Moonshine Jungle Tour

Background

The Moonshine Jungle Tour was officially announced on February 10, 2013, after Mars performance at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, by William Morris Endeavor (WME). Instead of announcing everything together and sales later on the same week, WME decided to reveal the shows in an unconventional way. Consequently, two days after the Grammy's performance, the cities were unveiled. A couple of days later the dates and venues were announced. Finally, the tickets were made available two-and-a-half weeks later after the cities were disclosed. A promotional trailer and behind-the-scenes footage of the tour were released through Mars' official YouTube channel and website to further promote the tour.

WME decided to price each market differently, having a total of four different price points. In most markets each ticket would cost $62 (U.S.), while on bigger cities the tickets price were between $130 (US) to $140 (US). However, in minor cities the tickets were cheaper and its price points would not suffer great variations. One of the various points that was subject of attention was the decision to sell the front seats prior to the back ones. If that did not occur, it would mean that the front seats would be too expensive; The Moonshine Jungle Tour did not suffer from this problem. Unlike the prior tour, where Mars' live performances were circumscribed to theaters and ballrooms, in January 2012 it was settled that the concerts were scheduled to be in arenas. This decision was based upon his successful debut tour, not only for the amount of sold out concerts, but also due to his "dynamic performances". John Marx, an associate and personal manager at the music division of WME, explained, regarding the previous decision, that "analytics only give you so much...it has to do with what's in your gut and what you think." Since the beginning there were plans to schedule dates in United Kingdom and Europe, a leg of the tour that took around two months to be completed. Concerts were also scheduled in Australia and New Zealand for early 2014, as well as 40 stages in North America. In the end, more seats were added to venues due to overwhelmingly strong ticket sales. It was Mars' first world tour to not reach South America.

The tour was first scheduled to begin in February, having been booked a year in advance. Nevertheless, not only was the album, Unorthodox Jukebox (2012), released later than expected, but many tours were already scheduled in the first quarter of the year. This led to the tour being delayed until summertime in North America. According to Marx, this chain of events, along with the previous mentioned unusual announcements, were some of the factors that contributed to the success of the Moonshine Jungle Tour. Notwithstanding, Marx has run successful tours with several artists during the first quarter.

Development

After the tour was confirmed, Mars and his band started preparing for it. His manager at the time, Brandon Creed, said that Mars was more focused and excited than nervous. He furthered that the singer spent most of his time rehearsing, preparing, directing and choreographing everything. Commenting on the development, Creed said "We're going into rehearsals now, so I don't have much to share, but it's going to be ... incredible ... it's hectic, but it's amazing ... It's a thrill to work with an artist so talented". After evaluating the American Express and Citibank suggestions regarding a presale, WME decided not to pursue the idea, to which Mars' management agreed upon, a decision which ending up further promoting the Moonshine Jungle Tour. The idea was received with some skepticism within the team; some believed it was a good idea but most were reluctant and thought it was an awful idea, as buyers find presale a crucial element of tours. Cameron Duddy was chosen as the music director for the first leg of the North American tour.

Ellie Goulding and Fitz and the Tantrums were signed as the opening act for the first leg of tour in North American. Marx recollected that the team approached several agencies and asked for suggestions. In the end, Mars decided to pick Goulding, who was seen as someone who could assure sales. Marx was pleased with the tour development since everyone's efforts from The Smeezingtons to the label Atlantic Records proved to be fruitful to it. Despite having booked tours for acts such as Lady Gaga, Peter Gabriel, and Justin Timberlake, Marx confessed that booking this tour was among his most exhilarating experiences during the 37 years of career he has on touring. He added that the setup had also been "unique and special". The stage configuration would vary according to the sales, having three different configurations available before selling seats in over 180-degrees arcs from the stage. Nevertheless, due to the success, expectation was to go "into 240-degrees" and further; they ended up by opening and selling 270-degrees arcs from the stage and consequently breaking records in several venues, but they did everything to assure that all seats were suitable to experience the show the best way possible.

Concert synopsis

The first leg in North American opened either with Goulding or with Fitz and Tantrums performing their songs. The shows in Europe had Mayer Hawthorne has the opening act for Mars, while in Australia Miguel commenced the show. In January 2014, a second leg in North America was announced and included Pharrell Williams or Aloe Blacc as the supporting acts. Nevertheless, Williams left the tour due to scheduling conflicts after only opening two nights for Mars at the Madison Square Garden. He was replaced by Nico & Vinz. Fitz and Tantrums and Williams were considered to be worthy performers. However, Miguel was only considered a satisfactory opening act. As they finished their performance, a giant black curtain with drawings of gold palm trees was placed in front of the stage. A voice-over pronounced, "Welcome to the Moonshine Jungle" and suddenly the drape vanished. The band – consisting of Phredley Brown (guitar), Jamareo Artis (bass), Eric Hernandez (drums), Kameron Whalum, Dwayne Dugger and James King (horns), Phillip Lawrence (backup vocals), John Fossit (keyboards) – along with Mars came into focus, wearing matching red blazers, shirts with a cheetah and gold chains. As soon as Mars reached the microphone the music started.

"Moonshine" opened the set with Mars and his band "executing a series of slick synchronized steps". During the performance of the first segment and its follow up, "Natalie", which was a "hyperkinetically catchy" "booty-shaker", a giant screen behind Mars displayed flashed images and sounds of wild animals such as panthers, gorillas and parrots, who flapped their wings in slow motion. Taking a moment to invite the audience to dance and sing along with him to the Motown and soul-funk "Treasure", a giant disco ball descended from the roof reflecting dozens of bright gold lights and multi-colored laser lights flashed. The crowd responded enthusiastically to the music. The show also included several covers of songs by other artists mashed up with Mars' tracks. A cover of "Money (That's What I Want)" was mashed up with "Billionaire" and "I Need a Dollar" as Mars and his band "gyrating" with the fans. Afterwards, the stage would be colored with red, yellow and green lights during the "reggae jam" performance of "Show Me". He then performed a "90's-R&B homage" along with "demure sexual come-ons" by covering Soul For Real's "Candy Rain" and Ginuwine's "Pony". The latter was blended into the singer's "Our First Time". In the latter's medleys, Mars would sing R. Kelly's "Ignition (Remix)" and Sister Nancy's "Bam Bam". These covers would vary upon concert and could also include Ghost Town DJs’ "My Boo, Aaliyah’s "Rock the Boat", "Every Little Step" by Bobby Brown, Mad Cobra's "Flex" and Lloyd’s "Secret Admirer". "Marry You", the following track on the setlist, showed "the pleading doo-wop accents". In some venues it was preceded by The Desires' "Let It Please Be You".

It was followed by "If I Knew" during which Mars chose a girl from the audience so that he and his band mates could serenade her, in order to know who could impress the girl more. The recording could be interpolated with "It Will Rain" or "Nothin' on You". The latter could also be played solely. "If I Knew" plunged low and slow at the end, before bursting into the "50's-era rock" dance track "Runaway Baby" as the fans "erupted" when the singer channeled The Isley Brothers' on "little-bit-softer-now/little-bit-louder-now" routine. The singer closed the track "Young Girls" with the most vehement singing of the show, which also contained a portion of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper. Later on, the stage was left only to Mars and to two keyboardists, the former had a light appointed directly to him, as he introduced the heartbreaking piano ballad "When I Was Your Man" to the audience by saying that it was the most difficult song to write and sing. In this song Mars' showed his potent vocal range as fans loudly sang along with him. A piano solo lead up to "Grenade", which began as a "superhero theme" only to be played dramatic as a "bolero" with a rock interpretation. The singer showed not only his guitar abilities during the solo created for the track but also his powerful vocals, once more. Mars dedicated "Just the Way You Are" to the audience. It was played as an anthem making the crowd "sing-a-long" every single note. At this point the performers left the stage and as the fans shouted for an encore Mars returned to play a drum solo, as he did during the Super Bowl performance, with some James Brown's vocals sampled that led to the opening notes and first encore of the show, "Locked Out of Heaven", sung powerfully as golden confetti poured down on the audience.

The show closer, "Gorilla", was a "perfect, slightly naughty end to an all-ages gig where the boundaries were given a nudge", with laser lights, fireballs, confetti and fireworks blasting as Mars sung on an elevated platform. Throughout the tour various setlists were used. "The Lazy Song" was one of the highlights of the tour as the crowd sung. It also contained a comedic interlude when Mars’ backup singer and songwriting partner, Phillip Lawrence, shouted the verse of the track "OMG this is great!". At this moment, the music stopped, Mars introduced Lawrence to the fans and asked if they wanted to hear the same line again. "Count On Me" was only sung once, in Jakarta.

Equipment

Through the tour Mars and his band mates used Sennheiser microphones, with the former relying on the Sennheiser SKM 5200-II wireless transmitter and MD 5235 capsule. James Berry, monitor engineer for Bruno Mars, remembered "When I took on the Bruno Mars gig over two to half a year ago (The Doo-Wops & Hooligans Tour), he and the background singers were using a competitor's model. I just knew there was a better microphone and capsule combination for him". Over the time, every vocalist on the band changed the microphones they used, it all started with the background singers, followed by "the front-of-house guy" and finally Bruno Mars. The same brand of equipment was used for the wireless audio during the tour. Derek Brener, in charge of Wireless Touring Rig, is the front of house engineer for three to half a year ago.

Brener noted when Mars' audio infrastructure evolved substantially, when Berry took over the only model he would use was Sennheiser wireless. The latter's opinion was respected and trusted due to his experience in working with Beyoncé, Weezer and lots of other bands. Nevertheless, Berry and Brener tried several capsule and transmitter combinations before "settling" with a SKM 5200 handheld transmitter and a MD 5235 capsule. Berry stated that Mars is not only involved with him and Brener "on the way things sound", but also "has very clear ideas on what he wants and what he expects". Regardless of the place where Mars is going to perform he will only use Sennheiser; "there is no debating he wants Sennheiser, and that's what he's going to get", says Berry. As for the rest of the vocals and horns, the wireless system has ten channels of Sennheiser EM 3732-II receivers, seven SKM 5200-II transmitters with MD 5235 capsules and three SK 5212-II bodypack transmitters.

Critical response

The tour received generally positive reviews from critics. Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times gave the concert a rave review affirming that Mars' energy never runs out as well as the "seemingly effortless precision", which made the performance about itself. Wood finalized, "The harder he played, the easier it appeared to get." Holly Perry from AXS wrote that Mars was not only a "true artist", but also "an icon in the making". She concluded that the finale had the best production of the entire concert. Mike Wass of Idolator gave a positive review, as he witnessed Mars' "powerful" vocals and the band's "incredibly musicianship." He enlighted the singers "swoonworthy rendition" of "When I Was Your Man", the "rock interpretation" of "Grenade" and the Pharrell duet. Jason Lipshutz, Billboard magazine writer, felt that one of the most stunning things on the concert was the catalog of number one records he left off the live show and still make it impressive. He continued, saying that Mars is a pop artist with the "whole package", comparing him to "an ace Pixar movie". Lipshutz ended his review stating that Mars is one of the best live performers at the given moment. The Boston Globe's Sarah Rodman commented that the singer kept a high level of energy during the entire concert. She added, "much work, planning, and rehearsal went in to the show, but Mars made it look easy." Lillian Altman writing for The AU Review felt that "the chemistry between the nine performers was phenomenal", since the band enjoys performing together by dancing and interacting with the public. After the show's finale Altman confessed that it was the first time she was walking home "singing and dancing in the streets" after attending a concert or festival as she listened to Mars' tracks on her iPod.

The Birmingham News's Mary Colurso complemented Mars' capicity to demonstrate "major charisma", his vocals, the band who backed him up and the dynamic atmosphere in the arena. Colurso commented that Mars might not have the most deep and breathtaking music, "but he certainly knows how to get the party started." Chris Richards of The Washington Post said that it was a "one of those rare, thrilling, upside-down pop concerts", because Mars did not try to recreate the gleam of his most successful tracks, instead he reshaped the songbook at his will, which Richards found amazing. The reviewer also mentioned the wide ranges of genres that Mars approached, including "Motown, new wave, late-’70s funk, mid-’90s R&B" influenced by pop, which earned him various generations of admirers and fans. However, he criticized the singer for not claiming his own personality through all the "genre-jumping time travel" and for not adding the band name, The Hooligans, on the ticket, as well. Jim Farber from the New York Daily News praised the concert as it tried to recreate the 70's era regarding its entertainment. The reviewer compared it to some acts of that period such as The Jacksons, The Tramps and The Bee Gees. He enlightened Mars' voice matching its "purity, cream and range" to the "mid-period Michael Jackson". Farber compared Mars and Jackson as both of them are "pure entertainers". He pointed, "it hardly seemed to matter that the show wasn’t big on risk or depth."

John Serba of Booth Newspapers said that Mars lacks "the commanding presence of a superstar", in contrast, he gives nothing but consistency. Serba highlighted the production, which he found outstanding and diverse. Robert Copsey from Digital Spy thought the concert had avoidably "long breakdowns and interludes". Fortunately, Mars' band added energy to those. Copsey, considered it a small imperfection "in an otherwise stunning performance" from a singer who is just commencing his tours and shows. The New Zealand Herald's Bridget Jones dubbed the singer a "showman", as he is not only able to write a "catchy pop song and sing it impressively", but he also gives a pageant. Nevertheless, and considering his showmanship and prestige in the industry at this point, Jones disapproved of the "comedic set pieces", which were brought from the previous tour. In his concerts during this tour every critic noticed and praised not only Mars abilities on the drums and guitar solos, but also the special effects.

Accolades

The Moonshine Jungle Tour was nominated for three awards, "Most Creative Stage Production" and "Major Tour of the Year" in 2013, with the latter category also receiving a nomination in 2014.

Commercial performance

As soon as the tour was announced and in order to assure tickets were not over-priced, five cities were used as a "test". The result was promising as a minimum of 7,000 tickets sold per city. Such results could be due to the "huge success" of "Locked out of Heaven" and the Grammy performance. Despite the fact that these two factors could spike sales, in Mars' case "everything was very consistent". Eventually, most of the dates were sold out in North America. This high demand led to an announcement of more dates in several cities despite having chosen 44 dates to begin with, which according to Marx is "ambitious" since tours that go above 24 dates can result in a drop in sales. There were three main factors involved in scheduling dates: research of the market, optimism on what they thought they could sell and how they opened up the arenas. A second date in Chicago, could have been done, however they booked a date in Minneapolis, which culminated in a sold out show. In Los Angeles (L.A.), some shows had coincident dates with the Jay Z and Justin Timberlake concerts. Furthermore, the tickets for Mars' show were only available one week after the Jay Z/Justin Timberlake went on sale. Nevertheless, after the first sold out date in the city, a second date was scheduled and immediately sold out as well. Marx said that more dates could have been sold out in L.A, since they left at least 20,000 people in a "virtual waiting room" who could have bought tickets. All in all, and according to Marx, the team at WME was pleased with having sold 30,000 tickets, and decided to stop there.

Moreover, in Toronto there was a hold on the second date, but they ended up by re-launching and putting it on sale with 30,000 tickets being sold there. In Denver the first date was at Pepsi Center, though the arena was considered inadequate, therefore a second show was set at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre, which was chosen by the AEG team. Both shows were sold out in that day, with 18,000 tickets purchased. The only city where all the tickets were not sold was St. Louis at the Scottrade Center, since its capacity was increased to 16,000 and sold 14,000. However, Billboard reported 44 dates sold out of 48, which dragged approximately 666,926 people and grossed $46,417,795 million, after the conclusion of the first leg in North America. In Australia, the concerts were scheduled for February, 2014 and tickets were for sale in April, 2013 and by September of the same year 80% of the shows were sold out, including two dates in Sidney and in Melbourne, in arenas of 14,000 to 15,000 maximum capacity. The total intake of cash was above $1 million per each night in ticket sales. At that time nine dates were in sale and more were added. In New Zealand, Mars broke Vector Arena's house attendance record for a concert in "end stage" mode, with 12,142 people in attendance. The record in New Zealand contributed to a successful tour in Oceania with 10 sold out Arenas with total attendance over 130,000. After its end, the Moonshine Jungle Tour was reported to have grossed over $156,4 million, with Billboard Boxscore reporting a gross of $137 million.

Super Bowl XLVII halftime show and Bruno Mars act

After the Super Bowl XLVIII halftime show, which featured Mars as the headline act and the Red Hot Chili Peppers as the special guests, tickets for Mars second North American tour experienced high demands. He became the fastest entertainer to sell out three concerts at the Blaisdell Arena in Hawaii. Since the morning of February 3, 2014, many shows were sold out and only a few tickets were available on the primary market, the average price of a ticket was around $500 (US) on the secondary market. Ticketmaster also struggled to keep with demand, having to switch from their interactive seating maps for most events. The price for tickets on the primary market ranged from $49 (US) to $100 (US), however in bigger cities the price was between $70 (US) and $181 (US). On the secondary market, tickets for big venues had a wider price range of between $150 (US) to $600 (US). At these prices, Mars tour ranked amongst the most expensive in the U.S. during the summer of 2014, ahead of One Direction and Jason Aldean shows, which had the highest prices for an American tour on the same period. Two months after the Super Bowl, 27 of the 48 dates booked for the second leg on North America were sold out on the primary market. The only tickets left for those shows were available on the secondary market for a lower price than after the game. Nevertheless, the tour became one of the most expensive of 2014 due to the latter market.

Due to the huge tickets reselling activities that occurred during the week after the Super Bowl, and in order to limit that kind of profiteering, in February 2014 Hawaii Senate President Donna Mercado Kim introduced Senate Resolution 12, also known as the "Bruno Mars Act". It limits all ticket purchases within 48 hours of the on-sale to the physical box office. Therefore, ensuring that anyone who goes to the box office to buy tickets for a concert will certainly get one, dissuade ticket scalping. The State Senate in Hawaii passed the law.

Personnel

Credits adapted from several sources: