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VICTORIA, B.C. -- Nelly Furtado says her so-called Get Loose Tour, which pulls into the Air Canada Centre tonight on the heels of her five-award Juno sweep over the weekend, is the culmination of her touring dreams.
"It's nice, because for the last eight years I've never really travelled with a full production of lights, visuals and dancers -- and this tour I've got all of that," the 28-year-old singer told Sun Media a few weeks ago, while sitting in the Mayor's Office of her hometown, just hours after Nelly Furtado Day was proclaimed. "And so I've spent eight years building my musicality so that now I can rely on that, but then I also have a great backup up there with all the production, which is kind of a treat for me. It's like working toward something."
Still, the Victoria-born, Toronto-based Furtado, whose third and latest album Loose was the best-selling Canadian album of 2006, says playing at home still makes her nervous, describing Canadian audiences as "quite cerebral. They really take it in. They don't necessarily scream the loudest but they appreciate it."
It helps that before arriving back in Canada, where she kicked off the homegrown leg on March 21 in Victoria, Furtado warmed up with 23 shows over five weeks of touring in Europe where she was definitely feeling the love.
"I had some amazing shows in Europe," said Furtado. "Particularly in Germany where the album was No. 1 for months and months and months. I had a show in Munich in an arena for about 12,000 people and I sang the quietest song with just the piano and you could hear a pin drop in the room and the level of appreciation and just listening was really touching for me. That's really a dream come true for me. I really wanted an album that would connect in that kind of way, where I could play arenas, and that's finally happened. And so it feels really good 'cause the songs are simple and I'm just playing the hits up there. I just play what they came to hear."
When it came to touring for Loose, which has spawned such hits as Promiscuous, Maneater, and Say It Right, she wanted the live show to reflect the album's noticeably sexier R&B-hip-hop vibe as she worked primarily with hot beatmaker Timbaland in Miami.
"I think the show's a little bit sexy," said Furtado, who changes outfits four times and is backed by four dancers and a six-piece band. "More sensual I would say, sophisticated I would call it. I keep the focus on the songs. Just kind of play the hit songs. The show was inspired by Miami. There's palm trees on the set. White palm trees and white stage and we have a little bit of that flavour going on. It's got a little bit of drama to it."
Furtado said her recent decision to make the foray into acting -- she appeared on episodes of CSI: New York and the soap One Life To Live earlier this year -- after taking acting lessons in Toronto, has also helped her as a live performer.
"Yeah, incredibly, really helped me let go, be able to escape more, into another personality on stage. It taught me a little bit more about the drama of performing. You know, my brother's so sweet. I arrived home at my parents and he had YouTube on and he said, 'Here, here's inspiration for (the Victoria) show.' And he pressed play and it was Barbra Streisand singing Send In The Clowns. And I watched it and I was like, 'Wow, I'm getting more into like the theatre of performing, the theatre of singing, the storytelling, 'cause I want to be doing this when I'm 80. I want to be up there doing this still and so I'm trying to dig in a bit."
Furtado balances work, motherhood
Nelly Furtado says being a mom on the road has its challenges -- and its joys.
Furtado brings her 31/2-year-old daughter Nevis -- she splits parenting duties with former boyfriend DJ Jasper Gahunia (aka Lil' Jazz), who is currently touring with fellow Canadian artist k-os -- on the road as often as she can.
"Our first trip with her was when she was two months old so she's grown up on planes, trains and automobiles," Furtado told Sun Media.
"We have some quiet moments at home, which are treasured. But we found a way to enjoy the rhythm of travelling. It's more challenging to discipline a child when you're travelling in your own schedule. You sort of bend the rules in certain ways, you're a little more lenient on certain things but there is a certain consistency that still comes out of it. There's still the same bed times and nap times and whatever."
The upside is that the presence of Nevis, who appeared on stage during the March 27 Calgary stop of Furtado's latest tour, makes mom explore her surroundings more.
"You get to a lot of different parks and playgrounds. It kind of gets me out more 'cause before when I used to tour, I didn't get out much, but now that I have a daughter, I actually go and see museums and zoos and things and experience the city a little bit more, which is kind of cool."
Backstage too, there are things for Nevis to do.
"We have a play-gym set up. She has her own room to play in and she loves my band and crew. It's like a travelling family or something. And she loves music. She loves singing and dancing. She's incredibly musical."
SET LIST
(From Nelly Furtado's March 21 Canadian tour launch in Victoria, B.C.):
- Afraid (On Video)
- Say It Right
- Turn Off The Light
- Powerless (Say What You Want)
- Do It
- Wait For You
- Showtime
- Crazy
- In God's Hands
- Try
- All Good Things (Come To An End)
- Sexyback (performed by her backup singer)
- Give It To Me
- I'm Like A Bird
- Glow
- Forca
- Promiscuous
ENCORE:
- Party
- No Hay Igual
- Maneater