User blog:BeccaSchmecca/Althea in Real Life: The Truthful World Tour

The Truthful World Tour was the third headlining concert tour by New Zealand jazz crossover singer Althea, in support of her third studio album Truthful. This was also her first tour to reach Oceania, Africa, and the Americas. The tour began on 3 June 2016 in Mumbai and concluded on 31 January 2017 in Auckland, comprising 114 concerts. Both her parents served as the travelling assistants, while her cousin Moira Nakos once again served as accompaniment via piano and synthesizers, as well several live musicians and prerecorded backing tracks.

Background and development
Althea announced the tour via her official website on 9 January 2016 - the day of her 16th birthday. Tickets went on sale shortly afterwards. Each tour date started between 6:00 and 8:15 in the evening.

Althea stepped away from this tour a few times. On 2 October, she was one of the featured artists to perform at a benefit concert at San Antonio's AT&amp;T Center, along with other multi-genre singers and San Antonio Symphony Orchestra (conducted by an unknown person) in order to donate money to a number of victims who battled rare diseases that you never heard of. On 22 December, Althea made a surprise appearance at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington as a way to conclude the 14th annual New Zealand Christmas Promenade Tour. Then on 12 January 2017, Althea sang New Zealand's national anthem during a football game at the Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin (her microphone was decorated with indigo rhinestones and tiny red star-shaped stickers).

Stage
I can't remember what the stage design was like during this tour. I think it had…oh, never mind!

Dress design
Because Althea was only 16 years old at the time this tour started (and 17 when the tour ended), her silhouette was nowadays paired with dresses that have tighter skirts or even two-piece dresses. The first time Althea wore tight-skirted dresses was during the Asian leg of her Daydream Tour. Her bust size grew to 77 centimeters A in July 2015. The first time Althea wore low-cut dress with a bra attached was during the co-headlining Christmas mini-tour in December of that year. On 13 February 2016, her parents told a fashion company in Wellington that they were so proud of their "little darling" for making these decisions.

Someone from The San Diego Union-Tribune wrote: "As the sound of wind meets the audience and the stage gleams with a purple light, Althea, one of New Zealand's youngest jazz crossover singers, only 16, appears on stage in a glittering turquoise dress. Althea even had matching crystals on her microphone!"

Reaction
A reviewer from The Star says: "We're so glad to have this talented teenage singer from New Zealand come to Malaysia for the first time. Even at 16 years old, Althea still manages to wow the crowd with her jazz crossover repertoire and magical vocals, one song after another. Too bad I wasn't there!" Someone from Maeil Business Newspaper criticized Althea's dress sets for being "too woman-y for a 16-year-old." Despite the criticism, the reviewer applauded Althea for her "sensational vocals and helluva lot of charisma!"

Tour dates

 * Cancellations