Kris Allen, Adam Lambert and the American Idol Season 8 finalists performed their opening night concert in Portland on Sunday. The first show of the scheduled 50 city tour, highlighted some of the Idols most memorable performances from the show, including Alison Iraheta’s Barracuda and Danny Gokey’s version of Michael Jackson’s “P.Y.T”, which became an impromptu tribute to the late singer. Although the song was chosen before Jackson’s death, Gokey said, “It’s definitely to honor Michael Jackson. All that he’s done for music”.
Media sensation and runner up, Adam Lambert, performed a true “rock concert” style set, singing a medley of David Bowie songs . Season 8 winner Kris Allen closed out the show in an intimate “club style” set, singing his popular versions of “Ain’t No Sunshine” and “Heartless” before being joined onstage by all of the Idols for the closing numbers.
American Idol is on tour across the country, through September.
Dates are as follows:
| DATE | MARKET | VENUE |
| July 5 | Portland, OR | Rose Garden |
| July 7 | Tacoma, WA | Tacoma Dome |
| July 8 | Vancouver, BC | General Motors Place |
| July 10 | Sacramento, CA | ARCO Arena |
| July 11 | Oakland, CA | Oracle Arena |
| July 12 | San Jose, CA | HP Pavilion at San Jose |
| July 14 | West Valley City, UT | The E Center |
| July 16 | Los Angeles, CA | Staples Center |
| July 17 | Ontario, CA | Citizens Business Bank Arena |
| July 18 | San Diego, CA | San Diego Sports Arena |
| July 20 | Glendale, AZ | jobing.com Arena |
| July 23 | Dallas, TX | American Airlines Center |
| July 24 | Tulsa, OK | BOK Center |
| July 25 | N. Little Rock, AR | Alltel Arena |
| July 26 | Memphis, TN | FedExForum |
| July 28 | Tampa, FL | St. Pete Times Forum |
| July 29 | Sunrise, FL | BankAtlantic Center |
| July 31 | Duluth, GA | Arena at Gwinnett Center |
| August 1 | Charlotte, NC | Time Warner Cable Arena |
| August 2 | Greensboro, NC | Greensboro Coliseum |
| August 4 | Washington, DC | Verizon Center |
| August 5 | Baltimore, MD | 1st Mariner Arena |
| August 7 | Atlantic City, NJ | Boardwalk Hall |
| August 8 | Newark, NJ | Prudential Center |
| August 9 | Newark, NJ | Prudential Center |
| August 11 | Long Island, NY | Nassau Coliseum |
| August 12 | Long Island, NY | Nassau Coliseum |
| August 14 | Hamilton, ON | Copps Coliseum |
| August 15 | Rochester, NY | BlueCross Arena |
| August 16 | Hartford, CT | XL Center |
| August 18 | Boston, MA | TD Banknorth Garden |
| August 19 | Albany, NY | Times Union Center |
| August 20 | Philadelphia, PA | Wachovia Center |
| August 22 | Pittsburgh, PA | Mellon Arena |
| August 23 | Cleveland, OH | Wolstein Center |
| August 25 | Columbus, OH | Schottenstein Center |
| August 26 | Auburn Hills, MI | Palace at Auburn Hills |
| August 28 | Milwaukee, WI | Bradley Center |
| August 29 | St. Louis, MO | Scottrade Center |
| August 30 | Kansas City, MO | Sprint Center |
| September 1 | Minneapolis, MN | Target Center |
| September 2 | Rosemont, IL | Allstate Arena |
| September 4 | Madison, WI | Alliant Energy Center |
| September 5 | Indianapolis, IN | Conseco Fieldhouse |
| September 6 | Grand Rapids, MI | Van Andel Arena |
| September 8 | Reading, PA | Sovereign Center |
| September 9 | Wilkes Barre, PA | Wachovia Arena |
| September 10 | Bridgeport, CT | Arena at Harbor Yard |
| September 12 | Portland, ME | Cumberland County Civic Center |
| September 13 | Providence, RI | Dunkin’ Donuts Center |
| September 14 | Syracuse, NY | WarMemorial at OnCenter |
| September 15 | Manchester, NH | Verizon Wireless Arena |