George Michael for first US tour in 17 years



Mar 24, 2008

George Michael is making his live return in the US and Canada with a tour kicking off June 17 in San Diego.

The former Wham star will bring his ’25 Live’ tour to the continent to support the release of ‘Twenty Five’ which comes out April 1 and is a collection of the singer’s greatest hits as well as six new songs.

Meanwhile, he’s recently made several cameo appearances in US TV show Eli Stone, and this Thursday will make his first major acting appearance in the show.

He will play:

San Diego, CA San Diego Sports Arena (June 17)
San Jose, CA HP Pavilion (19)
Las Vegasm NV MGM Grand (21)
Phoenix, AZ US Airways Center (22)
Los Angeles, CA Great Western Forum (25)
Seattle, WA Key Arena (July 2)
Vancouver General Motors Place (4)
St. Paul, MN Xcel Energy Center (7)
Chicago, IL United Center (9)
Dallas, TX American Airlines Center (13)
Houston, TX Toyota Center (14)
Toronto Air Canada Centre (17)
Montreal Bell Centre (18)
New York, NY Madison Square Garden (21, 23)
Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Center (26)
Boston, MA TD Banknorth Garden (27)
Washington D.C. Verizon Center (29)
Atlanta, GA Philips Arena (31)
Tampa, FL St. Pete Times Forum (2)
Sunrise, FL Bank Atlantic Center (3)

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[bigred]CD[/bigred]
[lilred]April 1, 2008[/lilred]



Amazon.com
The last quarter-century has been nothing if not colorful for George Michael. But through all the controversy--the high-profile arrests and audacious videos, the falling-outs and band splits--he has emerged intact as a vital figure on the global pop scene--a fact compounded by his current 25 Live tour and this accompanying Greatest Hits package. Twenty Five is the fourth such collection in Michael's career, though it carries the obvious advantage of being more up to date than 1998's lauded Ladies & Gentlemen and features not only solo material but music from the early Wham! days. As such, it's the most comprehensive anthology yet, featuring upbeat Wham! classics like "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" and "Freedom" amidst somber solo material like "Praying for Time" and "Jesus to a Child." Spread across two discs (29 songs in total), the collection not only includes a host of evergreen classics but also recent singles "An Easier Affair" and "This Is Not Real Love" (with former Sugababe Mutya Buena) and two unreleased tracks. There are some notable absences from the collection-–"I Want Your Sex" and "Kissing a Fool" are two glaring omissions-–but it still remains the most comprehensive survey of the artist's legacy to date.

Product Description
Two CD collection celebrating George's 25 years as a recording artist, both solo and with Wham! He has been British Pop royalty ever since he took the charts by storm with Wham! in 1982. He's been a solo star for over 20 years, achieving huge international success, selling over 80 million records worldwide with hits like 'Faith' and his most recent acclaimed album Patience. He has since been hailed as the Most Played Artist on British Radio in the last 20 years! Features plenty of hits plus four new songs including the recent radio favorite 'An Easier Affair', 'Heal The Pain' (a duet with Paul McCartney) 'Understand' and the brand new single 'This Is Not Real Love', a duet with Mutya Buena, former member of the Sugababes.

Disc: 1
1. Everything She Wants - George Michael, Wham!
2. Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go - George Michael, Wham!
3. Freedom - George Michael, Wham!
4. Faith
5. Too Funky
6. Fastlove
7. Freedom! '90
8. Spinning the Wheel
9. Outside
10. As - Mary J. Blige, George Michael
11. Freeek!
12. Shoot the Dog
13. Amazing
14. Flawless (Go to the City)
15. Easier Affair

Disc: 2
1. Careless Whisper
2. Last Christmas - George Michael, Wham!
3. Different Corner
4. Father Figure
5. One More Try
6. Praying for Time
7. Heal the Pain - Paul McCartney, George Michael
8. Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me
9. Jesus to a Child
10. Older
11. Round Here
12. You Have Been Loved
13. John and Elvis Are Dead
14. This Is Not Real Love - George Michael, Mutyo

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0014BECF8/?tag=imwan-20

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[bigred]DVD: UK Export Edition (NTSC/Region 0)[/bigred]
[lilred]February 27, 2007[/lilred]



Disc 1:
Club Tropicana (WHAM!)
Wake Me Up Before You Go Go (WHAM!)
Freedom (WHAM!)
Last Christmas (WHAM!)
Everything She Wants (WHAM!)
I'm Your Man (WHAM!)
The Edge of Heaven (WHAM!)
Careless Whisper (on a WHAM! album, but it was his first solo gig)
A Different Corner
I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)
I Want Your Sex
Faith
Father Figure
One More Try
Monkey
Kissing a Fool
Freedom '90
Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me (Live With Elton John)
Too Funky

Disc 2:
Fastlove
Jesus to a Child
Spin the Wheel
Older
Outside
As (with Mary J. Blidge)
Freeek!
Amazing
John and Elvis are Dead
Flawless (Go to the City)
Shoot the Dog
Roxanne
An Easier Affair
If I Told You That (with Whitney Houston)
Waltz Away Dreaming (Toby Bourke)
Somebody to Love (live with Queen)
I Can't Make You Love Me (live)
Star People (live)
You Have Been Loved (live)
Papa Was a Rollin' Stone
Round Here

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000JFY16A/?tag=imwan-20

I don't understand why "I Want Your Sex" isn't on the CD edition but IS on the DVD set. Ten years ago it was baffling how he put "I Want Your Sex, Part II: Brass In Love" on Ladies And Gentlemen and not the hit version. Now this!

At least the Mary J. Blige duet of "As" makes its first domestic appearance ten years after it was first released now that his little transgression in L.A. has long passed.

Oh well, I got the import 3-CD set from last year, so all I'll get is the DVD.

Me too.

And I'm sure I'll wind up getting a ticket to one of the MSG shows. Anyone know what the ticket prices are gonna be?

Best Buy will have a 3-disc version:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... e=category

"This limited-edition release includes 29 tracks on two CDs, along with a Best Buy exclusive third CD with 15 additional tracks, including the brand-new tune, "Understand." That's a total of 44 songs!"

Not sure if it's the same as the 3-disc import.

Speaking of his song "As" with Mary J. Blige, I once heard a version that had Babyface singing (not just producing) on this track. I've looked for singles, radio promo singles, etc., and have never been able to find it. Anyone know of a version?

UNDERSTAND was on the UK version so it's not brand new.

I stopped at Best Buy today, and the 3-CD set IS exactly the same as the UK import. The tracklisting revision is only on the 2-CD edition.