Holy Fvck Tour


The Holy Fvck Tour was the seventh concert tour by the American singer Demi Lovato. Produced by Live Nation Entertainment, Lovato embarked on it in support of her eighth studio album, Holy Fvck. Consisting of 34 dates, it began in Springfield, Illinois, on August 13, 2022, and concluded in Rosemont, Illinois, on November 10. The tour visited both North and South America, with shows at Rock in Rio and two state fair festivals. Dead Sara and Royal & the Serpent were part of the supporting acts.
The set list included songs from Holy Fvck, as well as earlier singles from Lovato's discography and two cover versions performed as part of mashups: Ashlee Simpson's "La La" and the Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris". Some tracks received rock-infused rearrangements to match the album's sound. Critics gave the tour positive reviews, with praise towards Lovato's vocal performance.

Background and development

On June 6, 2022, Demi Lovato went to social media to announce her eighth studio album, Holy Fvck, which was dubbed as a return to pop-punk and rock music that she experimented with on her early career. The next day, she revealed that she would be embarking on its accompanying concert tour in 31 dates between August 13 and November 6. The American band Dead Sara and the American singer-songwriter Royal & the Serpent were revealed as supporting acts for selected North American dates. Following a hiatus of over four years without touring, Lovato expressed her excitement to "get back on the road". She also stated that she was "working so hard to deliver an incredible show for all fans". Prior to the start of the concert tour, produced by Live Nation Entertainment, Lovato shared a video of a rehearsal with an all-female band, performing "Substance", one of the album's singles.

Concert synopsis

Silhouettes would be projected to a curtain before it fell and revealed the performers; Lovato and her backing band—composed of guitarist Nita Strauss, drummer Brittany Bowman, bassist Leanne Bowes, and keyboardist Dani McGinley—would begin the ninety-minute long show to perform a series of songs from Holy Fvck: The title track, "Freak", "Substance", and "Eat Me". Lovato thanked the attendees of the concert and the band. They then proceeded to perform earlier singles from Lovato's discography: "Here We Go Again", "Remember December", and "La La Land", which was part of a mashup with Ashlee Simpson's "La La". Before singing "29", Lovato expressed her love to anyone who related to the song. Pop singles including "Sorry Not Sorry", "Heart Attack", and "Cool for the Summer" received a renewed rock-infused arrangemeent. The latter song was the final song from the show, performed as part of the encore along with "Happy Ending".

Reception

Several critics believed that the most powerful moment of the shows was the performance of "29" and Lovato's speech beforehand. Carl Smith of the Official Charts Company praised the "amazing" covers of "La La" and "Iris", and believed that fans of Simpson's album Autobiography were going to be "very happy". Other reviewers praised Lovato's vocal performance: Bobby Olivier from NJ.com felt that she "never appeared more at home", and Mike DeWalf from Riff Magazine believed that the performance of "Skyscraper" showcased "her versatility as a performer". Additionally, the former lauded the sound for being "well beyond chasing any pop-punk resurgence trend", while the latter said that the decision of bringing Dead Sara to the tour was "wise".

Set list

This set list was taken from the concert on October 18, 2022, in New York City. It does not represent all shows throughout the tour.
  1. "Holy Fvck"
  2. "Freak"
  3. "Substance"
  4. "Eat Me"
  5. "Confident"
  6. "Here We Go Again"
  7. "Remember December"
  8. "La La Land" / "La La"
  9. "Don't Forget"
  10. "The Art of Starting Over"
  11. "4 Ever 4 Me" / "Iris"
  12. "Sorry Not Sorry"
  13. "City of Angels"
  14. "Skyscraper"
  15. "29"
  16. "Heart Attack"
  17. "Skin of My Teeth"
  18. ;Encore
  19. "Happy Ending"
  20. "Cool for the Summer"
Notes
  • Dead Sara joined Lovato to perform "Help Me" replacing "The Art of Starting Over" in selected dates.
  • Royal & the Serpent joined Lovato to perform "Eat Me" in selected dates.
  • During the show in Inglewood, Simpson joined Lovato on stage to perform "La La".
  • During the first show in New York City, John Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls joined Lovato to perform "Iris".

    Shows