The Wheels Up Tour was the fourth headlining tour by American country music trio, Lady Antebellum. The tour was in support of their sixth studio album, 747 (2014) that began on February 28, 2015, in Oslo, Norway,[1] and concluded on October 3, 2015, in Las Vegas. It was the forty-fifth ranked show of 2015, according to Pollstar and grossed $23.2 million.
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Background
On January 6, 2015, while appearing on The Talk, the trio first announced the tour with cities being announced shortly after. Lady Antebellum will take the tour to Europe, Australia and North America. In North America the tour will be a part of Live Nation's Country Megaticket.[3] The tour's name "Wheels Up" is played off from the title of the band's current album, 747, like a plane taking off.[4]
Band member Charles Kelley says about the tour, "The magic of being with fans from all over the country is really why we're ultimately all here." "Being able to play off each other on that stage is honestly where we have the most fun, and I have a feeling the crowd will already be on their feet when we get out there after starting the night with Hunter and Sam!" [1]
Production
For the show's production it was designed to match the music of Lady Antebellum, according to production designer, Bruce Rodgers. He also went on to stay that their music inspired it. The stage is designed to give a 3D look by using an oval shaped portal, a video screen, a latticework of LED lights, and three lighting pods that can play at different elevations.[4]
Concert synopsis
The show begins with the instrumental of "Long Stretch of Love" with the video screen being the only thing lit up. The image on the screen is filled with colors such as blue and purple, in the middle is a speaker that moves along to the music. After nearly a minute of this the middle screen begins to rise and all three screens go dark. As it rises a bright light emerges and then when the light diminishes Scott, Haywood, and Kelley emerge through where the middle video screen was and start singing "Long Stretch of Love". The screen then descends back down. Lady Antebellum ends the night with "We Owned the Night".
