The Watch the Throne Tour was a co-headlining concert tour by American rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West that began on October 28, 2011, in Atlanta and continued until June 22, 2012, with its final show scheduled in Birmingham. Originally scheduled for 23 performances, the tour was expanded to 34 performances in North America due to heavy demand for tickets; 29 shows were confirmed in the United States with 5 shows in Canada. Following massive success in the United States and Canada, Jay-Z & Kanye West announced the European leg of the tour on February 21, 2012, which featured 23 performances, bringing the number of shows to 57 at the time.
Following the Glow in the Dark Tour, it marked West's first concert tour after four years, excluding his ultimately cancelled Fame Kills tour with Lady Gaga. It followed Jay-Z's opening act for U2 at the U2 360° Tour and his The Home & Home Tour with Eminem. The concerts, which had no opening act of their own, were in support of West and Jay-Z's 2011 album Watch the Throne, with most of the album's track-list performed, such as singles "Otis", "Lift Off", "Niggas in Paris" and concert opener "H•A•M". Additional West singles like "Gold Digger", "Stronger", "Heartless" and "All of the Lights" and Jay-Z singles like "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)", "99 Problems", "Run This Town", and "Empire State of Mind" were also performed.
The critical and box office performance of the tour received rave reviews, with critics praising the production value, the elaborate stage design, and the large string of successful singles featured. The tour had very little promotion before its premiere, with the exception being behind-the-scene concert footage sponsored by Voyr. It grossed $48.3 million in North America in 2011 and $25.4 million in Europe in 2012. Overall, the tour would gross $75.4 million ($103.27 million in 2024 dollars).
Background
On July 25, 2011, Jay-Z and West announced the release of their collaborative studio album Watch the Throne and an accompanying tour. The album was set for release on August 8, with tickets simultaneously being made available for the Watch the Throne Tour's North American leg from September 22 to November 3, 2011. On February 21, 2012, Jay-Z and West announced 12 European tour dates running from May 20 to June 13. Three tour dates at The O2 Arena in London and one at Manchester Arena were added three days later, starting the tour earlier on May 18 with one of the London concerts. On March 5, 2012, Jay-Z and West added dates in Birmingham, Sheffield, and Cologne after a strong response to their announcement of the tour's European leg, running up until June 22.
Concert synopsis
The tour's shows began with West and Jay-Z "emerging on two cube-shaped mini stages to the operatic sounds of "H•A•M". Following that, "Who Gon Stop Me" was the next song, with "Otis" being performed with "a Givenchy – designed American flag flashing on the stage's main screens" after an extended introduction using "Try a Little Tenderness" by Otis Redding. Afterwards, West left the stage, and Jay-Z performed songs like "Where I'm From" and "Empire State of Mind", encouraging the audience to sing along. Kanye returned to the stage afterwards, performing his own songs like "Power", "Touch the Sky", and "Gold Digger", with the two of them eventually performing songs like "Run This Town", "Monster" and the remix of "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" together, where Jay-Z repeatedly told the crowd to "put your diamonds up", the sign for Roc Nation.
Mixing hits from both artists discographies like "Can't Tell Me Nothing", "Good Life", "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" and "99 Problems", the show then segued into West performing "Runaway" and "Heartless", which has been described as an "emotional highlight of the show". The most energetic part of the show has been reported to be during "Niggas in Paris" as "the track's Will Ferrell intro ("We're gonna skate to one song and one song only") brought on the moment that everyone was waiting for." "Niggas in Paris" was originally performed three times in a row, but as the tour progressed, the song was regularly performed up to ten times in succession, with the record being 11 times in Paris, France. Following other Watch the Throne tracks like "No Church in the Wild" and "Lift Off", the show ended with "Encore" and an rendition of "Made in America", complete with images of Martin Luther King Jr. and "sweet brother" Malcolm X flashing on the big screen. USA Today described the stage design:
This show was visually spectacular. There was a main, T-shaped stage where both entertainers performed together, and also two cube-shaped mini stages, one at each end of the arena, that rose and lowered at various points during the show. West and Jay-Z performed separately on these cubes, which showed various images (a snarling Rottweiler, a swimming shark) at different points of the show. Fireballs the size of car tires shot from the floor toward the ceiling during some performances. Two large video screens behind the main stage showed appropriate images during the performances; a virtually non-stop laser light show added to the oomph factor.
Reception Critical reception towards the tour was positive. MTV News gave the opening show a good review, writing "While the WTT album has been noted for its opulent displays of wealth, Hov and Yeezy's show will be marked by the duo's overabundance of hit records." USA Today praised the duo's ability to get the audience excited, stating "at one point, as Jay-Z and West performed Niggas in Paris from their new hit CD, "Watch the Throne", West exhorted the audience to "Bounce! Bounce!" The resulting stomping had Philips Arena rocking and shaking in a way that it hasn't for the Hawks in a long time." Rap-Up mused "it was a crowning moment for Jay-Z and Kanye West as they kicked off the Watch the Throne tour to a packed house at Philips Arena in Atlanta on Friday night. The hip-hop kings, collectively known as The Throne, opened the most anticipated hip-hop tour of the year with a bang." Idolator stated that the tour featured "an epic set list that featured selections from each artist's own behemoth catalog of hits as well as their Watch The Throne collaborations." The tour has grossed $48.3 million so far by the end of 2011, making it the highest grossing hip-hop tour and the eighth highest-grossing tour of 2011. In 2017, Rolling Stone listed it in its list of "The 50 Greatest Concerts of the Last 50 Years". In 2019, Consequence of Sound named it the third best tour of the 2010s. The tour won best live stage show at the 2012 International Laser Display Association Awards
In a 2011 interview with Rolling Stone, comedian Chris Rock said; "This might be the greatest show I ever saw. It's the equivalent of the Billy Joel-Elton John tour, but if they did it in 1979, when the songs were hot!"
Set list The following set list was performed on May 21, 2012 in London, England and is not intended to represent a majority of the performances throughout the tour.
"H•A•M" "Who Gon Stop Me" "Otis" "Welcome to the Jungle" "Gotta Have It" "Where I'm From" "Nigga What, Nigga Who (Originator 99)" "Can't Tell Me Nothing" "All Falls Down" "Flashing Lights" "Jesus Walks" "Diamonds from Sierra Leone"(Remix) "Public Service Announcement" "U Don't Know" "Run This Town" "Monster" "Power" "New Day" "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)" "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" "Empire State of Mind" "Runaway" "Heartless" "Stronger" "On to the Next One" "Dirt off Your Shoulder" "I Just Wanna Love U" "That's My Bitch" "Good Life" "Touch the Sky" "All of the Lights" "Big Pimpin'" "Gold Digger" "99 Problems" "No Church in the Wild" "Lift Off" Niggas in Paris Encore
Tour dates
Date City Country Venue North America October 28, 2011AtlantaUnited StatesPhilips Arena October 29, 2011 October 30, 2011 Greensboro Greensboro Coliseum Complex November 1, 2011 Baltimore 1st Mariner Arena November 2, 2011 Philadelphia Wells Fargo Center November 3, 2011 Washington, D.C. Verizon Center November 5, 2011East RutherfordIzod Center November 6, 2011 November 7, 2011New York CityMadison Square Garden November 8, 2011 November 14, 2011 Sunrise BankAtlantic Center November 15, 2011Miami American Airlines Arena November 18, 2011 Uncasville Mohegan Sun Arena November 19, 2011 Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall November 21, 2011 Boston TD Garden November 22, 2011 MontrealCanada Bell Centre November 23, 2011TorontoAir Canada Centre November 24, 2011 November 26, 2011 Auburn HillsUnited States The Palace of Auburn Hills November 27, 2011 Pittsburgh Consol Energy Center November 29, 2011 Kansas City Sprint Center November 30, 2011ChicagoUnited Center December 1, 2011 December 3, 2011 New Orleans New Orleans Arena December 5, 2011 Houston Toyota Center December 6, 2011 Dallas American Airlines Center December 9, 2011 Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden Arena December 11, 2011Los AngelesStaples Center December 12, 2011 December 13, 2011 December 14, 2011 San Jose HP Pavilion December 16, 2011 Tacoma Tacoma Dome December 17, 2011 Vancouver Canada Rogers Arena December 18, 2011 Europe May 18, 2012 London England The O2 Arena May 19, 2012 May 20, 2012 May 21, 2012 May 22, 2012 May 24, 2012 Zürich Switzerland Hallenstadion May 26, 2012 Herning Denmark Jyske Bank Boxen May 28, 2012 Oslo Norway Telenor Arena May 29, 2012 Stockholm Sweden Ericsson Globe May 30, 2012 Malmö Malmö Arena June 1, 2012 Paris France Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy June 2, 2012 June 3, 2012 Antwerp Belgium Sportpaleis June 5, 2012 Frankfurt Germany Festhalle Frankfurt June 8, 2012 Dublin Ireland The O2 June 9, 2012 June 11, 2012 Manchester England Manchester Arena June 12, 2012 June 13, 2012 Birmingham LG Arena June 15, 2012 Arnhem Netherlands GelreDome June 16, 2012 Cologne Germany Lanxess Arena June 18, 2012 Paris France Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy June 21, 2012 Sheffield England Motorpoint Arena June 22, 2012 Birmingham LG Arena
Box office score data Venue City Tickets sold / available Gross revenuePhilips ArenaAtlanta27,330 / 27,330 (100%)$2,888,7921st Mariner ArenaBaltimore10,758 / 10,758 (100%)$961,108Verizon CenterWashington, D.C.14,085 / 14,085 (100%)$1,927,601Madison Square GardenNew York City27,649 / 27,649 (100%)$4,330,393BankAtlantic CenterSunrise11,826 / 11,837 (~100%)$1,217,610Mohegan Sun ArenaUncasville3,894 / 4,468 (87%)$686,510Boardwalk HallAtlantic City12,746 / 12,746 (100%)$1,601,216Bell CentreMontreal10,856 / 10,856 (100%)$1,458,070Air Canada CentreToronto30,503 / 30,503 (100%)$4,109,270The Palace of Auburn HillsAuburn Hills14,097 / 14,097 (100%)$1,365,830Consol Energy CenterPittsburgh11,957 / 11,957 (100%)$902,105American Airlines CenterDallas14,608 / 14,608 (100%)$1,336,187Staples CenterLos Angeles42,332 / 42,332 (100%)$5,104,455Tacoma DomeTacoma10,861 / 11,443 (94%)$1,088,898The O2 ArenaLondon77,117 / 81,955 (94%)$6,705,970SportpaleisAntwerp16,831 / 16,847 (~100%)$982,923TOTAL386,445 / 401,244 (96%)$40,079,477
Members The following individuals were members of the Watch The Throne tour:
Mike Dean Mano Omar Edwards Noah Goldstein
Che Pope Renelou Padora Don C Ibn Jasper Izvor Zivkovic Virgil Abloh Alex Rosenberg Matthew Williams Elon Rutberg Fabien Montique Tracey Mills Caitlyn Carpenter Hannah Christian Lara Holmes Ricky Anderson Sakiya Sandifer Justin Saunders Drew Goodman
Credits Creative Direction & Set Design: Kanye West & Es Devlin Additional Set Design: Bruce Rodgers Lighting Designer: Nick Whitehouse & John McGuire Video Designer: Geodezik
Notes London hosted the most Watch the Throne concerts (5), followed by Los Angeles and Paris (both 3). Rihanna made a special guest appearance on the third date (20 May) in London, performing her vocals on "Run This Town" and "All of the Lights". She is the only artist to have made a guest appearance on the tour. During the last date in London (22 May), Kanye West performed "Mercy" live for the first time.