The Buffet Tour

The Buffet Tour is the twelfth and final concert tour by American recording artist R. Kelly. The tour supported his thirteenth studio album, The Buffet (2015). The tour played over 30 concerts in the United States.

The Buffet Tour
Tour by R. Kelly
Promotional poster for the tour
Associated albumThe Buffet
Start dateApril 29, 2016 (2016-04-29)
End dateNovember 13, 2016 (2016-11-13)
Legs2
No. of shows37 in North America
R. Kelly concert chronology

Background

The tour was announced March 2016 by various music publications, including Billboard.[1] Kelly referred to his tour as his most ambitious production.[2] The tour was quickly met with controversy as the students and faculty of Saint Louis University boycotted Kelly's concert, to be held at the Chaifetz Arena on April 29, 2016. A Change.org petition was created to have the concert cancelled, citing Kelly's troubled career. The concert was quickly moved to the suburb of St. Charles at the Family Arena.

The debut concert featured Kelly performing for nearly four hours and featured various skits making light of his criminal past. Intended to be a 40 city tour, many shows were canceled, citing the elaborate production and Kelly's fear of flying as reasons. The tour is believed to have earned nearly $50 million.[3]

Critical reception

The tour was met with mixed reactions from many music critics. They unanimously cited the shows felt disorganized, with the setlist being too "loose". Kenya Vaughn (The St. Louis American) called this disjointed, stating: "This particular portion of the show was almost an R. Kelly overdose thanks to the lack of focus and the emphasis on quantity instead of a masterful delivery on songs selected for maximum impact. The show had grown boring until he [re-]positioned himself to the middle of the arena for a brief set that included a tribute to Prince. As he continues to shape the show, he should consider narrowing the focus of the show—hopefully into something that looks more like his grown and sexy incarnation that he closed the show with."[4]

In Kansas City, Timothy Finn (The Kansas City Star) found the concert to be odd. He continued to say: "There was a live band onstage, but it was swept into the corner, shrouded by darkness, and its performances sounded secondary to the other music and sounds coming off the stage. They brought to a close a show that, though wandering and reckless at times, sated the appetites of fans who came to indulge in the libidinous sounds of one of pop music's more mercurial, prolific and controversial stars."[5]

The show in Tampa, reviewed by Jay Cridlin (Tampa Bay Times) states: "All of these moments screamed R. Kelly – silly, sexy, soulful and at times very, very strange. Over the course of his two-hour concert, these moments kept right on coming, one after the next, eventually sketching out a portrait of one of R&B's greatest and most mystifying performers, in all his freaktacular glory."[6]

The same sentiments were felt by Liz Tracy (Miami New Times) for the show in Miami. She says: "If it wasn't clear before, Kelly can sing. The crowd was reciting the lyrics all along, writhing in sonic ecstasy, but at the end, they were just in it to win it. [...] It's clear Kelly will never outrun his own demons. They are too thick to sidestep. But he'll take what he can get, rejoicing for now in being purged clean of his sins in his own mind and in the minds of his loyal followers."[7]

Opening acts

Setlist

The following setlist was obtained from the concert held on April 29, 2016, at the Family Arena in St. Charles, Missouri. It does not represent all concerts for the duration of the tour.[9]

  1. "Video Sequence"
  2. "My Story"
  3. "Make It Rain" / "We Been On" / "Hotel" / "So Sexy" / "Wonderful" / "That's That" / "Go Getta" / "Thoia Thoing" / "Snake" / "Get This Money" / "Gigolo" / "Fuck You Tonight"
  4. "Home Alone"
  5. "Legs Shakin'"
  6. "Video Sequence"
  7. "Sex Me" / "The Zoo" / "Slow Wind" / "Half on a Baby" / "In the Kitchen" / "Strip For You" / "Number One" / "Cookie"
  8. "Ignition (Remix)" / "Fiesta (Remix)" / "I'm a Flirt (Remix)" / "Freaky In The Club"
  9. "Your Body's Callin'" / "It Seems Like You're Ready" / "12 Play"
  10. "Slow Dance (Hey Mr. DJ)" / "Honey Love"
  11. "Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)" / "It Seems Like You're Ready" / "You Remind Me of Something" / "Feelin' on Yo Booty" / "Bump N' Grind"
  12. "Video Sequence"
  13. "I Wish" / "When a Woman's Fed Up" / "Contagious"
  14. "Purple Rain"
  15. "I Believe I Can Fly"
  16. "A Change Is Gonna Come"
  17. "When a Woman Loves"
Encore
  1. "Happy People"
  2. "Step in the Name of Love (Remix)"

Tour dates
Date City Country Venue
North America[10]
April 29, 2016 St. Charles United States Family Arena
April 30, 2016 Kansas City Sprint Center
May 7, 2016 Rosemont Allstate Arena
May 26, 2016 Jacksonville Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena
May 27, 2016 Tampa Amalie Arena
May 28, 2016 Miami American Airlines Arena
June 2, 2016 Houston Toyota Center
June 3, 2016 Dallas American Airlines Center
June 4, 2016 Oklahoma City Cox Convention Center Arena
June 9, 2016 Charlotte Time Warner Cable Arena
June 10, 2016 Greensboro Greensboro Coliseum
June 11, 2016 Atlanta Philips Arena
June 16, 2016 Columbus Columbus Civic Center
June 18, 2016 Bossier City CenturyLink Center
June 19, 2016 New Orleans Smoothie King Center
June 23, 2016 Cincinnati U.S. Bank Arena
June 24, 2016 Detroit Joe Louis Arena
June 25, 2016 Cleveland Wolstein Center
July 9, 2016 Denver Bellco Theatre
September 2, 2016 South Bend Morris Performing Arts Center
September 3, 2016 Grand Rapids DeVos Performance Hall
September 8, 2016 Indianapolis Bankers Life Fieldhouse
September 10, 2016 Louisville KFC Yum! Center
September 16, 2016 Birmingham Legacy Arena
September 17, 2016 Memphis FedExForum
September 29, 2016 Albany Palace Theatre
September 30, 2016 Philadelphia Wells Fargo Center
October 1, 2016 Baltimore Royal Farms Arena
October 6, 2016 Boston TD Garden
October 7, 2016 Bridgeport Webster Bank Arena
October 8, 2016 Newark Prudential Center
October 21, 2016 Phoenix Talking Stick Resort Arena
October 22, 2016 Los Angeles Microsoft Theater
October 27, 2016 West Valley City Maverik Center
October 29, 2016 Portland Veterans Memorial Coliseum
October 30, 2016 Everett Xfinity Arena
November 13, 2016 Washington, D.C. Verizon Center
Cancellations and rescheduled shows
April 21, 2016 Cincinnati, Ohio U.S. Bank Arena Rescheduled to June 23, 2016[11]
April 22, 2016 Detroit, Michigan Joe Louis Arena Rescheduled to June 24, 2016[12]
April 23, 2016 Cleveland, Ohio Wolstein Center Rescheduled to June 25, 2016[13]
April 27, 2016 Birmingham, Alabama Legacy Arena Rescheduled to September 16, 2016[14]
April 29, 2016 St. Louis, Missouri Chaifetz Arena Moved to the Family Arena in St. Charles, Missouri[15]
May 6, 2016 Indianapolis, Indiana Bankers Life Fieldhouse Rescheduled to September 8, 2016[16]
May 8, 2016 Louisville, Kentucky KFC Yum! Center Rescheduled to September 10, 2016[14]
May 11, 2016 West Valley City, Utah Maverik Center Rescheduled to October 27, 2016[14]
May 13, 2016 Portland, Oregon Veterans Memorial Coliseum Rescheduled to October 29, 2016[14]
May 14, 2016 Everett, Washington Xfinity Arena Rescheduled to October 30, 2016[14]
October 16, 2016 San Diego, California Valley View Casino Center Cancelled
October 19, 2016 Oakland, California Oracle Arena Cancelled
October 28, 2016 Norfolk, Virginia Chrysler Hall Cancelled[17]

Box office score data
Venue City Tickets sold / Available Gross revenue
Amalie Arena Tampa 3,576 / 6,796 (53%) $301,379[18]
American Airlines Center Dallas 6,430 / 7,957 (81%) $508,778[18]
Philips Arena Atlanta 10,099 / 11,875 (85%) $809,371[18]
Morris Performing Arts Center South Bend 1,729 / 2,555 (68%) $145,108[19]
Wells Fargo Center Philadelphia 5,192 / 8,423 (62%) $317,192[20]
Verizon Center Washington, D.C. 4,899 / 12,791 (38%) $445,101[21]
TOTAL 31,925 / 49,797 (64%) $2,526,929

References
  1. Platon, Adelle (March 21, 2016). "R. Kelly to Embark on Buffet Tour (Exclusive)". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  2. McDonnell, Brandy (March 21, 2016). "R. Kelly to play summer Oklahoma City concert". The Oklahoman. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  3. "2016 Pollstar Year End: Top 200 North American Tours" (PDF). Pollstar. January 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 12, 2017. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
  4. Vaughn, Kenya (April 30, 2016). "The Buffet Tour a gluttonous presentation of R. Kelly's greatest hits". The St. Louis American. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  5. Finn, Timothy (May 1, 2016). "R. Kelly takes KC crowd on a weird and meandering tour of his hit-studded career". The Kansas City Star. The McClatchy Company. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  6. Cridlin, Jay (May 28, 2016). "Review: R. Kelly revels in his strange, silly, sexy genius at Amalie Arena in Tampa". Tampa Bay Times. Times Publishing Company. Archived from the original on May 31, 2016. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  7. Tracy, Liz (May 31, 2016). "R. Kelly Aims for Redemption in Miami Concert". Miami New Times. Voice Media Group. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  8. Bowden, TJ (October 7, 2016). "June's Diary delivers a vocally powerful performance at SOB's in NYC". Revolt. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  9. Johnson, Kevin C. (April 30, 2016). "R. Kelly's 'Buffet' tour kickoff at Family Arena leaves fans underfed". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Lee Enterprises. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  10. Sources for tour dates:
  11. "R. Kelly Shifts Joe Louis Arena Concert Date". Broadway World. Wisdom Digital Media. April 8, 2016. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  12. Graham, Adam (April 8, 2016). "R. Kelly postpones Joe Louis Arena show until June". The Detroit News. Digital First Media. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  13. Davis, Bliss (April 11, 2016). "R. Kelly Pushes Back "Buffet Tour" Date in Cleveland". Cleveland Scene. Euclid Media Group. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  14. "R. Kelly postpones 'Buffet Tour' stop in Birmingham, citing production issues". The Birmingham News. Advance Publications. April 25, 2016. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  15. Johnson, Kevin C. (June 25, 2018). "Controversial singer R. Kelly heading to Family Arena". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Lee Enterprises. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  16. Lindquist, David (April 27, 2018). "R. Kelly concert rescheduled from May to September". The Indianapolis Star. Gannett Company. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  17. Ollison, Rashod (October 26, 2018). "R. Kelly postpones Norfolk show from Friday to Feb. 2". The Virginian-Pilot. Tribune Publishing. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  18. "Current Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 128. Nashville, Tennessee: Eldridge Industries. June 25, 2016. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on January 18, 2017. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
  19. "Current Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 128, no. 24. Nashville, Tennessee: Eldridge Industries. September 24, 2016. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on September 16, 2016. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  20. "Current Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 128. Nashville, Tennessee: Eldridge Industries. November 19, 2016. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on September 16, 2016. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  21. "Current Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 129. Nashville, Tennessee: Eldridge Industries. January 21, 2017. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on January 18, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
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