User blog:BeccaSchmecca/Althea in Real Life: Debut Tour

Althea in Concert 2012 was the debut headlining concert tour by New Zealand jazz crossover singer Althea, in support of her self-titled debut album. The tour began on 6 July 2012 in Oslo and concluded on 19 October in Beijing, comprising 54 concerts. Her set list included all 10 songs from the album, along with covers of songs from artists like Whitney Houston, Elton John, Barbra Streisand, Jennifer Holliday, and Ella Fitzgerald. Althea's father (Tim Glezos; born 5 March 1966), who is also her manager, traveled with her throughout the tour. For every tour stop, Althea was accompanied by her cousin, pianist Moira Nakos (born 9 May 1992), and several live string players and prerecorded backing tracks.

Background and development
Althea announced the tour via her official website on 9 January 2012, the day of her 12th birthday. She wrote:

"“Hey everyone! I have some very exciting news! Recently, I have decided to headline a tour of Europe and Asia. I'm really excited about it and can't wait to see y'all there. I'll be announcing the exact tour dates soon but for now I wanted to give you guys the scoop first. Stay tuned for more information. Have a nice day! Sincerely, Althea :)”"

Ticket sales for the tour dates in July were made from 14 January to 2 February. Tour stops in July included Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, and the United Kingdom. Tour dates in August included Ireland, more of the UK, France, Monaco, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Poland, and Finland. Tour dates in September included Sweden, Norway, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Hungary, and of course her birth place Greece. The Asian leg lasted throughout early and mid-October with stops in Japan, China, and South Korea. There was no age requirement, although most of the audience members were adults. Each tour date started between 5:45 and 6:15 in the evening.

Althea used Louis Armstrong's "When You're Smiling" as her entrance song during this tour.

Stage
The stage was a rectangular platform with two stations of blue and purple flowers. Each of the stations is located at the end of the main stage.

Dress design
All of which were designed by Luther Forsman (born 5 June 1979). Most of the dresses' were bustier-oriented despite Althea's bust size being 69 centimeters, which is fairly average for a 12-year-old. Each of the dresses came with 1½-inch heeled sandals and earrings with either small pearls or colored rhinestones depending on the costumes' color palettes.

Europe
The European leg had the theme of bright colors. There were a total of six dresses for the European tour dates, but Althea was only able to wear four of them during each section of the concert. The dress that was worn in the first act had a tricolor gradient pattern (peach, magenta, and purple) with neon pink polka dots and orange draped parts. Her microphone was magenta for this segment. In the second act, Althea wore an aqua dress with a sequinned neckline, and she even held a sparkling aqua microphone to match. During the third act, Althea wore either a mint green dress with a lace neckline, or a purple pleated dress depending on the tour date. For the fourth and final act of the concert, Althea wore either a coral-colored gown with a matching sash, or a yellow gown with a white line near the bottom part of the skirt. Of course for the third and fourth segments, Althea's microphone had to be the same color as whatever dress she wore, just like in the first and second segments.

Asia
The theme used for Althea's dress changes in the Asian leg were pastel colors. Again, like the European leg, there were six dresses for the Asian tour dates, but Althea was only able to wear four of them.

Set list
This set list includes the numbers performed at the concert on 6 July 2012. Variations are noted below.


 * 1) "Fly Away"
 * 2) "I Have Nothing" (Whitney Houston cover)
 * 3) "Life Is Unnecessary"
 * 4) "Mess with Myself"
 * 5) "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" (Elton John cover)
 * 6) "The Way We Were" (Barbra Streisand cover)
 * 7) "Undone"
 * 8) "Mysterious"
 * 9) "Disappear" (contains elements of "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You")
 * 10) "There'll Always Be a Way" (contains elements of "What's Another Year")
 * 11) "I Would Understand" (contains elements of "Absent Friend", "Memory", and "Unfaithful")
 * 12) "And I Am Telling You" (Jennifer Holliday cover)
 * 13) "Summertime" (Ella Fitzgerald cover; July - August)
 * 14) "Save Me from Evil" (contains elements of "Where Does My Heart Beat Now")
 * 15) "The Middle of Nowhere"


 * Notes
 * During the show at Amsterdam's Heineken Music Hall, Althea dedicated "Summertime" to her late uncle Pavlos Botsaris. According to Althea, uncle Pavlos loved "Summertime" a lot. Pavlos Botsaris was born on 25 February 1949 but died on 28 June 2012.
 * Following the show in Liverpool, Althea added a cover of "Let It Be" after "Mysterious".
 * After Helsinki, the cover of Ella Fitzgerald's "Summertime" was scrapped altogether from the set list. During the Asian leg, "Summertime" was replaced with an Andy Williams medley, shortly after Althea told the audience about the recently-occurred death of Williams. The medley went in this order: "Speak Softly Love", "Fly by Night", "Moon River"

Reaction
In reviewing Althea's concert at Copenhagen's B&W Hallerne, a member of The Copenhagen Post wrote: "Althea's pitch-perfect vocals and powerful range make it a show to remember, and she keeps things professional when it's just her, a [colored] microphone, her cousin at the piano, several live musicians, etc. Seriously, this was one hell of an [excellent] evening!" A reviewer from The Echo wrote on Althea's concert at Dublin's Simmonscourt Pavilion: "It takes a powerful [Etta James-oriented] voice and strong techniques to take Ireland by storm, and that's exactly what Althea has when traveling [all the way] from New Zealand to get to the Emerald Isle. Not too bad for a 12-year-old." Althea received further positive reviews during the tour.

Tour dates

 * Cancellations