Kanye West To ‘Touch The Sky’ On Tour

Kanye West has tapped an all-star cast for his “Touch the Sky” tour, which comes on the heels of his #1 sophomore Roc-A-Fella Records release, Late Registration. Keyshia Cole, Fantasia and rapper Common will join Kanye on the tour, which is being sponsored by Verizon. "Performing live is the reason why we make this music, […]

Kanye West has tapped

an all-star cast for his “Touch the Sky” tour, which comes on the

heels of his #1 sophomore Roc-A-Fella Records release, Late Registration.

Keyshia Cole, Fantasia and rapper Common will join Kanye on

the tour, which is being sponsored by Verizon.

"Performing live is the reason why we make this music,

spend so much time and thought and craft on it," West said. "It’s

never been about the critics or the album sales. It’s about the fans, and I

love having the opportunity to bring this music – that I’ve poured my heart

and soul into – to them.”

West has critics. The rapper came under fire in various media

outlets after his recent comments that “George Bush doesn’t care

about black people” on a nationally televised NBC telethon.

The comments prompted a national debate on race and the President’s

handling of Hurricane Katrina and drew a response from First Lady Laura Bush,

who branded the comments "disgusting."

West also has fans. His new album Late Registration

debuted at #1 last week and sold over 860,000 copies in the first week of its

release, making it the biggest opening release in Def Jam’s history.

West’s second single “Gold Digger” recently

hit #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100, the Chicago native’s first #1 single since

“Slow Jamz” with fellow Chicago rapper, Twista.

“I think about how audiences are going to respond to hooks

and intros and certain lines when I’m in the studio recording,” West said.

“Bringing these songs to the stage is the ultimate fulfillment of the

creative process."

The tour kicks off October 11 in Miami, Florida and winds down

in Vancouver, Canada.

Tour dates are below:

Tuesday 11-Oct Miami, FL Convocation Center: Un. Of Miami

Wed 12-Oct Tampa, FL USF: Sundome

Thursday 13-Oct Gainsville, FL O’Connell Center: Un. Of FL.

Saturday 15-Oct Greenville, SC Bi-Lo Center

Sunday 16-Oct Knoxville, TN Thompson-Boling Arena

Tuesday 18-Oct Columbia, MO Mizzou Arena

Wednesday 19-Oct Champaign, IL Assembly Hall

Friday 21-Oct Buffalo, NY Alumni Arena

Saturday 22-Oct Detroit, MI Fox Theatre

Sunday 23-Oct Detroit, MI/Columbus, OH Fox Theatre/Schottenstein

Center

Wednesday 26-Oct Kingston, RI Ryan Center: UN. Of Rhode Island

Friday 28-Oct University Park, PA Bryce Jordan Center: Penn

State

Saturday 29-Oct Cleveland, OH CSU Convocation Center

Sunday 30-Oct Fairfax, VA Patriot Center

Monday 31-Oct Amherst, MA Mullins Center

Wednesday 2-Nov New York, NY MSG Theatre

Thursday 3-Nov New York, NY MSG Theatre

Friday 4-Nov Baltimore, MD 1st Mariner Arena

Saturday 5-Nov Hampton, VA Coliseum

sun 6-Nov Philadelphia, PA Liacouris Center

Tuesday 8-Nov Pittsburgh, PA AJ Palumbo Center/Peterson Evnt

Wednesday 9-Nov Toronto, ON ACC

Friday 11-Nov E. Lansing, MI Breslin Center: MI State Un.

Saturday 12-Nov Chicago,IL Rosemont Theater

Sunday 13-Nov Dekalb, IL/ Minneapolis, MN NIU Convocation Center/Excel

Center

Monday 14-Nov Northwestern University Welsh Ryan Arena

Tuesday 15-Nov Carbondale, IL SIU Arena

Thursday h 17-Nov Atlanta, Ga Gwinnett Center

Friday 18-Nov Greensboro, NC Coliseum

Saturday 19-Nov Statesboro, GA GSU

Sunday 20-Nov Birmingham, AL BJCC

Tuesday 22-Nov Oklahoma City, OK Ford Center

Wednesday 23-Nov Memphis, TN Mid-South Coliseum

Friday 25-Nov Houston, TX Reliant Arena

Saturday 26-Nov Dallas, TX Nokia Live

Sunday 27-Nov Kansas City, MO Kemper Arena

Tuesday 29-Nov Denver, CO Magness–Lecture Hall

Thursday 1-Dec Phoenix, AZ Dodge Theatre

Friday 2-Dec San Diego, CA Cox Arena/RIMAC

Saturday 3-Dec Los Angeles, CA Universal Amph

Sunday 4-Dec Los Angeles, CA Universal Amph

Tuesday 6-Dec San Francisco Bill Graham Civic Auditorium

Wednesday 7-Dec Las Vegas, NV M. Bay–Aladdin

Friday 9-Dec Portland, OR Memorial Coliseum

Saturday 10-Dec Seattle, WA Everett Event Center

Sunday 11-Dec Vancouver

GM Place