Purpose World Tour

Background

The tour was announced on November 11, 2015 on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. That same day, 58 dates in the United States and Canada were revealed on the singer's website. Due to overwhelming demand, additional shows were added in several cities. On September 30, 2016, Bieber announced Australian and New Zealand tour dates were to be released the following week. On October 25, 2016, two tour dates were announced for Mexico, as well as the South American and Central American legs of the tour. On December 5, 2016, Bieber announced on The Ellen DeGeneres Show he will tour stadiums in the United States in the summer of 2017, with dates announced later that day.

Concert synopsis

The show starts with a pre-recorded sequence in which he is "stuck inside a glass cube; then the real Bieber appeared inside a real cube" performing "Mark My Words", scrawling words like "hope" on the walls with a marker, while wearing a long white coat. Later, Bieber rises from below the stage in a large glass cube, "with the hydraulics pushing him higher" during the performance of "Where Are Ü Now", with holograms flashing about, while "Bieber's crew of dancers tumbled onstage in all-white attire as women suspended in midair did acrobatics against a chrome-y, industrial video backdrop." For "I'll Show You", Bieber is "trapped under a literal steel cage while firestorms and spinning whirlwinds engulf him." During the song's chorus, "an LED light show began flashing across its beams, covering him in exploding octagons and digital fireworks." During "The Feeling", acrobats twirled above him, while cosmic projections of Halsey are shown. Later, the performance of "Get Used To It" brought pyrotechnics, as well as movement from the platforms onstage.

The performance of "Love Yourself" has Bieber on acoustic guitar while seated on a red velvet couch down center stage. Later, the acoustic break also continued with a breezy solo rendition of "Home to Mama" and a new song called "Insecurities". After the acoustic set, "Boyfriend" is performed, with dancers in LED-laden black bodysuits creating "a light show" in choreography. Later, "Been You" is performed by Bieber and his dancers, featuring a "dance break", while in "Company", "a hidden platform anchored to the ceiling begins to descend and it turned out to be a giant, suspended trampoline, on which Justin completed a couple of backflips." "No Sense" is followed by the performance of "Hold Tight" and "No Pressure". The performance of "As Long As You Love Me", having a hard electric guitar riffs. Later, Bieber introduced his own act-two drum solo. Wearing a Marilyn Manson T-shirt, he "cheerily introduces and hugs elementary school-aged dancers" during the "Children" performance, which is followed by "Life Is Worth Living", where Bieber is backed by couples in stark white doing a contemporary choreography. In "What Do You Mean?", dancers on skateboards circled the singer, who by then had changed into a pair of joggers emblazoned with the Purpose tour logo. The performance of "Baby" was considered "playful", and later he performs "Purpose" at a white grand piano, The concert finishes with "Sorry," where Bieber stood with his dancers beneath a shower of artificial rain.

Critical reception

Dylan Rupert of Billboard praised his vocals for sounding "smooth as ever," while noting that the performance of "Company" was "one of the show's most thrilling (though slightly puzzling) moments" and praising the acoustic set. Marc Snetiker of Entertainment Weekly called it "a concert that shows, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Bieber is back. [...] Bieber had to prove that his comeback tour is exactly that — a performer's return to top form, not just a fluke of well-produced singles and hooks. That unfortunate weight did seem to bear down on Bieber during the entire show — he brought out no special guests and remained solemn throughout the night — but over time, its heft will diminish." Andrew Matson of Rolling Stone offered a very positive review, declaring: "The concert was sublime vocally, visually and musically, Bieber and his scaled back band did justice to songs in a cavernous space, often elevating the material." [...] "Bieber sang for real, played the piano, acoustic guitar and rock drums all gracefully and danced with zero mistakes. Sure, his energy seemed tentative as his dancers did Matrix capoeira all around him, but the Purpose tour is off to a stellar start, showcasing a musician taking control of his art and an audience vibing along for his journey."

Mikael Wood of Los Angeles Times wrote about Bieber performance, stating: "His face expressionless, he sang with focused intensity — especially in "Hold Tight" and "Life Is Worth Living" — and danced in a powerfully unself-conscious way, as though he were simply a guy trying out moves for his own enjoyment." For Owen R. Smith of Seattle Times, "Nothing could topple the positive quality of the evening overall." Chris Macias of The Sacramento Bee noted that "[F]or all the spectacle, and the occasional lifting of his garments to show off those abs, the Biebs is a bit tentative as a performer." Francois Marchand of Vancouver Sun analysed the tour, stating: "But all in all it was entertaining and the songs on Purpose are excellent - smooth and steady, atmospheric and deep." Tony Hicks of Mercury News was mixed, noting that "while the visuals were impressive, they masked the fact that Bieber's voice sounded muffled most of the night. [...] He does deserve credit for being in control all night. But that comes at a cost. Until his hair became out of sorts, there wasn't a second that didn't feel scripted, including stints of our hero showing off his musicianship by performing with an acoustic guitar and doing a comically pedestrian drum solo."

In less favorable reviews, Adam Graham from The Detroit News noted the singer "sleep-walked through his choreography, made no attempts to mask his pre-recorded vocals and performed with the enthusiasm of a teenager being forced to clean his room." Jim Louvau of Phoenix New Times wrote: "You'd think that he'd show at least a perfunctory level of joy while performing on stage in front of thousands of ticket-buying fans, but at least outwardly, that was not the case." For MLive, Edward Pevos noted: "When Bieber was dancing, he wasn't singing much. He was also a bit unenthusiastic. It was as if he just wanted to get through the show at times. The microphone was often no where near his mouth while the backing tracks were playing."

Justin Bieber's Purpose World Tour comes to India in May and Bollywood Deepika Padukone is rumoured to perform alongside him.

Set list

This set list is representative of the show on March 9, 2016 in Seattle. It is not representative of all concerts for the duration of the tour.