promotion for the tour in various markets including Germany and Hong Kong.[3][4][5]

Mars and Phil Tayag of the hip-hop dance crew Jabbawockeez choreographed the show.[6] LeRoy Bennett, the tour's producer and lighting designer, had first worked with Mars on the Moonshine Jungle Tour (2013-2014). Bennett noticed that Mars understands who he is as an artist and pays attention to detail. He feels this makes Mars stand out from other artists and it leads the "audience on a musical trip".[7]

According to Front of House (FOH) engineer Chris Rabold, Mars wanted the show to look like the biggest party you could throw. He had a say in every aspect of the show, including sound, lights, and pyrotechnics. Rabold complemented Mars' "work ethic and attention to detail". During the summer of 2016, the FOH engineer was asked if he wanted to begin rehearsals for Mars' 24K Magic World Tour in Los Angeles. Monitor engineer Ramon Morales also received a call asking if he was interested in mixing the monitors for Mars. Rabold and Morales rehearsed at Center Staging in Burbank with the band alone. They then moved into Rock Lititz rehearsal facility, where they rehearsed the full production for a couple of weeks. According to Morales, practicing at Rock Lititz was beneficial as it was his first time using equipment made by Clair Global who were the tour's official audio provider.[8]

On May 2, 2017, Mars partnered with Heineken to help with their "Cities Project" by offering tickets for shows in select cities on the U.S. leg of his tour. To access these tickets, fans had to select a project to support on the Indiegogo crowdfunding platform, which had been identified by Heineken and the National Trust for Historic Preservation for their potential to improve the city where they were located. In return for a $150 donation, fans could obtain tickets. Mars stated, "I really like what The Heineken Cities Project is doing around the country, and they've put a big emphasis on my home state of Hawaii, so I was happy to support them and Indiegogo through my tour".[9] Later, the South American leg was sponsored by Banco do Brasil and Budweiser, with Hospital Sancta Maggiore as the official supplier.[3] Pepsi was the official soft drink partner during the Asian leg of the tour in China, Bangkok, the Philippines, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. [10]

During an interview with the Evening Standard Mars said "as long as we have our instruments and our mics, my band is able to kill anywhere", they will always perform at the top of their game whether it is a cafeteria, a party, a residency in Vegas or at the O2. He also confessed the band's routine before starting a show is playing video games and offering a prayer where Mars asks: "Keep the audience safe, keep us safe, and give us the strength to give these people a night they'll never forget."[11]

Mars and The Hooligans during the 24K Magic World Tour in Bogotá, Colombia in 2017.

Shows during the first leg of the tour in Europe opened with Anderson Paak performing his songs.[16] Paak drummed and sang simultaneously.[17] The shows in North America had either Camila Cabello, Dua Lipa or Jorja Smith as the opening act, except for the first two shows, which featured Jabbawockeez.[18] On November 18, 2017, the Latin America leg of the tour began with DNCE as the opening act and ended with Bebe Rexha and Nick Jonas as supporting acts.[19][20] All the concerts in Oceania were set to be opened by Lipa.[21] However, she had to cancel four shows due to dental issues.[22] She was replaced by DJ Leggo My Fueggo. During the second European and North American legs of the tour Mars had several opening acts, including DJ Rashida at every show. Charlie Wilson, Ciara and Boyz II Men, among others, appeared at select shows[23][24][25] replacing Cardi B on the North American leg as she wanted to spend more time with her newborn baby.[26] A giant black curtain decorated with a crown rose at the front of the stage to reveal his band, The Hooligans, before they began to play.[27] Words appeared on side screens, asking if everyone was ready to "get hot and sweaty" as Mars and The Hooligans had come "all this way to turn you on".[28][29]

"Finesse" opened the set with changing colorful pulsing tower panels used in the background.[28][30] During the performance of the follow-up song, "24K Magic", which led to the audience cheering and dancing, the tower panels changed colors and fireworks could be seen and heard.[28][31] At this point, Mars would take a moment to shout, "We have been waiting a long time to come back ... We gonna have some fun tonight!". He and his band kept the dancing going with the disco-funk "Treasure" and "Perm".[28][30][32] During "Perm" Mars invited his fans to take pictures, posing with the hooligans after stopping the show.[32] "Calling All My Lovelies", the next track on the setlist, showed Mars' playing his guitar in a tribute to Prince, with the singer pretending to call his lover on a "Zack Morris-style phone", waiting for her to pick up, which never happens.[28][30][33] This was followed by the racier "Chunky", and "That's What I Like" with Mars and his band sounding like Boyz II Men.[17][29][30] The singer "turned up the sexual energy" with "Straight Up & Down", but despite addressing a "risqué" subject the song came out as "family-friendly and inoffensive".[32][33]

The setlist continued in this vein with "Versace on the Floor", during which Mars was lifted on a platform with golden lighting and purple beacons.[30][32][33] The next number, "Marry You" had Mars and The Hooligans performing a "soft-shoe" dance, while the former played guitar.[31][33][32] The singer got the crowd dancing with the pop-rock electronic influenced boogie "Runaway Baby". At this point, Mars and his band would show their dance moves. Critics compared their "pelvic moves" to Elvis Presley, and the breakdown to James Brown. The lights dimmed with only a bass solo being played.[28][30][34] Afterwards, a modified routine of The Isley Brothers' "Shout" (1959) had Mars dropping to the floor, then emerging from it with a roar.[35] Later on, the stage was left to Mars and two keyboard players. He serenaded the crowd with the piano ballad "When I Was Your Man", after saying "this song means a lot to me".[27][31][33] At this time, the audience waved their cell phone flashlights.[31] A piano solo led up to the ballad "Grenade," which was given a rock interpretation, with Mars playing his guitar.[32][31][36] Shots of fireballs were featured during the song.[28]

The next song on the 2017 setlist was the ballad "Just the Way You Are", which was performed before the encore with the audience singing along. At this point Mars and his band would thank the audience for giving them the chance to perform for them and leave the stage. For the encore they returned to perform two more tracks.[31][32] The first encore, "Locked Out of Heaven", reached its peaks as golden confetti poured down on the audience.[32][31] The show closer, "Uptown Funk", left the crowd "electrified" with the "uptown funk you up!" portion. Towards the end of the song, fireworks, and smoke appeared with "firemen" using fire extinguishers to put it out.[33][35] Throughout the tour various setlists were used.[28][37][38] "Too Good to Say Goodbye" was only performed twice, in Madrid and Antwerp, as the closing track.[17][39] "Talking to the Moon" was performed once, as an encore, in São Paulo.[40] In some shows, "Grenade" was replaced by "Gorilla", a mash-up of "Nothin' On You" with "It Will Rain" or "Billionaire".[35][38][41]

The tour received positive reviews from critics. Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian rated the show four stars out of five, saying: "It says something about his performance ethic that even during the formation dances he's clearly not miming – most pop singers do while dancing." Sullivan added that most of the concert "comes from a wellspring of perspiration, musical education and at least a little inspiration."[34] The Washington Post's Briana Younger called Mars an "once-in-a-generation artist. A master of his craft and consummate performer".[33] Jesse Sendejas Jr., writing for the Houston Press said that Mars and his band "came to entertain and did that astonishingly well", in a show which attracted a wide-ranging audience of all age groups and cultures.[35] The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Scott Mervis lauded Mars' "silky voice", his Michael Jackson dance skills, "to which he adds a comic touch". Mervis concluded, "If MJ, Prince and James Brown are the 24K gold standard for what he's trying to do, Mars is well on his way toward that karat."[32] Tammy Kwan of The Georgia Straight called Mars' and The Hoolligans' performance "stellar", with its "synchronized dancing and dazzling stage effects". Kwan finished adding, "This concert was one for the books."[31] The Music's Madelyn Tait praised the concert writing: "Mars was able to leave a diverse, all-ages crowd satisfied with his funk and soul-infused pop and proved how capable he is of putting on a fun, entertaining arena show."[27] Leticia Madrigal of The Clovis Roundup lauded the show writing, "Mars does more than enough entertaining through his choreographed performance with his band and with his unmissable radio hits".[42] Various critics found the performance of "When I Was Your Man" to be the highlight of the show.[27][33][35]

Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times believed were some "less polished moments", but they felt not an accident. Wood continued, saying that Mars has "gotten so good onstage that he's begun looking for a thrill beyond perfection." He concluded, "the impression Mars gave was of an artist eager to put some wrinkles into the gleaming surfaces for which he's known."[43] Neil McCormick of The Telegraph gave the concert four out of five stars. McCormick praised the choreography, vocal harmonies, that were inspired by Prince's "supernatural gifts", James Brown's "physical command", and Marvin Gaye's "smooth vocal flexibility". However, he did not enjoy the band's "mustard and white baseball" outfits saying they looked like "servers at a fast-food chain".[36]

In a mixed review, Luís Guerra from Blitz lauded the show from beginning to the end, as the artist proved he could perform funk, rock and romantic songs, noting he has not yet "run out of syrup stock".[28] RNZ's Ellen Falconer commended Mars' showmanship saying he put on a "hell of a show", calling him one of the best performers of his generation. Nevertheless, she found him "over-polished" and felt that "his own personality gets lost amongst [his] nostalgic references."[29] Roisin O'Connor of The Independent gave the concert three stars out of five. O'Connor found some of the material like "Marry You" or "The Lazy Song" to be "dated" compared with the sound of 24K Magic and felt that "all the ingredients for a spectacular show are there, yet a stellar performance doesn't seem to reach the far corners of the arena".[44] Critics noticed and praised Mars' showmanship, his guitar skills and the stage production.[31][35][36]

According to Billboard, the tour which sold 659,190 tickets at 42 concerts in 32 cities in North America, earned $76 million. Chicago's United Center, where Mars performed three shows, sold out each one with a total of 47,942 tickets, earning $6.3 million. In London's O2 Arena, the concerts in April earned a total of $6.6 million.[53] In early 2018, it was reported that 408,443 tickets were sold for the ten shows Mars performed in Latin America bringing in $37.4 million.[54] In Asia, the show, produced by Live Nation, sold out 14 concerts in seven cities. In Japan, the tour grossed $15.5 million from four shows at Saitama Super Arena.[55][56] In Australia, the 24K Magic World Tour with its five shows at Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney, brought in $9.2 million.[56] In May 2017, Mars broke Beyoncé's New Zealand concert attendance record. She had sold 44,596 tickets, while Mars sold 48,783 tickets for four sold-out concerts at Spark Arena in Auckland.[57] In 2018, Mars sold out the three shows booked for the Aloha Stadium, in Hawaii, breaking the record attendance of U2 and Michael Jackson, who performed two nights for 50,000 people there.[58]

In 2017, StubHub ranked Bruno Mars as the biggest touring act of the year in the United States, having sold more tickets than any other artists.[59] The 24K Magic World Tour's total gross as of October 20, 2017, was $129 million.[53] In early 2018, Bob Allen, writing for Billboard, stated that since the tour began it had sold over two million tickets with an overall gross of $200 million.[54] The 24K Magic World Tour was the fourth highest-grossing tour of 2018 with $237.8 million, according to Billboard. As Mars also extended his tour from 2017 to 2018, he ranked in the Top 10 Tours for the second year in a row.[60] Overall, the 24K Magic World Tour was reported to have grossed over $367,7 million,[61][62] with Billboard Boxscore reporting a gross of $361 million.[lower-alpha 1] It is among the highest-grossing concert tours of all time.

Huge ticket reselling activities occurred after Mars announced his first concert at the Aloha Stadium in Hawaii, with bots used to buy thousands of tickets which were then resold on third party sites. At that time, a second show was announced. People began reselling those tickets before they had even received them, knowing they would get them at some point in the future. This phenomenon is called phantom selling.[63]