My Happiness (Powderfinger song) Touring and promotion
What tours did the song have?
What tours did the song My Happiness by Powderfinger have?
"My Happiness" was put on heavy rotation by Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM two months prior to its United States release, and Powderfinger signed a contract with United States label Republic as a result of the song's early success. Beat journalist Jayson Argall joked the song had received "a bit" of airplay. Although "My Happiness" was subsequently dropped from KROQ's roster, other radio stations continued to give the song high priority.  "My Happiness" peaked at number 23 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, making it the first Powderfinger song to appear on a Billboard chart. According to Susan Groves of WHRL, part of the song's success came about because very few people knew of Powderfinger, but were drawn towards "My Happiness" because it was "melodic, [and] pretty"--a change from what she described as "middle of the road rock" popular in the United States. Meanwhile, Australians were "starting to get sick of My Happiness"--Cameron Adams argued in The Hobart Mercury that this was one of the reasons Powderfinger decided to focus on the offshore market.  Powderfinger performed "My Happiness" live on the Late Show with David Letterman while touring North America with British rock group Coldplay. They were the fourth Australian act (after The Living End, Silverchair, and Nick Cave) to play on the show. The band also did free promotional shows leading up to the release of the single. In Europe, "My Happiness" received approximately four weeks of airplay on German music video program Viva II, and the band sold out for three nights in a row in London, partly due to the success of the single. CANNOTANSWER
Powderfinger performed "My Happiness" live on the Late Show with David Letterman while touring North America with British rock group Coldplay.
"My Happiness" is a song by Australian rock band Powderfinger. It was released via record label Universal Music Australia on 21 August 2000 as the first single from the band's fourth album, Odyssey Number Five. Powderfinger frontman Bernard Fanning wrote the lyrics for "My Happiness" as a reflection on the time the band spent touring to promote their work, and the loneliness that came as a result. It was inspired by his love of gospel and soul music. The rest of the band are co-credited with Fanning for composing the track. Despite its melancholy mood, "My Happiness" is considered by many to be a love song, a suggestion Fanning regards as mystifying.

The single is Powderfinger's most successful; it peaked at number four on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, number seven on the New Zealand Singles Chart, and number 23 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart—the first Powderfinger song to do so. In June 2020, the song was certified 5x Platinum in Australia. It won an ARIA Award and an APRA Award and topped the Triple J Hottest 100 in 2000 as well as coming 27th in the Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time in 2009. "My Happiness" was highly praised by critics, with even negative reviews of Odyssey Number Five noting it as a highlight, especially for its catchy chorus. One of the highlights of Powderfinger's United States tour with Coldplay was a performance of "My Happiness" on the Late Show with David Letterman; they were only the fourth Australian act to appear on the show.

In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "My Happiness" was ranked number 31.

Production and content 

The lyrics for "My Happiness" were written by Bernard Fanning, Powderfinger's lead singer and songwriter. The rest of the band are co-credited with Fanning for composing the track. The song describes feelings of love and separation; Sains Pennie Dennison said it described "the pining feeling you experience when you spend time away from the one you love". Fanning called it "a sad story of touring and the absence loneliness that comes with it". The extensive time spent touring took its toll on the band, and it was on the back of this that Fanning wrote "My Happiness". Thus, he expressed confusion at its being considered a romantic song.

"My Happiness" was attacked by some fans as being "like Lauryn Hill, bland and boring Top 40 bullshit"; guitarist Ian Haug rebutted by pointing out that the song was an example of the new emotional level on which Powderfinger made music, while Fanning was more aggressive in his defence of the song. In response to being dubbed "Mr Miserable" by The Sun-Heralds Peter Holmes for the lyrics of "My Happiness" and "These Days", Fanning pointed out that the songs could be construed either as melancholy, or as part of "the most hopeful record ... in a long time".

Much of Fanning's writing is inspired by non-rock music, and "My Happiness" is no exception. Gospel and soul music that is "unashamedly about love and how good it makes you feel" was common during the Odyssey Number Five recording sessions. Powderfinger worked hard in those sessions to ensure a more polished work than Internationalist; guitarist Darren Middleton concluded that "My Happiness", "The Metre", and "Up & Down & Back Again" were more "complete" because of the band's efforts. The lighter elements of "My Happiness" in comparison to some of the band's earlier work saw Fanning reveal his passion for several other musicians, such as James Taylor—something that "five years ago ... would have been an embarrassing thing to say".

Touring and promotion 
"My Happiness" was put on heavy rotation by Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM two months prior to its United States release, and Powderfinger signed a contract with United States label Republic as a result of the song's early success. Beat journalist Jayson Argall joked the song had received "a bit" of airplay. Although "My Happiness" was subsequently dropped from KROQ's roster, other radio stations continued to give the song high priority.

"My Happiness" peaked at number 23 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, making it the first Powderfinger song to appear on a Billboard chart. According to Susan Groves of WHRL, part of the song's success came about because very few people knew of Powderfinger, but were drawn towards "My Happiness" because it was "melodic, [and] pretty"—a change from what she described as "middle of the road rock" popular in the United States. Meanwhile, Australians were "starting to get sick of My Happiness"—Cameron Adams argued in The Hobart Mercury that this was one of the reasons Powderfinger decided to focus on the offshore market.

Powderfinger performed "My Happiness" live on the Late Show with David Letterman while touring North America with British rock group Coldplay. They were the fourth Australian act (after The Living End, Silverchair, and Nick Cave) to play on the show. The band also did free promotional shows leading up to the release of the single. In Europe, "My Happiness" received approximately four weeks of airplay on German music video program Viva II, and the band sold out for three nights in a row in London, partly due to the success of the single.

Release and commercial success 
"My Happiness" was released as a single in Australia on 21 August 2000. When asked how they chose the release date, Fanning jokingly said "the release date is timed to coincide with the Olympics, when all the visitors are here ... they can go into HMV and pick it up." At the time of the single's release, the band's previous album, Internationalist, was still in the top 50 on the ARIA Albums Chart, 95 weeks after entering. The single featured B-side "My Kind of Scene", which had already received strong airplay due to its appearance on the Mission: Impossible 2 soundtrack. "My Happiness" appeared on a Triple M compilation entitled Triple M's New Stuff, and on a Kerrang! compilation, Kerrang!2 The Album.

"My Happiness" entered the ARIA singles chart at number four—making it Powderfinger's highest-charting single in Australia—and spent 24 weeks on the chart. It reached number two on the Queensland singles chart, and peaked at number seven on the New Zealand singles chart, on which it spent 23 weeks. In the US, "My Happiness" was serviced to alternative radio on 13 February 2001; it was Powderfinger's first single to chart in the US, reaching number 23 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.

The song won the "Single of the Year" award at the ARIA Awards of 2001, and the 2001 "Song of the Year" APRA Award. Furthermore, "My Happiness" topped the Triple J Hottest 100 chart in 2000, and appeared on that year's CD release. Rolling Stone Australia named "My Happiness" "Song of the Year" in a reader poll. "My Happiness" was the eighth most-played song on Australian radio in 2001.

Critical reception 

"My Happiness" was critically acclaimed. Cameron Adams of the Herald Sun wrote that "My Happiness" did not disappoint in the trend of excellent first singles from Powderfinger, citing "Pick You Up" and "The Day You Come" as examples. He praised the song's structure, stating that "the verses almost crash into the chorus". Adams also expressed surprise that "My Kind of Scene" was only released as a B-side. The Newcastle Heralds Chad Watson described a mixture of acoustic and electric guitar and "a restrained yet warmly infectious chorus". Despite praising it as a "Big Rock Anthem™", Richard Jinman of The Sydney Morning Herald complained that "My Happiness" was not as "hummable" as past singles "Passenger" or "These Days". Devon Powers of PopMatters described it, and "Waiting for the Sun", as sounding bored. The Evening Mail agreed; it argued the "rock-lite" song, while sounding lush, failed to "make you really sit up and take notice".

Despite being highly critical of Odyssey Number Five, Allmusic's Dean Carlson labelled it, alongside "Odyssey #5", as one of the album's best songs, for the riff Powderfinger executed "better than most bands of their stature". Adams also enjoyed the song's "wobbly guitar", and Sains Christie Eliszer approved of the "acoustic strumalong", but The Advertisers Michael Duffy said the song was "a familiar piece of yearning guitar indie that is polished but pedestrian"; he reserved his praise for "My Kind of Scene", which he described as akin to the best of Internationalist. Darren Bunting wrote in the Hull Daily Mail that "My Happiness" was the best song on Odyssey Number Five, praising "soaring vocals, heartfelt lyrics and chiming guitar". Entertainment Weeklys Marc Weingarten said that on "My Happiness", "Fanning's heavy heart is tattered by scratching and clawing guitars".

Music video 

The music video for "My Happiness" starts at a railway station (Roma Street in Brisbane) with a boy and girl stepping off a train. As the pair leave the train, the boy turns and tries to reach for something, but the girl pulls him back. It is shown that he was reaching for a sentient slinky. The slinky leaves the train, and passes Middleton busking in the train station. The slinky ventures to find the boy, facing a range of challenges along the way; these include avoiding fruit falling on it and riding a skateboard. In the middle of the music clip, the slinky is shown making its way through a music room in which Powderfinger are performing "My Happiness". It rests on the bar and the band finishes playing, while the background music continues. As Powderfinger leaves, the slinky is picked up by Haug. He gets into a car and places the slinky on the car's dashboard, but it falls out the window as the car turns a tight corner. It lands outside the gate of a house and is picked up and brought inside to the boy.

The video was created by Fifty Fifty Films, who created numerous other Powderfinger music videos. It was directed by Chris Applebaum and produced by Keeley Gould of A Band Apart, with editing by Jeff Selis. Cameron Adams of The Courier Mail reported that following the music video's release, slinky sales increased dramatically.

Awards and accolades

Track listings 
Australian CD single
 "My Happiness" – 4:36
 "My Kind of Scene" – 4:37
 "Nature Boy" – 3:12
 "Odyssey #1" (demo) – 4:09

European CD single
 "My Happiness" (edit) – 4:11
 "Nature Boy" – 3:38

Personnel 
Powderfinger
 Bernard Fanning – vocals and tambourine
 Darren Middleton – guitars and backing vocals
 Ian Haug – guitars
 John Collins – bass guitars
 Jon Coghill – drums and percussion

Production
 Nick DiDia – Producer, engineer and mixer
 Matt Voigt – Assistant engineer
 Anton Hagop – Assistant engineer
 Alex Pertout – Percussion
 Stewart Whitmore – Digital editing
 Stephen Marcussen – Mastering
 Anton Hagop – Assistant producer
 Kevin Wilkins – Art direction and photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References 

Powderfinger songs
2000 singles
2000 songs
APRA Award winners
ARIA Award-winning songs
Polydor Records singles
Songs written by Bernard Fanning
Songs written by Jon Coghill
Songs written by John Collins (Australian musician)
Songs written by Ian Haug
Songs written by Darren Middleton
Universal Music Australia singles
The ObZen World Tour is a concert tour by Swedish metal band Meshuggah. It was in support of the band's sixth studio album obZen. It is the biggest tour the band has done to date; and the band has travelled to places around the world they previously have not performed in. In early 2009 Meshuggah has returned to North America on a tour with Cynic and The Faceless.

The Alive concert film was produced during the tour.

History
In 2007, Meshuggah returned to the studio to record their latest album, obZen, which was released in March 2008. The band spent almost a year on the album; their longest recording session yet. A significant portion of the year was spent learning to perform the songs they wrote; the recording itself took six months. obZen reached number 59 on the Billboard Top 200 chart and sold 11,400 copies in the United States in its first week of release, and 50,000 copies after six months. With this album Meshuggah got more media attention and new fans. The release was followed by a world tour, which started in the US and proceeded to Europe, Asia and Australia.

Song debuts
In the first North American leg, three new songs from the new album were slated into the band's setlist: Electric Red, Bleed and Pravus.
In the 2009 North American leg, Meshuggah debuted a full live version of the song Bleed. Up until then, live shows featured a shorter version, one similar to the video edit of the song. This leg also saw the debuts of the songs Combustion and Lethargica, also from the obZen album.

Typical setlist
Taken from show at Club Tochka in Moscow, Russia on October 4, 2008.
Perpetual Black Second
Bleed
Humiliative
Stengah
The Mouth Licking What You've Bled
Electric Red
Suffer In Truth
Rational Gaze
Pravus
Straws Pulled At Random
Future Breed Machine
Soul Burn (Encore)

Tour dates

 
 Meshuggah missed their date at the Whiskey Nightclub, with the official story that they did not have their paperwork in order and they were delayed trying to cross the border into Canada.

References
Meshuggah official tour dates archive from January 12, 2009 (link 1, archive from January 12, 2009 (link 1, link 2)

External links
 Official website
 Meshuggah at MySpace

2008 concert tours
2009 concert tours
Meshuggah concert tours
Concert tours of Europe
Concert tours of North America The No Shame Tour was the fourth headlining tour by British recording artist Lily Allen, in support of her fourth studio album, No Shame (2018). The tour started on 5 October 2018 in Santa Ana, and concluded on 17 August 2019 in Dublin.

In comparison with Allen's tour for Sheezus (2014), the tour is a smaller production, with Allen and two other people onstage. The setlist mainly comprises songs from No Shame but also includes older music by Allen, such as "Fuck You", "Smile" and "LDN".

The opening act for North America and Europe was Wolverhampton born artist, S-X.

Set list 
This set list is from the show on 13 October 2018 in Houston. It is not intended to represent all concerts for the tour.

"Come on Then"
"Waste"
"LDN"
"My One"
"What You Waiting For?" 
"Knock 'Em Out"
"Lost My Mind" 
"Smile"
"Party Line" (unreleased song)
"I'm Always on a Mountain When I Fall" (Merle Haggard cover)
"deep end" (Lykke Li cover)
"Pushing Up Daises"
"Three"
"Everything to Feel Something"
"The Fear"
"Higher"
"Family Man" 
"Who'd Have Known"
"Not Fair"
Encore
"Apples"
"Trigger Bang"
"Fuck You"

Tour dates

Cancelled shows

Notes

References

Lily Allen
Lily Allen concert tours
2018 concert tours
2019 concert tours
Concert tours of Australia
Concert tours of Canada
Concert tours of Europe
Concert tours of France
Concert tours of Germany
Concert tours of Ireland
Concert tours of North America
Concert tours of New Zealand
Concert tours of South America
Concert tours of the United Kingdom
Concert tours of the United States