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Black Eyed Peas prep for high-tech summer tour
06/12/2009 6:00 PM, Reuters
Gail Mitchell
The Black Eyed Peas are "trying to up our game" for the pop/hip-hop group's headlining tour, according to Fergie. The Peas' female member tells Billboard.com that she and her bandmates will begin rehearsals for the headline portion of their tour later this summer, after a run of festival appearances in North America and Europe. The group's new album, "The E.N.D.," has spawned a megahit in its lead single, "Boom Boom Pow," which has topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 consecutive weeks. "It's going to be the biggest tour, production-wise, that we've ever done. We're actually planning for that now, which we've never done before -- actually plan for a tour. It's usually just learn the songs by performing at festivals, and that's our show. But now we're stepping it up. We had some visuals before, but now we are going to have a lot more, and we're really excited about that." Fergie says the Peas will "utilize a lot of the technology that's out there" but adds that it's "too early" to get into specifics. "We're just now getting together what we're going to do for the festivals and are kind of just making an outline and putting in what we would like to happen (for the tour). So I can't really talk about it yet." The Peas' itinerary for the next three months includes stops at the Virgin Festival in Montreal, the Glastonbury Festival in England, the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and the Outland Lands Music & Arts Festival in San Francisco, among others, before heading to Japan in September. The group also opens five U2 shows in October. "That's going to be amazing," Fergie notes. "I remember going to see U2 in high school -- I went on two different dates to U2 concerts, so now to be on that stage, it's going to be challenging. We definitely have to bring it at those shows." Fergie also will be on the big screen this fall in "Nine," director Rob Marshall's film adaptation of the Tony Award-winning musical. Due out in late November, it stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench and Kate Hudson, and bills Fergie under her real name, Stacy Ferguson. "That experience was amazing. It was a breath of fresh air that I needed from touring," Fergie says. "So many of those actors are just the best in the game, and Rob ... I have nothing but amazing words to say about him. I really loved it." (Editing by Sheri Linden at Reuters)
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