Rhythm Nation 1814 World Tour

The "Rhythm Nation 1814 World Tour" is Janet's debut concert tour that was launched in support of her fourth album "Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814."

It also contained material from Janet's 1986 album "Control." In the fall of 1989, Janet's record label, A&M Records announced plans for the world tour following the release of the Rhythm Nation album.

The tour was managed by Robert Davies & Rusty Hooker, developed by musical director Chuckii Booker, choreographer Anthony Thomas, stage designer Roy Bennett, stage manager Chris Tervit, production manager Benny Collins and Janet.

Tour Background

In the fall of 1989, A&M Records announced plans for Janet's first world tour. Janet was assisted by a team of 11 musicians, backup singers and 6 dancers. Anthony Thomas was selected as the chief choreographer for the tour.

Musician/record producer Chuckii Booker was hired as the musical director for the tour and his band became the tour's opening act. Janet's tour was managed by Roger Davies, stage designer Mark Fisher and Benny Collins. The total production cost of the tour was an estimated $2 million.

Tour Promotion

On June 9, 1990, MTV aired a 4-hour television special entitled "Janet Jackson Saturday" which featured interviews & music videos by Janet along with live coverage of her tour.

Tour Reception

The majority of all concert tour dates became instant sell-outs. The dress rehearsal for the tour at the Pensacola Civic Center in Pensacola, Florida issued 7,600 tickets publicly as a benefit to a local charity which sold out in less than an hour.

The first international concert in Tokyo, Japan sold out the Tokyo Dome within 7 minutes becoming the fastest sellout in the history of the Tokyo Dome. In Salt Lake City, Utah, the concert became the fastest sellout in Salt Palace history as tickets were gone in 1 hour, 20 minutes after the box office opened.

The Rhythm Nation 1814 World Tour grossed $28.1 million in the United States alone, ranking at #5 among the best-selling tours of 1990 within the U.S., making Janet the only female artist to place within the top 10.

The tour had an attendance of over 2 million patrons and remains the most successful debut tour by any recording artist.

Tour Dates

Date	City	Country	Venue
North America
February 27, 1990	Pensacola, Florida	United States	Pensacola Civic Center (Dress rehearsal)
March 1, 1990	Miami, Florida		Miami Arena
March 3, 1990	Chapel Hill, North Carolina		Dean Smith Center
March 4, 1990	Charlotte, North Carolina		Charlotte Coliseum
March 6, 1990	Columbia, South Carolina		Carolina Coliseum
March 7, 1990	Knoxville, Tennessee		Thompson–Boling Arena
March 9, 1990	Louisville, Kentucky		Freedom Hall
March 10, 1990	Cincinnati, Ohio		Riverfront Coliseum
March 12, 1990	Richfield, Ohio		Richfield Coliseum
March 13, 1990	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania		Civic Arena
March 15, 1990	New York City		Madison Square Garden
March 16, 1990
March 19, 1990	Montreal	Canada	Montreal Forum
March 20, 1990	Toronto		SkyDome
March 22, 1990	Landover, Maryland	United States	Capital Centre
March 23, 1990	Hartford, Connecticut		Hartford Civic Center
March 25, 1990	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania		The Spectrum
March 26, 1990	Worcester, Massachusetts		The Centrum
March 27, 1990
March 29, 1990	Landover, Maryland		Capital Centre
March 31, 1990	Hampton, Virginia		Hampton Coliseum
April 2, 1990	Detroit, Michigan		Joe Louis Arena
April 3, 1990
April 5, 1990	Minneapolis, Minnesota		Met Center
April 6, 1990
April 8, 1990	Rosemont, Illinois		Rosemont Horizon
April 9, 1990
April 11, 1990	Kansas City, Missouri		Kemper Arena
April 13, 1990	Fort Worth, Texas		Tarrant County Convention Center
April 15, 1990	Houston, Texas		The Summit
April 16, 1990
April 18, 1990	Phoenix, Arizona		ASU Activity Center
April 20, 1990	Inglewood, California		Great Western Forum
April 21, 1990
April 23, 1990	San Diego, California		Sports Arena
April 25, 1990	Inglewood, California		Great Western Forum
April 26, 1990
April 28, 1990	Oakland, California		Oakland Coliseum Arena
April 29, 1990
May 1, 1990
May 2, 1990
May 4, 1990	Sacramento, California		ARCO Arena
May 5, 1990
Asia
May 17, 1990	Tokyo	Japan	Tokyo Dome
May 18, 1990
May 20, 1990	Osaka		Osaka-jō Hall
May 21, 1990
May 23, 1990	Yokohama		Yokohama Arena
North America
June 6, 1990	Tacoma, Washington	United States	Tacoma Dome
June 7, 1990
June 9, 1990	Vancouver	Canada	BC Place Stadium
June 11, 1990	Edmonton		Northlands Coliseum
June 12, 1990	Calgary		Olympic Saddledome
June 15, 1990	Denver, Colorado	United States	McNichols Sports Arena
June 16, 1990
June 20, 1990	Mountain View, California		Shoreline Amphitheatre
June 21, 1990
June 23, 1990	Costa Mesa, California		Pacific Amphitheatre
June 24, 1990
June 26, 1990	Inglewood, California		Great Western Forum
June 27, 1990
June 29, 1990
July 2, 1990	Dallas, Texas		Reunion Arena
July 3, 1990	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma		Myriad Convention Center
July 5, 1990	Austin, Texas		Frank Erwin Center
July 6, 1990
July 8, 1990	New Orleans, Louisiana		Louisiana Superdome
July 10, 1990	Memphis, Tennessee		Mid-South Coliseum
July 12, 1990	Miami, Florida		Miami Arena
July 13, 1990	Orlando, Florida		Orlando Arena
July 14, 1990	St. Petersburg, Florida		Florida Suncoast Dome
July 16, 1990	Atlanta, Georgia		The Omni
July 17, 1990
July 19, 1990
July 20, 1990
July 22, 1990	Birmingham, Alabama		Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex
July 24, 1990	Indianapolis, Indiana		Market Square Arena
July 25, 1990	Cincinnati, Ohio		Riverbend Music Center
July 27, 1990	Milwaukee, Wisconsin		Bradley Center
July 29, 1990	Tinley Park, Illinois		World Music Theater
July 30, 1990
August 1, 1990
August 5, 1990	St. Louis, Missouri		St. Louis Arena
August 10, 1990	Landover, Maryland		Capital Centre
August 11, 1990
August 13, 1990
August 14, 1990	Greensboro, North Carolina		Greensboro Coliseum
August 16, 1990	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania		The Spectrum
August 17, 1990
August 19, 1990
August 21, 1990	Ottawa	Canada	Frank Clair Stadium
August 22, 1990	Auburn Hills, Michigan	United States	The Palace of Auburn Hills
August 23, 1990
August 25, 1990	Albany, New York		Knickerbocker Arena
August 27, 1990	Providence, Rhode Island		Providence Civic Center
August 28, 1990	Uniondale, New York		Nassau Coliseum
August 30, 1990	East Rutherford, New Jersey		Meadowlands Arena
Europe
October 4, 1990	Rotterdam	Netherlands	Ahoy Rotterdam
October 8, 1990	Berlin	Germany	Velodrom
October 11, 1990	Copenhagen	Denmark	Valby Hallen
October 14, 1990	Paris	France	Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy
October 16, 1990	Munich	Germany	Olympiahalle
October 24, 1990	Frankfurt		Eissporthalle
October 28, 1990	London	United Kingdom	Wembley Arena
Asia
November 3, 1990	Osaka	Japan	Osaka-jo Hall
November 4, 1990
November 6, 1990	Tokyo		Tokyo Dome
November 7, 1990
November 14, 1990	Nagoya		Nagoya Rainbow Hall
November 15, 1990
November 16, 1990	Yokohama		Yokohama Arena

Cancellations

• March 25th at The Spectrum in Philadelphia: Postponed due to schedule conflict with WWF.
• August 2nd at the Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky: Canceled due to Janet experiencing flu-like symptoms and a bad cold.
• August 5th at the Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa: Canceled due to Janet ill with an inner-ear infection.
• August 5th at the St. Louis Arena St. Louis, Missouri: Canceled due Janet ill with a viral infection (originally August 4th). Janet passed out backstage after performing three songs.
• August 7th and 8th at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Detroit, Michigan: Postponed due Janet ill with a viral infection.
• September 3rd at the Starlake Amphitheater in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania: Canceled due to Janet becoming ill.
• September 4th at the Richfield Coliseum in Richfield, Ohio: Cancelled due to Janet ill with a viral infection.
• October 11th at the Valby Hallen in Copenhagen, Denmark: Cancelled due to Janet becoming ill minutes before the concert began.

Tour Set List

1. "Control"
2. "Nasty"
3. "What Have You Done for Me Lately"
4. "Let's Wait Awhile"
5. "When I Think of You"
6. "The Pleasure Principle"
7. "T.V." (interlude)
8. "State of the World"
9. "Race" (interlude)
10. "The Knowledge"
11. "Funny How Time Flies (When You're Having Fun)" (instrumental interlude)
12. "Black Cat"
13. "Come Back to Me"
14. "Alright"
15. "Escapade"
16. "Miss You Much"
17. "Pledge" (interlude)
18. "Rhythm Nation"

Tour Credits

• Management: Roger Davies Management, Inc.
• Tour Manager: Rusty Hooker
• Assistant Tour Manager: Nelson Hayes
• Production Manager: Benny Collins
• Assistant Production Manager: Lisa Hoth
• Stage Manager: Chris Tervit
• Musical Director: Chuckii Booker
• Lighting/Design: Roy Bennett
• Automated Lighting: Gary Westcott
• Tour Photography: Eddie Wolfl

Dancers

• Choreography: Janet Jackson, Anthony Thomas, Terry Bixler and LaVelle Smith
• Staging: Janet Jackson, Tina Landon, LaVelle Smith, Terry Bixler and Anthony Thomas

Tour Facts

• The tour grossed over $28 million in the US only from dates reported, and nearly $65 million worldwide.
• The estimated worldwide attendance was at 2 million, with more than 1.85 million in North America alone coming from 91 shows.
• Rehearsals for the Rhythm Nation Tour were held in Los Angeles. Janet then rehearsed in Pensacola, Florida for two weeks before the tour began. She surprised the people of Pensacola with a concert that was announced only one day ahead of time. The $10 tickets, limited to a four per person, didn't go on sale until the morning of the concert. Within three hours, all 7,600 tickets were sold and another 1,000 tickets were given to local charities.
• Janet's first show for the summer tour starting on Saturday June 7th at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington sold out so fast, she quickly added a second show to be performed the day before on Friday June 6th. This upset many of the fans who waited in line for hours for the Saturday show only to see her second show. Adding insult to injury, at the Saturday show, Janet had the world premiere of the music video for "Black Cat" that had been filmed the night before.
• Janet was scheduled to play Philadelphia in March, but the people who manage the Spectrum Arena doubled-booked Jackson's show and a WWF wrestling match on the same night. The sold-out show was later rescheduled in August.
• Janet's four Los Angeles shows sold out in 48 minutes.
• Janet had to reschedule her appearance at Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey from September 8th to August 30th because of her performance at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards.
• Janet had to reverse the decision to use a live panther on the show after several incidents, including the panther urinating on stage. Citing concerns from fans and her own love of animals, eventually, she didn't use the panther in the summer leg of the tour.
• Janet spent her 24th birthday at Tokyo Disneyland.
• The May 18th show in Tokyo, Japan was shot in HD and aired on Japanese television in full, spliced with 2 commercial Janet had recorded for JAL Airlines.