R&B singer Usher will spread the musical love to his fans this November with a recently announced 14-city trek, but the audience could be limited to “ladies only.” The One Night Stand Tour begins November 2 at the Borgata Event Center in Atlantic City, NJ, and continues through November 25 at the House of Blues in Dallas, TX.
According to an interview with the Associated Press, the coast-to-coast jaunt is booked at more “intimate” venues and geared towards his female audience. The approach might seem like a gamble, but the singer said he would enjoy the challenge and believes his career makes the ladies-only tour better suited to succeed. “There’s only a few artists that can pull that off,” Usher explained in the interview. “I feel like I’ve had such a connection with my audience.”
The crooner breaks the string of single-night performances with a November 19-20 run at the new Club Nokia at LA Live in Los Angeles, CA. Other highlights include a November 3 performance at the historic Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, NY, and a single Canadian gig on November 8 at Kool Haus in Toronto, ON.
Usher is touring in support of his fifth studio album, “Here I Stand,” released in May. The record peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and also topped the charts in Australia, Canada and the UK. Meanwhile, the album’s first single, “Love in this Club,” topped three U.S. song charts, including Billboard‘s Hot 100.
The singer, who released his eponymous studio debut in 1994, stated that the more mature tone of “Stand” should appeal to the female audience. “This album, I felt like, was definitely the type of one that was more intimate,” Usher told the AP. “So what better way to get up close and personal than to make it all women?”
Though the tour is being billed as “ladies only,” neither Usher’s Web site nor the press release from the AP explain whether the scheme will actually be enforced or just promoted as a suggestion due to the planned content of the live performance. As Usher said in the interview, “The ladies like to see that masculine build. They question if I still got it.”
Usher itinerary:
(Dates subject to change.)
| November 2 | Atlantic City, NJ | The Borgata Event Center |
| November 3 | New York, NY | Hammerstein Ballroom |
| November 4 | Washington, DC | Warner Theatre |
| November 5 | Philadelphia, PA | Electric Factory |
| November 7 | Mashantucket, CT | MGM Grand at Foxwoods |
| November 8 | Toronto, ON | Kool Haus |
| November 10 | Atlanta, GA | The Tabernacle |
| November 12 | Royal Oak, MI | Royal Oak Music Theatre |
| November 13 | Chicago, IL | House of Blues |
| November 18 | San Francisco, CA | Warfield Theater |
| November 19 – 20 | Los Angeles, CA | Club Nokia |
| November 21 | Las Vegas, NV | The Pearl |
| November 24 | Houston, TX | House of Blues |
| November 25 | Dallas, TX | House of Blues |
