Ozymandias World Tour

Official poster for Ozymandias World Tour

**Ozymandias World Tour** was the seventh concert tour by American-Romanian singer-songwriter Nicholas Stewart, in support of his sixth studio album *Ozymandias* (2017). The tour began on May 28, 2018, in Indianapolis and concluded on November 12, 2019, in Nagoya, consisting 292 shows. The tour received 13.26 million attendees and grossed $1.415 billion in revenue, becoming Stewart's most successful tour to date. The tour set world records for the highest-grossing concert tour.

The tour received universal acclaim from critics, who commonly labeled it the best tour of 2018 and Stewart's best tour to date. It further went on to win many "Tour of the Year" accolades. The April 26, 2019 show at Arena Națională, Bucharest, Romania, was recorded and released as a Netflix-original concert film titled Ozymandias: The World Tour, on December 29, 2019, to critical acclaim, coinciding Stewart's 45th birthday.

## Development

In August 2017, *Billboard* reported that Stewart would be using Ticketmaster's Verified Fan program to prevent bots and ticket scalpers from purchasing tickets. The program, named "Nicky Tix", allowed fans to purchase tickets in advance of the public on-sale by participating in boost activities to increase chances of getting a pre-sale access code. On November 13, 2017, Stewart's management announced the first round of dates for the tour jointly with Ticketmaster. Tickets went on sale to the general public on December 29, 2017, the day of Stewart's 43rd birthday.

In late November, Stewart announced shows in Manchester, Dublin, and London. Due to overwhelming demand, additional dates were announced for all three cities. Furthermore, the singer also announced extra shows in North America for Pasadena, Chicago, East Rutherford, Foxborough, Toronto, and Atlanta due to popular demand before the pre-sale began. On December 3, Stewart announced five dates for Oceania. In January 2018, due to huge demand, Stewart went on to add second dates in Santa Clara, Landover, Philadelphia, Minneapolis and Arlington and third dates in East Rutherford and Foxborough, totalling 60 shows for the tour's North American leg.

On March 1, 2018, Stewart officially announced Juice WRLD and Billie Eilish as the opening acts for the Ozymandias World Tour. Portland's Live 95.5 also announced them in a sweepstake for the concert of June 22, 2018, at Wembley Stadium in London through a since-deleted post on Twitter, a day before Stewart confirmed them as the opening acts.

On May 27, 2018, the day before the tour kicked off at Indianapolis, Stewart invited 2,000 foster and adopted children to a private dress rehearsal. On May 28, 2018, Stewart announced two shows in Tokyo, with Bea Godnene as the opening act. In September 2018, Lorde was announced as an opening act for the Oceania leg of the tour.

## Critical reception

The tour received rave reviews from critics, being commonly labeled as the best of Stewart's career thus far and the best tour of 2018. The concerts were complimented for Stewart's on-stage persona and intimacy with the audience, the versatile set list and the transition between songs, production value, the stripped-down performances and wardrobe choices, with many commentators noting the Egyptian desert visuals and costumes, and the Broadway theatricality of the show.

*Stereogum*'s Chris DeVille deemed it a "hyper-maximalist" tour and "a perpetual gargantuan flex, a roving musical *Infinity War* that amplifies everything extra about his persona to an exponential scope" and added that it is designed to be "the biggest spectacle in all of summer entertainment". He also described the tour as "an oversized, high-tech touring Hamilton Broadway production with a mostly tremendous soundtrack" and concluded that "when discussing the biggest artists of his [Stewart's] generation, he's undeniably on the shortlist" and that the singer has consistently ascended to the same "rarefied" tier as the "classic rock deities who've echoed across this venue [*the Horseshoe*] before his, able to keep commanding stadium status for the rest of his career". Rob Sheffield of *Rolling Stone* named the tour as Stewart's "most astounding tour yet" and complimented it for giving "it all the vibe of a mass communion" despite aiming for "maximum stadium-rock razzle-dazzle bombast". He observed the acoustic performances of Stewart's fan-favorite deep cuts and dubbed them "a powerhouse performance that made all the different Nickys sound like part of the same story".

## Commercial performance

### Ticket sales

After four days of sales through the Verified Fan platform and three days of sales to the general public that began December 13, the tour had already grossed $180 million from 33 dates in North America alone. *Pollstar* reported data supplied by the Gridiron Stadium Network, a consortium of NFL facilities that work together to book concerts at their buildings, which showed at least 35,000 tickets had been sold at ten of the stadiums on the route as of December 18. The tickets sold ranged from 35,419 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh to a high of 48,039 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. With more than 47,000 tickets sold, it was reported the May 12, 2018, date at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara was generating close to $9 million in ticket revenue, which prompted the addition of an extra date.

### Boxscore

The first seven shows of the tour grossed $32 million with 390,000 tickets sold, leading Stewart to the top of *Billboard*'s Hot Tours chart in June 2018. He performed to sold-out crowds of 70,000 in Indianapolis and 140,000 in Santa Clara (over two nights), grossing $8 million and $16 million respectively, while the San Bernardino shows combined for a gross of nearly $14.8 million and Cleveland accounted more than $8 million.

## Records

Following the tour's 60th and final show in North America at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, it had grossed $413.1 million in the continent ($294.6 million in the United States and $118.5 million in Canada) thus eventually breaking the record set by The Rolling Stones's A Bigger Bang Tour, to become the highest-grossing tour in US and North American history, grossing $266.1 million. The Stones achieved their then-record from 70 American shows, while Stewart did it with just 60 shows.

## Trivia

* President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, declared April 20, 2019, as the "Ziua lui Nicholas Stewart" (English: Nicholas Stewart Day) in the country, honoring Stewart's arrival for his three tour dates (April 22, 24, 26) at the Arena Națională in Bucharest. He stated that, "through his personal and honest music, Nicholas Stewart has energized and inspired not only Romanians, but people all over the world, and is a positive influence on his fans through his example of truthfulness, grace, extensive philanthropy, and strength of character".
* One month before the tour rehearsals, Stewart went back to gymnastics school to perfect his choreography for the back-flip while performing "Year 3000" and more.
* This is the first world tour Stewart performed an unreleased song on every set, "La Revedere", which wasn't released a single until his 2019 Romanian album *Dor De Casă* included the song.
* On his Romanian shows, Stewart spoke his home language, Romanian, in the whole show, except for the third night when the whole show was filmed for the Netflix film.

## Set list

This set list is from the concert on May 28, 2018, in Indianapolis. It is not intended to represent all shows from the tour.

1. "Dance Until You Sleep"
2. "Dead Freight"
3. "NO REMORSE."
4. "Corrupted Minds"
5. "Rabid Dog"
6. "La Paz"
7. "To'hajilee"
8. "Year 3000"
9. "Get Wasted, I Drank A Vodka"
10. "Lucid Dreaming"
11. "Someday"
12. "Every Morning"
13. "Rescue Me"
14. "La Revedere"
15. "Sex Is Nice, But Euphoria Is God Level"
16. "Alphabet Aerobics But I Changed The Lyrics"
17. "Euphoria"
18. "OUT OF ORDER."
19. "BRAP BRAP PEW PEW"/"Under Pressure"
20. "Ozymandias"
21. "La Paz"
22. "Bazooka"
23. "Cross Off"
24. "Granite State"/"Felina"

##### Notes:

* During the first show in Nashville, Stewart performed "Lucid Dreaming" on the piano instead of the guitar due to a broken string.
* During the first show in Boulder, second show in Quebec City, and first show in Nagoya, Stewart performed "Nicky-Icky" in the place of "Euphoria"
* During the second show in El Paso, Stewart performed "The Devil's Garden (Hallelujah)" before "Corrupted Minds".
* During the second show in Salvador, Stewart sprained his right ankle while jumping and performing "Cross Off". To continue performing "Granite State"/"Felina", Stewart had to sit on a wheelchair and was immediately rushed to a clinic after the show.
* Every show, Stewart will be performing a surprise song which takes the place of "Alphabet Aerobics But I Changed The Lyrics".

##### Surprise Guests:

Stewart surprised fans throughout the tour with special guests, performing a duet with them.

* June 10, 2018 - San Bernardino: "God's Plan" with Drake.
* June 13, 2018 - Tampa: "HUMBLE." with Kendrick Lamar
* June 19, 2018 - Nashville: "End Game" with Taylor Swift and Future
* June 28, 2018 - Philadelphia: "I'll Be There" with Mariah Carey
* July 1, 2018 - Cleveland: "Fly" with Sugar Ray
* July 11, 2018 - Grand Forks: "Monkey Business" with Viper Hamato
* July 18, 2018 - Boulder: "Hot In Herre" with Nelly
* July 22, 2018 - Syracuse: "Jenny From The Block" with Jennifer Lopez
* July 26, 2018 - Knoxville: "Yeah!" with Usher
* August 6, 2018 - Minneapolis: "How You Remind Me" with Nickelback
* August 18, 2018 - Chicago: "Alexander Hamilton" with Lin-Manuel Miranda and the Hamilton Broadway Cast
* August 25, 2018 - Orlando: "See You Again" with Wiz Khalifa
* September 9, 2018 - Edmonton: "I'm Your Angel" with Celine Dion
* September 25, 2018 - Montreal: "Complicated" with Avril Lavigne
* October 7, 2018 - Vancouver: "Can't Feel My Face" with The Weeknd
* October 21, 2018 - Santa Fe: "Bailando" with Enrique Iglesias
* November 5, 2018 - Rosario: "Livin' La Vida Loca" with Ricky Martin
* November 20, 2018 - Brasilia: "I Need To Know" with Marc Anthony
* December 18, 2018 - Mexico City: "Smooth" with Santana
* January 7, 2019 - Caracas: "Rompe" with Daddy Yankee
* January 10, 2019 - Lima: "International Love" with Pitbull
* February 22, 2019 - Reading: "Higher" with Taio Cruz
* February 28, 2019 - Ipswich: "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" with The Rolling Stones
* March 12, 2019 - London: "Somebody To Love" with Queen
* March 13, 2019 - London: "Hey Jude" with Paul McCartney
* March 29, 2019 - Dublin: "Take Me To Church" with Hozier
* April 11, 2019 - Gdansk: "Pompeii" with Bastille
* April 16, 2019 - Turin: "Beggin'" with Maneskin
* April 22, 2019 - Bucharest: "Iris" with Noaptea
* April 24, 2019 - Bucharest: "Soare du Cinti" with Robin and the Backstabbers
* April 26, 2019 - Bucharest: "Dragostea Din Tei" with O-Zone
* May 20, 2019 - Galway: "Galway Girl" with Ed Sheeran
* May 27, 2019 - Wolfsburg: "Mambo No. 5" with Lou Bega
* July 9, 2019 - Wellington: "Green Light/Royals" with Lorde
* July 13, 2019 - Melbourne: "She Looks So Perfect" with 5 Seconds of Summer
* July 27, 2019 - Perth: "Especially For You" with Kylie Minogue
* October 7, 2019 - Bocaue: "With A Smile" with Eraserheads

## Concert film

### Edited by

Tom WatsonJose Fortanel

Simon Bryant

Bill DeRonde

Adrianna Merlucci

Ben Wainwright-Pearce

### Language

EnglishRomanian

***Ozymandias: The World Tour*** is a concert film directed by Mitch Stewart. It was released on December 29, 2018, exclusively via Netflix, coinciding Stewart's 45th birthday. The film follows American-Romanian singer-songwriter Nicholas Stewart's third performance at Arena Națională in Bucharest, Romania on his record-breaking seventh headlining concert tour, Ozymandias World Tour.

Stewart announced on social media on December 1, that the concert film would be released globally in partnership with Netflix on his 45th birthday, December 29, 2019. It was filmed on the final of his three nights in Romania.

### Critical reception

The film received widespread critical acclaim upon release, with many critics labeling the film as "immortalizing" and "unforgettable". The commentators praised the camerawork from director Mitch Stewart for documenting Stewart's "stardom", the crowd's emotions, and the production involved in the concert. *Rolling Stone*'s Rob Sheffield wrote that the film "immortalizes his best tour yet" and that the film shows off "the stadium-rocking spectacle without toning down any of his songs' one-on-one emotional intimacy". Describing the Netflix special as "the end of an era", Amanda Petrusich of *The New Yorker* opined that the film "will soon either be regarded as a museum piece or as a testament to Stewart's era-defying longevity".

### Performances

Twenty-five songs were performed in the following order in the film:

1. "Dance Until You Sleep"
2. "Dead Freight"
3. "NO REMORSE."
4. "Corrupted Minds"
5. "Rabid Dog"
6. "La Paz"
7. "To'hajilee"
8. "Year 3000"
9. "Dragostea Din Tei" (with O-Zone)
10. "Get Wasted, I Drank A Vodka"
11. "Lucid Dreaming"
12. "Someday"
13. "Every Morning"
14. "Rescue Me"
15. "La Revedere"
16. "Sex Is Nice, But Euphoria Is God Level"
17. "Alphabet Aerobics But I Changed The Lyrics"
18. "Euphoria"
19. "OUT OF ORDER."
20. "BRAP BRAP PEW PEW"/"Under Pressure"
21. "Ozymandias"
22. "La Paz"
23. "Bazooka"
24. "Cross Off"
25. "Granite State"/"Felina"

## Shows

**List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, opening acts, attendance (tickets sold / total available), and gross revenue**