Generation Laser Tour

The **Generation Laser Tour** was a headline concert tour by Lupe Fiasco across North America in support of his third studio album, *Lasers*. This came after his 2010 Steppin' Laser Tour, where he announced it was going international. Generation Laser Tour began on September 1, 2011, at the University of Illinois in Chicago, Illinois, and concluded on November 18, 2011, in Trenton, New Jersey. The first two dates were for festivals—Spark in the Park and Triad Music Festival. Nearly half of the performances were performed at school homecomings or events, including in Milwaukee, Miami, St. Louis, and Orlando.

## Description

Lupe Fiasco has announced plans for the "Generation LASER" tour, a full-scale North American trek that will see the Grammy Award-winning artist performing across the country through the fall, wrapping on October 11th at Fox Theater (see dates). The major tour will feature various opening artists including Big Sean, Girl Talk, Tinie Tempah, Sarah Green and Wale in select markets.

Meanwhile the third single "Out of My Head (feat. Trey Songz)" from Fiasco's third studio album, "LASERS," which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 earlier this year, is consistently blazing up the urban radio charts. The catchy club hit broke into the top 10 at urban radio, making it the first of Fiasco's singles to reach that mark. Additionally the companion video for the track has received over 4.6 million views on YouTube.

"LASERS," which marks the Chicago MC's highest selling and chart-ranking debut to date, also includes the RIAA double platinum certified hit single, "The Show Goes On." The companion video for the track recently received an MTV Video Music Awards nomination for "Best Hip Hop Video."

An extraordinarily gifted performer, Lupe heralded the release of "LASERS" with a long-sold-out show at New York City's Webster Hall on Monday, March 7th. Furthermore, he has been touring the country over the past several months including festival performances at the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, the KahBang Festival in Bangor, ME, the Bass Nector's Bass Island Festival at Governors Island, NY, and the Sweetlife Festival in Columbia, MD.

Lupe's third full-length collection, "LASERS" has quickly received a bounty of glowing critical acclaim. Rolling Stone praised Fiasco by placing him "in a tradition that runs from Marley to M.I.A.: the soul rebel who refuses to believe righteous struggle has to be a grind," going on to applaud "his athletic, whiplash flow and rich imagination." The Chicago Tribune's Greg Kot praised such "layered, evocative tracks" as "the call-to-activism 'Words I Never Said,' the potent daydream 'All Black Everything,' the shattering 'Beautiful Lasers'" for "(blending) wrenching introspection and an undercurrent of anger with beautifully down-tempo music, perched somewhere between melancholy and despair." Perhaps Entertainment Weekly said it best in its "A-"-graded rave: "Simply put, 'LASERS' beams."

## Background

In March 2011, a list of Spring dates were announced, which included performances at the Sweetlife Festival and New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. That same year it followed by the announcement of the tour 'Generation Laser' in August. Opening acts on select dates included Big Sean, Wale, Tinie Tempah, Girl Talk, Sarah Green, Iyaz, Chiddy Bang, Theophilus London, and Young Marqus. Several venues were not yet specified, including the one for Evanston, Illinois. The date was removed from the site just under a week after its announcement. A representative from A&O informed *The Daily* of this mishap, "(Performers) need to be approved by the University before people are confirmed and before that time we legally cannot comment on a show, whether true or false. Sometimes everyone is on the same page, sometimes they are not."

The protest movement, Occupy Wall Street, coincided with his tour, and Fiasco would spread awareness at his shows, including at the Fox Theater and Hollywood Palladium concerts. At the Triad Music Festival in Greensboro, he experienced difficulties due to power outages, though pushed through his set. He said over Twitter, "NC...no power...Stage lit up by fan cell phones...crowd had 2 be quiet to hear...it was like telling a ghost story..Classic Moment In HipHop." During his show at the Tabernacle in Atlanta, Fiasco addressed the Troy Davis case in his song "Superstar," where he substituted lyrics in a verse. ('Like the governor called, and they told him to wait, un-strap Troy from the chair, and put him back in the A.')

## Critical reception

For the House of Blues show, *Boston Globe* said, "But more memorable than any song was Lupe's brief political ramble toward the end of the show, in which he asked for a moment of silence for victims of Sept. 11, then subsequently offered condolences to fallen "insurgents" in the Middle East and branded President Obama a "terrorist" as a bemused crowd looked on."

*LA Weekly* wrote, "[The] show last night at the Palladium did not seem like it was going to go well. A couple hours after the doors opened, the venue was still half-empty, and the crowd didn't seem particularly interested in the night's first two openers." They continued, "Lupe Fiasco finally came on stage. [...] His moves and charisma were more fitting of a rock star playing a stadium show, rather than the 4,000-capacity Palladium. Wearing a leather jacket over an "OCCUPY" shirt, skinny jeans, and skull and bones cuffs, he thrashed around the stage, bringing a foot-stomping, head-banging energy rarely seen at hip-hop shows. He spit water all over the audience, struck a few Jim Morrison-like poses, and watched as fights erupted in the photo pit." They added, "And he got political in between numbers too, as we all knew he would. First he called for a moment of silence–'If you know why, I'd like you to join me'–then he made a public service announcement–'Support your local homeless shelters, the food pantries, plant a tree, support local charities, and occupy Wall Street all day all week'–and finally, he brought a Palestinian flag on stage during 'Show Goes On.'" *RUKUS Magazine* said of the same performance, "Lupe was a fantastic performer with high energy and sharp movements and has wonderful usage of musical dynamics in his songs. His rapping style was the only thing that didn't fluctuate between highs and low." They praised his stage presence, and described him as "a one of a kind act."

Writing for Bella Beau Marketing and Publicity, they expressed amazement at the diverse crowd, "The race demographic was stunning. [...] it is an awesome accomplishment when your product is received by the masses." Jim Harrington of *The Mercury News* named the rapper's strengths of "lyrical flow," "stage charisma," and "energy level." He added of the Oakland show, "He then gave shout outs to some Bay Area hip-hop royalty, including Too Short and the late-great Mac Dre. And, most impressively, he didn't overlook Spice 1, freestyling his way through the Hayward gangsta-rap icon's '187 Proof.'"

## Set list

1. "Words I Never Said"
2. "State Run Radio"
3. "I Don't Wanna Care Right Now"
4. "Everyone Nose (All the Girls Standing in the Line for the Bathroom) (Remix)"
5. "Go Go Gadget Flow"
6. "Coming Up"
7. "Till I Get There"
8. "Touch the Sky"
9. "I Gotcha"
10. "Kick, Push"
11. "Hip-Hop Saved My Life"
12. "The Coolest"
13. "All Black Everything"
14. "Out of My Head"
15. "Break the Chain"
16. "Beautiful Lasers (2 Ways)"
17. "Never Forget You"
18. "Superstar"
19. "Daydreamin'"
20. "The Show Goes On"

## Gallery

Photo by Scott Legato
New Orleans, LouisianaPhoto by David Becker
Oakland, CaliforniaPhoto by Tim Mosenfelder
Oakland, CaliforniaPhoto by Tim Mosenfelder
Oakland, CaliforniaPhoto by David Becker
Oakland, CaliforniaPhoto by David Becker
Oakland, CaliforniaPhoto by David Becker
Oakland, CaliforniaPhoto by C Flanigan
Oakland, CaliforniaPhoto by C Flanigan
Oakland, CaliforniaPhoto by C Flanigan
Oakland, CaliforniaPhoto by C Flanigan
Oakland, CaliforniaPhoto by C Flanigan
Oakland, CaliforniaPhoto by C Flanigan
Oakland, CaliforniaPhoto by C Flanigan
Oakland, CaliforniaPhoto by C Flanigan
Oakland, CaliforniaPhoto by C Flanigan
Oakland, CaliforniaPhoto by C Flanigan
Oakland, CaliforniaPhoto by Jerritt Clark
Trenton, New JerseyPhoto by Jerritt Clark
Trenton, New Jersey
## References

1. ↑ "Lupe Fiasco Kicked, Pushed and Coasted at USD". *NBC San Diego*. May 11, 2010.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Horowitz, Steven (August 28, 2011). "Lupe Fiasco Announces "Generation Laser" Tour Dates". *HipHopDX*.
3. ↑ Young, Alex (March 23, 2011). "Lupe Fiasco announces 2011 tour dates". *Consequence*.
4. ↑ "BREAKING: Lupe Fiasco to perform at Welsh-Ryan on Nov. 4". *The Daily Northwestern*. October 13, 2011.
5. ↑ Shaw, A. R. (September 22, 2011). "Lupe Fiasco Shines With Generation Laser Tour: Addresses Troy Davis Case'. *Rolling Out*.
6. ↑ Caballero, Martín (September 13, 2011). "Lupe Fiasco speaks his mind". *Boston Globe*.
7. ↑ Fader, Lainna (October 11, 2011). "Lupe Fiasco - Hollywood Palladium - October 10, 2011". *LA Weekly*.
8. ↑ Norris, Katie (October 10, 2011). "Lupe Fiasco, Concert Review". *RUKUS Magazine*.
9. ↑ "Bella Beau Out and About: Lupe Fiasco Laser Tour ATL!!!!!". *Wordpress*. September 23, 2011.
10. ↑ Harrington, Jim (October 11, 2011). "Review: Lupe Fiasco is fantastic in Oakland". *The Mercury News*.
11. ↑ McCall, Tris (September 9, 2011). "Lupe Fiasco cancels Monmouth University show". *NJ*.