credit goes to GMFan and PlanetGeorge


25Live 2008 North American Tour
As promised yesterday, GMFan.com brings you the latest
and currently complete list of 2008 North American Tour
dates first! Most of these dates have been confirmed by
third parties, a few are tentative and are based on ticket
sales for similar dates. We have also been told that based
on sales, other cities may be added.

www.GMFan.com
June
17 San Diego
19 San Jose - HP Pavilion
21 Las Vegas
22 Phoenix
25 Los Angeles - Forum
26 Los Angeles - Forum
27 Los Angeles - Forum (Possible)
28 Los Angeles - Forum (Possible)


July
2 Seattle
4 Vancouver
7 Minneapolis
9 Chicago
11 St. Louis - Scottrade Center
13 Dallas
14 Houston
17 Toronto
18 Montreal
21 New York City - Madison Square Garden
22 New York City - Madison Square Garden (Possible)
23 New York City - Madison Square Garden
24 New York City - Madison Square Garden (Possible)
26 Philadelphia
27 Boston - TD Banknorth Garden
29 Washington D.C.
31 Atlanta


August
2 St. Petersburg
3 Ft.Lauderdale

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USA TODAY: Tickets will go on sale Tuesday exclusively via an iTunes package.
Tour tickets will be available elsewhere beginning the weekend of April 5.

North America Tour Dates

USA Today: Tour dates and stops for George Michael's first U.S. tour in nearly 20 years:

June 17: San Diego/San Diego Sports Arena
June 19: San Jose, Calif./HP Pavilion
June 21: Las Vegas/MGM Grand
June 22: Phoenix/US Airways Center
June 25: Los Angeles/Great Western Forum
July 2: Seattle/Key Arena
July 4: Vancouver/General Motors Place
July 7: St. Paul/Xcel Energy Center
July 9: Chicago/United Center
July 13: Dallas/American Airlines Center
July 14: Houston/Toyota Center
July 17: Toronto/Air Canada Centre
July 18: Montreal/Bell Centre
July 21 and 23: New York/Madison Square Garden
July 26: Philadelphia/Wachovia Center
July 27: Boston/TD Banknorth Garden
July 29: Washington, D.C./Verizon Center
July 31: Atlanta/Philips Arena
Aug. 2: Tampa/St. Pete Times Forum
Aug. 3: Sunrise, Fla./Bank Atlantic Center
[Edited 3/23/08 22:46pm]

I think I might be going to my first George Michael Concert!!!

I can't believe he's coming to St. Louis. That has to be a misprint.

Fantastic. I'm so excited he's coming to DC. I'll be there. I've never seen him live before.

Tuesday, meaning tomorrow? I don't see anything on ITunes about this.

Oh, hellz yes I will do everything in my power to be at the Toronto concert!

VoicesCarry said:

I'm thinking of being in Toronto myself.

Hmmm Vegas or Vancouver or Toronto.

Geez there is more to Canada than Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto

Stymie said:

Awesome! Maybe we will meet

VoicesCarry said:

That would be awesome!!!!

My bf just renewed his GM fanclub membership, as they had great presale tickets for the Euro dates, and hopefully will have the same for the North American ones.

VoicesCarry said:

What's his website?

Stymie said:

http://www.georgemichael....e_step_one

a friend of mine got presale i'm going Opening Night!!!

ehuffnsd said:

The presale for the states has started?

Stymie said:

it sounds like it.

I believe the US presale starts March 31st.

*CORRECTION EDIT*
[Edited 3/24/08 15:57pm]

VoicesCarry said:

So I thought that tickets were gonna be available with the iTunes download tomorrow?

Stymie said:

Oh, I was meaning the fanclub presale.
[Edited 3/24/08 15:56pm]

the closest it's getting to me is Chi town...y'goin Stymie?

Slave2daGroove said:

Oh hell yes. Are you, S2DG?

Stymie said:

Y'know I've got to but I'm not sure how the $$$ is going to work now that my life revolves around this $20k wedding.

I've never seen him though and I love his music so let's stay in touch on this...summer will be here in no time.

July 11th...George Michael here I come!!! Road trip!!!!

Slave2daGroove said:

Don't forget to note me about the party after the wedding!!!

I'm going to try my best to get to the show in San Jose. But if I can't, It's gonna give me an excuse to make to LA for summer break!

This also motivates me to get my license I'm saving my money right at this moment.

starts looking around for pennies

Michael is so over that celeb fuss

By Will Keck, USA TODAY

[size=3]George Michael is on a sofa in his favorite pajamas, which are so old, he says, "the bottoms are ripped." 8o He's speaking by phone from London at the start of his Easter weekend.

To prepare for his upcoming U.S. tour, Michael has been dieting and working out with a trainer — carefully, so that he doesn't aggravate his back. He had surgery seven years ago, and he says it came "very close" to paralyzing him. Still dealing with an inwardly arching spinal column, he insists, "I've got to keep this back in check."

MORE: 25 Live reasons for Michael to go on tour

He has toned down his tough look, returning to his '80s clean-cut, pretty-boy glory days. "I still have facial hair," he says. "My hair is much shorter and browner. And I don't dye it."

Once on stage in the USA, he will wear his signature shades and a suit. But no more leather. Ever, stresses Michael, 44. "I don't want to look at other people my age in leather. Why would I put it on?"

Michael doesn't hold back, and he makes no attempt to paint a saintly portrait of himself. At one point, he encourages his interviewer to check out a "crude" video segment on the Internet from one of his U.K. concerts.

He mentions paparazzi are parked outside his home, as always. Sometimes, he will send them tea so "they know they're not getting to me."

But they have. The paps influenced his decision to get rid of a home not far from the site of his infamous 1998 Beverly Hills bathroom bust for committing a "lewd act" in front of an undercover police officer. He now says, "I find it too terrifying to go out in L.A."

Having spent years living down the incident, Michael appeared in December on pal Ricky Gervais' Extras series finale in a sequence mocking his reputation. In the scene, Michael is on a lunch break when he finds Gervais sitting on a bench. "Any action?" Michael asks the gay man sitting next to Gervais, who ends up telling a cop that Michael was in the bushes.

"I loved the script," Michael says. "English people have seen me get through scandals. But the thought that kept going through my head was: Americans would think, 'What are you doing, reminding people of that?' "

But Michael doesn't seem to care what people think. "I have the audience I deserve," he says. "Or at least I have the audience that represents the kind of people that I like."

Pushed to clarify who exactly is his audience today, he lets out a heavy sigh. "I don't know. It's still about 70% women," he says. "And now that I'm out (of the closet), there are a lot of gay men. For some reason, the gays in England don't like me very much, but in all those Latin countries … I'm getting good support because they see me as someone championing them."

And the chances of him giving America a new scandal while out on the road? "I really don't think so," he says. "I'm running out of ideas."

His partner of 12 years, art gallery owner Kenny Goss, is at their Dallas home through midweek, leaving Michael's two Labradors, Meg and Abby, as his only sofa snuggle buddies. "We're apart for a week at the moment, and it's killing me," the singer says.

Because Goss doesn't enjoy the touring, Michael plans to jet to their Dallas home as often as he can between U.S. dates. "That was one of the reasons I didn't commit to America until I'd done the European dates," says Michael, who also detests hotel living.

But he and Goss have no plans to wed, as did Elton John and David Furnish. "It's really not broken, so I'm not going to fix it," he says. "I don't see any reason to have an official form of ownership."

---
A swarming paparazzi presence coupled with a nasty legal spat with Sony Music nearly scared him away for good, but George Michael hasn't completely lost his faith in America. This summer, the British bad boy returns for his first U.S. tour in 17 years.

After performing more than 80 shows in Europe, Michael kicks off the U.S. leg of his 25 Live tour in San Diego on June 17 before heading to 19 other cities. The arena tour will showcase songs from his album Twenty-Five, out April 1 and featuring duets with Mary J. Blige and Paul McCartney.

MORE: Michael is so over the fuss

Why return now? Michael, 44, calls it a "rounding off" of his career's first phase. "I don't want to do anything on this scale again," he says. "No more stadiums. I'd like to be the Tony Bennett for my generation."

Disturbed by the increasing trend of downloadable music rendering CDs obsolete and talent shows such as American Idol taking the passion out of pop music, Michael says, "it's the end of a certain era, and I'm not sure how much I really want to be a part of what's next. So, it's a kind of a way of saying thank you to everybody before I move on."


But this is not a farewell tour for the Grammy winner who shot to stardom in the '80s with the band Wham! and crashed when he was arrested for lewd conduct in a Beverly Hills public bathroom in 1998.

Hoping to release more music in the future, Michael suspects he will offer it up to fans gratis to allow for artistic freedom. "There are other ways I can express the things I want to. And pop music stopped being a place to express much lyrically awhile back."

On Thursday, he plays himself in his first major U.S. acting role in ABC's Eli Stone (10 p.m. ET/PT), a series in which he has appeared in brief cameos.

He also is developing British TV programs and has received an advance from HarperCollins to write an autobiography, in which he would discuss the depression he suffered in the '90s.

Critical of his own work, Michael believes his U.K. tour was "too much of a party to represent what I've done."

That means hits Wake Me Up (Before You Go Go) and I Want Your Sex are out. "I'm too old," he says. "But they'll get Careless Whisper, which I don't particularly enjoy singing."

As he prepares to head stateside, "there are some improvements I can really make to the show. If I have anything to do with it, they're going to see the best show of their lives."

Tickets will go on sale Tuesday exclusively via an iTunes package. Tour tickets will be available elsewhere beginning the weekend of April 5.
http://www.usatoday.com/l...-george-mi chael-side_N.htm

I've been waiting for this news FOREVER! Does anyone know what the itunes deal is? There is nothing on the itunes site today. I am trying for San Jose and there has been no annoucement on the HP Pavillion site, it actually looks like there is a hockey game that same night. June 19th - I wonder if they mean June 20th or if they are going to another venue. I'm so excited! I've been waiting to see him live since 1987! Anyone have any updates?

I’m so excited. I can NOT miss this tour.

Oh I would go to this. I want to see his fine ass! He better shake it too!