The Flicker World Tour was the second concert tour by Irish singer Niall Horan, in support of his debut album Flicker (2017). The tour began on 10 March 2018 in Killarney, County Kerry. The tour then visited Oceania, Asia, Latin America, and North America where it concluded on 23 September 2018 in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Background On 7 September 2017, Horan officially announced via his Instagram and Twitter accounts that the first dates of the Flicker World Tour would be in Australia and New Zealand. Music Feeds reported: "Horan’s debut arena tour will hit Australia in June, and will see the singer-songwriter play tracks like "This Town" and "Slow Hands", as well as songs from his upcoming debut album. The tour will be supported by American singer-songwriter Maren Morris."
Dates for US and Canada were announced on 15 September 2017, along with the news that Maren Morris would be joining him as the opening act. The tour announcement followed the reveal of the cover of his debut album Flicker (2017) and its release date, 20 October 2017. Tickets for the North American shows went on sale on 22 September 2017. Horan added Latin American tour dates to the Flicker World Tour on 2 October 2017.
The European dates of the tour were announced on 6 October 2017 and Julia Michaels was announced as the opening act for that leg of the tour. The Belfast Telegraph reported: "Niall will kick off his 2018 tour at the 3Arena in Dublin on March 12. His other European dates include London, Manchester, Berlin and Amsterdam." Horan later added a second date to his show in Dublin at 3Arena after the first show sold out quickly. On 26 October 2017, Horan announced the last dates of the tour which included shows in the Philippines, Singapore and Japan.
Critical reception
The Flicker World Tour has received a fair amount of positive reviews from critics. Stacey Mullen of the Evening Times wrote about Horan's potential for a lasting career and talked about how his sound as a solo artist was different from the music made by his former band One Direction. She wrote: "While music fans expected a similar sound to the manufactured pop the band was renown for, Niall Horan went in his own direction and put on a show at the SEC’s Clyde Armadillo on Sunday night which proved he is a true artist whose early catalogue shows promise of longevity." For a review of Horan's concert at the Spark Arena, Rose Riddell of Coup De Main Magazine noted that Horan looked to be at home on stage and that he was "made for touring". She continued on to say: "After his first cover of the night - a folksy rendition of Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark", Horan brought out opening act Maren Morris to perform their duet "Seeing Blind", where their voices together live sounded just as good as on the record. An acoustic rendition of "Fool's Gold" saw the audience in awe of Horan, and "Fire Away" was an absolute set highlight - highlighting the total togetherness and musicianship of the live band."
In a review for The Independent, Roisin O'Connor stated, "Outside of that first solo, though, he’s an adept – and clearly improving – songwriter who seemed to require fewer co-writes than most major pop artists: his album’s title track is sensitive and endearingly romantic," giving the show in London 4 out of 5 stars. Matilda Elgood for Beat Magazine wrote, "Horan started the show gently, with "On the Loose", swiftly moving into crowd favourite "This Town". Horan has confidently distinguished himself away from the classic boy band sound of One Direction. And even though there was widespread doubt about the boys forging their own careers, Horan has successfully paved the way with his country flare." In his review for the show at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Matt Oberhardt of The Courier-Mail touched on Horan's showmanship and musicianship: "He played guitar for most of the concert and showed his musical versatility by even jumping on the piano for "So Long" (a previously unreleased song he has reworked for the tour)." Oberhardt added, "Fans had to wait until the encore for his biggest hit, but they were treated to a polished performance before that showcasing Horan’s strong vocals and clear stage presence."
Setlist The following set list was obtained from the concert held on 18 July 2018 in Woodlands, Texas. It does not represent all concerts for the duration of the tour, but is a representation of the latest North America leg.
"On the Loose" "The Tide" "This Town" "Paper Houses" "You and Me" "Dancing in the Dark" "Seeing Blind" "Flicker" "Fool's Gold" "Too Much to Ask" "So Long" "Since We're Alone" "Fire Away" "Finally Free" "On My Own" Encore "Drag Me Down" "Slow Hands" "Mirrors"
Notes During the first show in Dublin, Horan covered Thin Lizzy's "Dancing in the Moonlight (It's Caught Me in Its Spotlight)" and performed “Seeing Blind” with Ruth Anne Cunningham. During the second show in Dublin, a cover of U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name" was performed. During the show in Bristow, a cover of Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down" was performed. Prior to the Oceania leg, "Mirrors" and "On My Own" were switched. Prior to the North American leg, a cover of Camila Cabello's "Crying in the Club" was in the place of "Finally Free". Horan performed Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind" at the Wantagh, New York show. For the last 6 shows of the North American leg, Horan sang Eagles' "Life in the Fast Lane"
Tour dates + List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, tickets sold, number of available tickets and amount of gross revenue.DateCityCountryVenueOpening actsAttendanceRevenue EuropeBox score: Glasgow, March 18–19. 10 March 2018KillarneyIrelandINEC Killarney Wild Youth3,891 / 3,891$218,57412 March 2018Dublin3ArenaJulia Michaels 22,874 / 22,874 $1,270,30713 March 2018BelfastNorthern IrelandSSE Arena 9,904 / 9,904 $562,04015 March 2018ManchesterEnglandO2 Apollo 6,712 / 6,780 $333,67716 March 201818 March 2018GlasgowScotlandSEC ArmadilloJulia MichaelsLewis Capaldi 5,765 / 5,770 $302,91119 March 201822 March 2018LondonEnglandO2 Brixton AcademyJulia Michaels 4,921 / 4,921 $263,23724 March 2018CardiffWalesMotorpoint ArenaJulia Michaels 4,540 / 4,540 $237,26226 March 2018BournemouthEnglandWindsor Hall 4,072 / 4,072 $200,36527 March 2018BrightonBrighton Centre 3,620 / 3,620 $181,07429 March 2018DublinIreland3Arena 18 April 2018ParisFranceZénith Paris 5,838 / 5,838 $367,00219 April 2018CologneGermanyPalladium 3,995 / 4,000 $268,70221 April 2018BerlinTempodrom 3,154 / 3,549 $208,09222 April 2018CopenhagenDenmarkStore Vega 1,550 / 1,550 $154,28024 April 2018OsloNorwaySentrum Scene 1,500 / 1,500 $144,06325 April 2018StockholmSwedenFryshuset Arenan 2,390 / 3,400 $188,98827 April 2018HamburgGermanyMehr!-Theater am Großmarkt 3,260 / 3,267 $223,97728 April 2018AmsterdamNetherlandsAFAS Live 6,000 / 6,000 $295,69730 April 2018BrusselsBelgiumForest National7,398 / 8,000$335,4741 May 2018MunichGermanyTonHalle 2,100 / 2,100 $176,3603 May 2018ZürichSwitzerlandHalle 622 3,460 / 3,460 $214,4954 May 2018ViennaAustriaPlanet.tt Bank Austria Halle 3,358 / 3,365 $228,9136 May 2018BolognaItalyUnipol Arena 7,242 / 7,242 $456,3877 May 2018MilanMediolanum Forum 8,494 / 8,494 $520,0469 May 2018BarcelonaSpainRazzmatazz 2,045 / 2,045 $148,46011 May 2018MadridLa Riviera 1,765 / 1,765 $134,90812 May 2018LisbonPortugalColiseu dos Recreios 3,705 / 3,705 $234,646Oceania1 June 2018AucklandNew ZealandSpark ArenaMaren Morris 3,049 / 3,600 $181,0013 June 2018BrisbaneAustraliaBrisbane Entertainment Centre4,550 / 4,550$382,9235 June 2018SydneyQudos Bank Arena 7,462 / 8,000 $569,5577 June 2018MelbourneMargaret Court Arena 5,434 / 5,500 $429,432Asia 10 June 2018PasayPhilippinesMall of Asia ArenaJayda 5,202 / 5,776 $10,306 12 June 2018SingaporeThe Star Performing Arts CentreMing Bridges 2,577 / 4,547 $251,99914 June 2018TokyoJapanZepp DiverCity sugar me 2,400 / 2,400 $208,71115 June 2018Shinkiba Studio Coast 2,602 / 2,602 $227,415Latin America4 July 2018SantiagoChileMovistar ArenaMaren Morris 5,230 / 5,812 $435,3086 July 2018Buenos Aires ArgentinaEstadio Luna Park 8,036 / 8,036 $484,4058 July 2018Rio de JaneiroBrazilKM de Vantagens Hall3,264 / 5,412$164,69910 July 2018São PauloEspaco das Américas6,207 / 7,350$348,49713 July 2018Mexico CityMexicoPepsi Center WTC 14,392 / 15,472 $711,20814 July 2018North America18 July 2018The WoodlandsUnited StatesCynthia Woods Mitchell PavilionMaren Morris 6,982 / 14,115 $330,99220 July 2018DallasStarplex Pavilion 7,883 / 18,917 $350,31521 July 2018RogersWalmart Arkansas Music Pavilion 8,366 / 9,536 $314,82323 July 2018NashvilleAscend Amphitheater 6,490 / 6,833 $295,28325 July 2018CincinnatiRiverbend Music Center 8,267 / 8,886 $391,41226 July 2018Tinley ParkHollywood Casino Amphitheatre 9,288 / 26,866 $459,85328 July 2018TulsaBOK Center 6,187 / 7,897 $354,19230 July 2018West Valley CityUSANA Amphitheatre 9,362 / 20,000 $318,12031 July 2018NampaFord Amphitheater 3,839 / 4,044 $192,6702 August 2018AuburnWhite River Amphitheatre 6,613 / 16,000 $266,0814 August 2018Mountain ViewShoreline Amphitheatre 8,569 / 19,901 $341,0425 August 2018IrvineFivePoint Amphitheatre 7,905 / 10,100 $413,5127 August 2018Los AngelesGreek Theatre10,651 / 11,740$607,9958 August 201817 August 2018Chula VistaMattress Firm Amphitheatre 4,802 / 18,173 $242,66218 August 2018Las VegasPearl Concert Theater 2,236 / 2,236 $176,47220 August 2018MorrisonRed Rocks Amphitheatre 7,941 / 9,525 $533,65422 August 2018Kansas CityStarlight Theatre 4,275 / 6,901 $301,38323 August 2018Falcon HeightsMinnesota State Fair Grandstand 9,175 / 9,175 $512,15525 August 2018Maryland HeightsHollywood Casino Amphitheatre 6,243 / 19,000 $239,95426 August 2018NoblesvilleRuoff Home Mortgage Music Center 6,982 / 21,385 $290,13728 August 2018ClarkstonDTE Energy Music Theatre 8,132 / 14,629 $373,62529 August 2018Cuyahoga FallsBlossom Music Center 6,396 / 7,576 $271,18931 August 2018BristowJiffy Lube Live 7,851 / 20,442 $384,9372 September 2018AllentownAllentown Fairgrounds Grandstand 5,202 / 5,202 $293,6183 September 2018SyracuseChevy Court——5 September 2018TorontoCanadaBudweiser Stage 10,309 / 13,000 $537,8637 September 2018DarienUnited StatesDarien Lake Performing Arts Center 5,251 / 20,359 $263,8588 September 2018MansfieldXfinity Center 9,222 / 11,000 $532,44811 September 2018CamdenBB&T Pavilion 5,208 / 21,367 $251,17112 September 2018WantaghJones Beach Theater 7,109 / 13,215 $375,12414 September 2018HartfordXfinity Theatre 5,845 / 22,501 $257,77915 September 2018HolmdelPNC Bank Arts Center 15,610 / 16,806 $771,15919 September 2018CharlottePNC Music Pavilion 5,349 / 13,440 $254,51420 September 2018AlpharettaVerizon Wireless Amphitheatre 7,168 / 10,923 $309,25822 September 2018TampaMidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre 6,980 / 18,339 $300,51323 September 2018West Palm BeachCoral Sky Amphitheatre 4,638 / 16,873 $191,67430 September 2018RaleighCoastal Credit Union Music Park 4,459 / 18,812 $166,097Total 460,743 / 720,423 $24,742,932
Notes
The score data is representative of the two shows at 3arena on 12, 29 March respectively.
Cancelled shows Date City Country Venue Reason17 September 2018RaleighUnited StatesCoastal Credit Union Music ParkHurricane Florence
References