| Tour by TLC | |
 Promotional poster for tour | |
| Associated album | FanMail |
|---|---|
| Start date | October 22, 1999 |
| End date | January 29, 2000 |
| Legs | 2 |
| No. of shows | 33 in North America |
| TLC concert chronology | |
The FanMail Tour is the debut headlining tour by American group TLC. The tour support their third studio album, FanMail . The tour visited North America with dates later planned for Japan and Europe. However, the international dates after the second North American leg were cancelled.
Most dates of the tour were sold out and the group would perform all the hits from throughout their career. The tightly choreographed concert featured a five-piece band, seven dancers, cybertechnics, and a giant-screen android named "Virtual Vic-E". [1] On September 27, 1999, TLC donated an exclusive track entitled "I Need That" to MP3.com, that the fans could download from the company's website for free. In exchange, MP3.com sponsored the tour and donated ten cents to the Sickle Cell Disease Association each time the song was downloaded. [2] [3]
At the time, TLC had to address the incessant rumors that they were breaking up. Lisa Lopes told the New York Daily News , "A lot of people are under the impression that I'm leaving the group. That's not the case..." She also added, "The magic of the group has everything to do with the chemistry between myself, Tionne [Watkins] and Chilli [Rozonda Thomas]...with TLC, it's like, if there wasn't something going wrong, it just wouldn't be right." [4] The tour wrapped up in their hometown of Atlanta, a day prior to Super Bowl XXXIV. Mayor Bill Campbell gave the group a key to the city and declared January 29, "TLC Day". On March 18, 2000, the group had a PayPerView special of the full live show in Atlanta, called TLC: Sold Out.
Shortly after the Atlanta show, all three members were offered $25 million to extend the tour into Europe and Japan, but backed out of it when Lopes instead requested time off to visit Honduras and to work on her debut solo album, Supernova . Even though Watkins and Thomas were unhappy with her decision, they reluctantly agreed to pass on the extension.
A few performances from their concert at MCI Center, Washington, D.C., on January 23, 2000, have later been included on their Japanese compilation TLC 20: 20th Anniversary Hits (2013).
The show was divided into five acts plus an encore. It began with a futuristic theme and an introduction by the giant screen android, "Virtual Vic-E", welcoming the audience to the show. After the video ends, all three members rise from the stage, each in different silver clothing to perform "FanMail" as well as "Silly Ho" and "If They Knew". The backup dancers wore purple raincoats and pants. [5] The first leg of the tour featured the girls wearing butterfly-themed outfits, but they were quickly replaced with the silver outfits for unknown reasons. After the end of "If They Knew", Lopes revealed a bag of mail received from fans in the city, and promised that she and the other members would read through it later in the show.
The show continued with the Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip era, in which the members performed "Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg", "What About Your Friends" and "Baby-Baby-Baby", dressed in white overalls surrounded with multi-colored spray paint in homage to their early image. Lopes also wore large pink sunglasses and a pacifier around her neck. [6]
Shortly before the beginning of the CrazySexyCool era, Vic-E detected an intruder backstage. The intruder, a man in a black hooded costume, revealed himself as an evil villain. He spotted the bag of fanmail and proceeded to steal it, leaving the band and the backup dancers too later to stop him. However, they barely had any time to mull it over, when TLC returned to perform "Creep" shortly after, unaware of the theft, with Lopes, Watkins and Thomas wearing silk pajamas, very similar to the ones they wore in the "Creep" music video. The backup dancers also wore pajamas. Lopes and Thomas each had their own platform on both ends of the stage, while Watkins was in the middle of the main stage. All girls were eventually on the main stage to perform Lopes' rap. Right after the song, "Red Light Special" followed, which again featured Lopes and Thomas on their separate platforms, but instead sitting on a chair and Watkins on the main stage. Several female dancers also sat on chairs, dancing seductively. [7]
The solos of each member followed shortly after the dance interlude of "Housequake", starting with Left Eye, performing an unreleased rap entitled "Crazy". She also did several magic tricks and played the keyboard. Then followed Chilli's solo, dressed as a cowgirl to perform "Come on Down". She was also accompanied by several female dancers also dressed as cowgirls. After the song, she was then lowered down the main stage. She re-emerged wearing a new costume which she, along with the rest of the members, then wore until the end of the concert. She would then pick a man from the audience and begin to perform "I Miss You So Much" with the man sitting on a chair and Chilli singing to him. T-Boz was last to perform her solo, appearing on stage dressed in a purple suit with a wooden cane to sing the first lines of the famous military march chant, "I Don't Know (But I Been Told)". She would then remove her suit to reveal a costume similar to Chilli's during the performance of "I Miss You So Much", to sing "If I Was Your Girlfriend", "Touch Myself" and" Dear Lie".
After the girls' solos was Act 4, entitled Rain. "Unpretty" was the first song of the act, which featured many children from the audience who came up to sing with them. "I'm Good at Being Bad", "My Life" and a salsa version of "Shout" were performed after. [8]
Act 5 commenced with Lopes finally noticing the missing bag of fanmail, and the group were informed by the band and the audience that the evil villain took it. Disappointed, the girls would turn to Vic-E, who would explain that the letters would not reveal the full strength of the bond between TLC and the fans, and assure the audience that TLC loves them. The girls then performed their signature song, "Waterfalls". The giant screen showed clips from the music video and water running. Backup dancers wore different colored shirts.
During the last show of the tour in Atlanta, Goodie Mob made a special appearance to perform their song with TLC, "What It Ain't (Ghetto Enuff)". "No Scrubs" was the final song of the show, which had Watkins and Lopes on the end platforms of the stage and Thomas on the main stage, with a dancer trying to give his number to her. They would all eventually end up back on the main stage together to perform Left Eye's rap on the song. Just as the song was ending, the bag of fanmail returned. There was a note attached to it from the evil villain, apologising for the theft, and explaining that he had written to them hundreds of times and they never wrote back. He reveals that he bought some T-shirts as an apology gift and placed them in the bag. The girls proceeded to hand out the T-shirts to the audience and to thank the crowd. All backup dancers then joined hands with Lopes, Watkins and Thomas to end the show. [9]
The tour received very positive reviews from critics. Natalie Nichols of the Los Angeles Times described the Anaheim show as: "...a thoroughly 21st century pop concert, with all the razzle-dazzle and sense of fun you'd expect [...] TLC delighted fans while underscoring the staying power that has made it the best-selling female trio in history [...] a seven-piece band managed to stay out of the way, playing TLC's blend of soul, hip-hop, funk and pop with surprising verve...However, this was one modern multi-platinum act that had plenty of meat to match the sizzle".
Darryl Morden of The Hollywood Reporter described the New York City show as "smart, sexy, stylish, sweet, daring, dazzling and diverse, the 100-minute performance Friday night was full of flash but grounded in personal charisma. Effects and gimmickry took a back seat to old-fashioned, engaging showmanship".
Variety's Troy Augusto described it as "an exciting evening of singing and dancing that delivered all of their hit songs in charming fashion".
Gene Stout of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer added, "Pent-up demand for the Atlanta-based trio's incendiary blend of pop, hip-hop and R&B made the evening a celebration."
However, Craig Seymour of Entertainment Weekly states, "...there were occasional signs of the strife that has divided Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes from her band mates Rozonda 'Chilli' Thomas and Tionne 'T-Boz' Watkins. At various points during the show, Chilli and T-Boz high-fived each other while ignoring Left Eye. Left Eye, in turn, strutted past the other two as if they were merely set pieces to avoid. Things heated up during a particularly aggressive rendition of 'What About Your Friends' when T-Boz appeared to glare at Left Eye while singing the lyrics, What about your friends/Will they let you down/Will they be around? NO!".
Act I: The Future
Act II: Back to the TLC Tip
Act III: CrazySexyCool
Act IV: Rain
Encore
| October 12, 1999 | Winnipeg, Canada | Winnipeg Arena | Cancelled |
| October 15, 1999 | Montreal, Canada | Molson Centre | Rescheduled to October 23, 1999 |
| October 16, 1999 | Toronto, Canada | Air Canada Centre | Rescheduled to October 22, 1999 |
| October 21, 1999 | Greenville, South Carolina | BI-LO Center | Rescheduled to November 2, 1999 |
| October 23, 1999 | Sunrise, Florida | National Car Rental Center | Cancelled |
| October 27, 1999 | Raleigh, North Carolina | Dorton Arena | Rescheduled to November 5, 1999 and moved to the Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena |
| October 29, 1999 | Auburn Hills, Michigan | The Palace of Auburn Hills | Cancelled |
| October 31, 1999 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | First Union Center | Cancelled |
| November 3, 1999 | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Civic Arena | Rescheduled to November 20, 1999 |
| November 5, 1999 | Uniondale, New York | Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum | Cancelled |
| November 7, 1999 | Cleveland, Ohio | Gund Arena | Rescheduled to November 18, 1999 and moved to the CSU Convocation Center |
| November 9, 1999 | Boston, Massachusetts | FleetCenter | Cancelled |
| November 14, 1999 | Washington, D.C. | MCI Center | Cancelled |
| November 18, 1999 | Cincinnati | Firstar Center | Cancelled |
| November 20, 1999 | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | Bradley Center | Rescheduled to November 26, 1999 |
| November 24, 1999 | Indianapolis, Indiana | Market Square Arena | Moved to the Conseco Fieldhouse |
| November 24, 1999 | Indianapolis, Indiana | Conseco Fieldhouse | Cancelled |
| November 26, 1999 | Rosemont, Illinois | Allstate Arena | Cancelled |
| November 30, 1999 | St. Charles, Missouri | Family Arena | Cancelled |
| December 4, 1999 | Las Vegas, Nevada | MGM Grand Garden Arena | Rescheduled to December 5, 1999 |
| December 5, 1999 | Las Vegas, Nevada | MGM Grand Garden Arena | Cancelled |
| December 6, 1999 | Tacoma, Washington | Tacoma Dome | Cancelled |
| December 9, 1999 | Los Angeles | Staples Center | Cancelled |
| December 11, 1999 | Oakland, California | The Arena in Oakland | Cancelled |
| December 15, 1999 | Houston, Texas | Compaq Center | Rescheduled to December 1, 1999 |
| December 16, 1999 | New Orleans, Louisiana | New Orleans Arena | Cancelled |
| December 18, 1999 | Charlotte, North Carolina | Charlotte Coliseum | Cancelled |
| December 19, 1999 | Atlanta, Georgia | Philips Arena | Cancelled |
| January 14, 2000 | Rosemont, Illinois | Allstate Arena | Cancelled |
| January 18, 2000 | Cleveland, Ohio | CSU Convocation Center | Cancelled |
| February 27, 2000 | Nagoya, Japan | Nagoya Rainbow Hall | Cancelled |
| March 1, 2000 | Osaka, Japan | Osaka-jō Hall | Cancelled |
| March 2, 2000 | Osaka | Osaka-jō Hall | Cancelled |
| March 4, 2000 | Yokohama, Japan | Yokohama Arena | Cancelled |
| March 6, 2000 | Tokyo, Japan | Yoyogi National Gymnasium | Cancelled |
| March 8, 2000 | Tokyo, Japan | Yoyogi National Gymnasium | Cancelled |
| March 12, 2000 | Cologne, Germany | Kölnarena | Cancelled |
| March 13, 2000 | Rotterdam, Netherlands | Rotterdam Ahoy | Cancelled |
| March 15, 2000 | Birmingham, England | National Indoor Arena | Cancelled |
| March 16, 2000 | London, England | Wembley Arena | Cancelled |
| March 18, 2000 | Dublin, Ireland | Point Theatre | Cancelled |
Band
Choreographer
Dancers
Production manager
Wardrobe and stylist
Tour production manager
Stage designer
Lisa Nicole Lopes, better known by her stage name Left Eye, was an American rapper and singer. She was a member of the R&B girl group TLC, alongside Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas. Besides rapping and singing backing vocals on TLC recordings, Lopes was the creative force behind the group, receiving more co-writing credits than the other members. She also designed some of their outfits and the stage for their FanMail Tour and contributed to the group's image, album titles, artworks, and music videos. Through her work with TLC, Lopes won four Grammy Awards.
TLC is an American girl group formed in 1990 in Atlanta, Georgia. The group's best-known line-up was composed of Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas. The group enjoyed success during the 1990s, with nine top-ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including four number-one singles: "Creep", "Waterfalls", "No Scrubs", and "Unpretty". The group also recorded four multi-platinum albums, including CrazySexyCool (1994), which received a diamond certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). TLC became the first R&B group in history to receive the million certification from the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for FanMail (1999).
Rozonda Ocielian Thomas, better known by her stage name Chilli, is an American singer, dancer and actress who is a member of the group TLC, one of the best-selling girl groups of the late 20th century.
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FanMail is the third studio album by American girl group TLC, released on February 23, 1999, by LaFace and Arista Records. The album title is a tribute to TLC's fans who sent them fan mail during their hiatus. FanMail debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling 318,000 copies in its first week of release, and spent five weeks at number one.
Tionne Tenese Watkins, better known by her stage name T-Boz, is an American singer and actress. Born in Des Moines, Iowa, Watkins rose to fame in the early 1990s as a member of the girl-group TLC. She has won four Grammy Awards for her work with TLC.
"Waterfalls" is a song by American hip-hop group TLC, released by LaFace and Arista as the third single from their second album CrazySexyCool on May 22, 1995 in the United States, followed by a United Kingdom release on July 24, 1995.
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"Girl Talk" is a song by American group TLC. It was written by band members Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes and Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins along with Anita McLoud, Edmund "Eddie Hustle" Clement, and Kandi Burruss for the group's fourth studio album, 3D (2002). Recorded a few days before Lopes' passing in April 2002, production on the song was helmed by Clement. Lyrically, "Girl Talk" has the protagonist warning men that if they lack in the bedroom, it will spread on the street amongst the women.
"Creep" is a song recorded by American singing group TLC for their second studio album, CrazySexyCool (1994). Dallas Austin, who tried to write the track from a "female perspective", wrote and produced it. It is based on member Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins's experience with infidelity. The lyrics portray the singers as women who cheat on their unfaithful lovers for "some affection". This context was controversial within the group, and strongly opposed by member Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, who threatened to wear black tape over her mouth on its accompanying music video.
R U the Girl is an American reality television music competition series that aired on UPN in 2005. The series featured Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas, the remaining members of the all-girl R&B group TLC whose former member, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, died in a car crash in Honduras in 2002. Initially promoted by the network as a contest to replace Lopes 3 years after her death, both Watkins and Thomas clarified that the winner of the contest would not be joining TLC full-time and would not be a full-time replacement member; the winner would only provide guest vocals on a new single by the duo.
"Dear Lie" is a song by American group TLC. It was written by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and band member Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins for the trio's third studio album FanMail (1999), featuring production by Edmonds. The song was released as the album's third and final single on December 6, 1999, peaking at number 51 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and reaching the top 40 in several other countries. "Dear Lie" is included on the group's 2009 compilation album, We Love TLC.
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CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story is a 2013 American biographical television film about the R&B and hip hop musical trio TLC. It derives its title from the title of the group's second album, CrazySexyCool. The film stars Keke Palmer as Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas, Niatia "Lil Mama" Kirkland as Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes and Drew Sidora as Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins. The film was directed by Charles Stone III and written by Kate Lanier. Thomas and Watkins also served as executive producers of the film.
The TLC 2016 Tour was a concert tour of American group TLC. The tour covered the United States, Canada, Japan, Philippines, Australia and New Zealand. The set list of the shows in 2016 included songs from all four studio albums of TLC's career. The tour comes as the duo plan to release a new album - their first in more than 14 years.
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