Barbra Live

Barbra Live
Tour by Barbra Streisand
Start dateOctober 8, 2012 (2012-10-08)
End dateJune 22, 2013 (2013-06-22)
Legs3
No. of shows
  • 2 in Asia
  • 6 in Europe
  • 12 in North America
  • 20 Total
Box office$66.3 million ($86.72 in 2023 dollars)[1]
Barbra Streisand concert chronology

Barbra Live was the sixth concert tour by American recording artist Barbra Streisand. Visiting North American and European markets, the tour was Streisand's first tour since 2006.[2] Barbra Live was the 22nd best-selling tour in the world during 2012. It earned $40.7 million and sold 154,287 tickets.[3]

In April 2013 it was officially announced that Streisand would continue the tour through Europe in the summer of 2013.[4]

The shows at Brooklyn's Barclays Center were recorded and released for home media as Back to Brooklyn.

Background

Initially planned as two shows to mark the opening of the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn, the show was billed as Barbra's Homecoming, since Streisand was born in Brooklyn. The shows sold out quickly and no further dates were added. On August 9, 2012 it was announced that Streisand would expand the series of concerts, opening in Philadelphia on October 8, 2012.[5] On September 14, three additional engagements in America were added. One of these dates included the Hollywood Bowl, where Streisand's 1967 performance, An Evening with Barbra Streisand, broke the Bowl's attendance record at the time with an audience of 17,256 people.

Reception

Critical

The concerts received mostly positive reviews and critical acclaim. The Ottawa Sun reviewed the concert at Scotiabank Place and wrote "Streisand's voice was truly exceptional. Intimate, yet on a grand scale, only she could do a concert that was small enough to feel personal, yet big enough to feel like a Broadway musical."[6] Miriam Di Nunzio from the Chicago Sun-Times wrote "At 70, the singer still possesses one of the most pristine voices in music, a voice that completely and sumptuously envelops a room, even one the size of the cavernous United Center. There is an intimacy and honesty in Streisand's delivery – a rare treat in this age of lip-synched, overblown concert extravaganzas."[7] The Jerusalem Post wrote on her opening night in Philadelphia, "Her voice (and cleavage) were better than many of the stars half her age that are currently touring."[8] The Vancouver Sun stated that "The perennially decorated singer/actor/writer/director left an indelible mark on her Vancouver audience with a performance that was pure, undiluted class."[9]

The show also garnered some negative reviews. The Oakland Tribune reviewed the San Jose concert at HP Pavilion and stated that Streisand relied too much on guest stars and wasted stage time with other performers. Jim Harrington wrote that the show "left too little time for what really should've been the focus of the night – Streisand's voice... I indeed look forward to seeing Streisand 'Some Other Time' and when it happens, hopefully she'll leave some of her friends and family members behind."[10]

Commercial

The first shows at Brooklyn's Barclays Center sold out within a day of going on sale.[11] After the show at the Hollywood Bowl sold out, an additional date was added.[12] A second London show at The O2 Arena was added following the demand for the first show, which sold out quickly.[13] A show in Paris was already on sale, but it was canceled to make time for a second show in Amsterdam.

Set list

This set list is representative of the official DVD track listing. It does not represent all concerts for the duration of the tour.[14]

Shows

List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, special guest, tickets sold, number of available tickets and amount of gross revenue
Date City Country Venue Guest Attendance Revenue
North America[15]
October 8, 2012 Philadelphia United States Wells Fargo Center Chris Botti
Il Volo
12,158 / 12,158 $3,044,990
October 11, 2012 Brooklyn Barclays Center 31,176 / 31,176 $9,327,948
October 13, 2012
October 17, 2012 Montreal Canada Bell Centre 9,997 / 9,997 $2,426,472
October 20, 2012 Ottawa Scotiabank Place 8,117 / 8,117 $1,893,484
October 23, 2012 Toronto Air Canada Centre 13,719 / 13,719 $3,781,896
October 26, 2012 Chicago United States United Center 13,496 / 13,496 $3,894,605
October 29, 2012 Vancouver Canada Rogers Arena 11,274 / 11,274 $2,652,666
November 2, 2012 Las Vegas United States MGM Grand Garden Arena 9,856 / 9,856 $3,352,001
November 5, 2012 San Jose HP Pavilion at San Jose 10,987 / 10,987 $2,472,870
November 9, 2012 Los Angeles Hollywood Bowl 33,507 / 33,507 $7,810,238
November 11, 2012
Europe[16]
June 1, 2013 London England The O2 Arena Chris Botti 24,594 / 27,799 $7,323,650
June 3, 2013
June 6, 2013 Amsterdam Netherlands Ziggo Dome Chris Botti
Jason Gould
Roslyn Kind
24,682 / 24,682 $6,417,017
June 10, 2013
June 12, 2013 Cologne Germany Lanxess Arena 12,807 / 12,807 $2,459,429
June 15, 2013 Berlin O2 World Berlin 11,022 / 11,022 $2,728,471
Asia[17]
June 20, 2013 Tel Aviv Israel Bloomfield Stadium Chris Botti
Jason Gould
Roslyn Kind
27,566 / 27,566 $6,742,868
June 22, 2013
Total 254,958 / 258,162 (98.7%) $66,328,605

References

  1. ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  2. ^ "All Barbra Streisand tickets on sale now! | the Official Barbra Streisand Site". Archived from the original on 2012-08-27. Retrieved 2012-09-09.
  3. ^ "Pollstar Year-End Top 50 World Tours" (PDF). Pollstar. January 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 June 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  4. ^ "Barbra announces new tour dates in Europe! | the Official Barbra Streisand Site". Archived from the original on 2013-03-23. Retrieved 2013-03-21.
  5. ^ "Barbra announces new concerts in the US and Canada, plus exclusive Fan Pre-Sale! | the Official Barbra Streisand Site". Archived from the original on 2012-08-11. Retrieved 2012-08-12.
  6. ^ "Barbra Streisand royally good at Scotiabank". 18 October 2012.
  7. ^ "Barbra Streisand a veteran tour de force at the United Center". Chicago Sun-Times.
  8. ^ "Barbra Streisand: From Funny Girl to Funny Momma".
  9. ^ Marchand, Francois. "Review: Barbra Streisand spellbinding in Vancouver". Archived from the original on 2018-07-16. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
  10. ^ "Review: Streisand show full of missed opportunities". 6 November 2012.
  11. ^ ">> Barbra Streisand Archives - News, Rumors - Concert Tour, New album, Memoir, and more ... Unofficial Site". www.barbra-archives.com.
  12. ^ Barton, Chris (25 September 2012). "Barbra Streisand adds second Hollywood Bowl date". Los Angeles Times.
  13. ^ "Barbra Streisand for new UK tour date". Digital Spy. 25 March 2013.
  14. ^ "Back to Brooklyn (Deluxe CD/DVD)". Amazon. Retrieved February 17, 2014.
  15. ^ North American box score data:
  16. ^ European box score data:
  17. ^ Asia box score data: