The Beautiful Letdown Tour

The Beautiful Letdown Tour was a massive series of concerts by the alternative rock band Switchfoot, played to audiences all around the world. It was the band's first real headlining tour, spanning six different legs, and was carried out in support of the band's double-platinum selling 2003 album of the same name. The band also made many late-night television appearances, thanks to the giant radio success of the singles from the album. The tour was depicted through one live concert DVD, Live in San Diego.

Itinerary

The band played the first show of the tour the same week the album was released, and sold out nearly every show in advance, including the top U.S. markets such as Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Chicago, Nashville and Los Angeles, notably selling out the famed rock venue The Roxy.

The second leg of the tour commenced October 23, 2003 at the Coca-Cola Roxy Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. This portion of the tour ran until November 7, 2003, where the band entertained a hometown crowd at the SOMA in San Diego, California.

The Beautiful Letdown

The Beautiful Letdown is the fourth studio album by alternative rock band Switchfoot. Released on February 25, 2003, it launched the band into the mainstream on the strength of two top 20 singles: "Meant to Live" and "Dare You to Move." The album was hugely popular and remained a staple on the Billboard 200 album charts for a considerable amount of time. The album sold over 2.7 million copies in the US and was eventually certified double platinum by the RIAA.

The album won an Album of the Year award at the 2003 San Diego Music Awards. It was ranked #195 on Billboard's Hot 200 Albums of the Decade.

Production

Recording and history

In 2002, the band entered the studio to begin recording of the follow-up to their 2000 record, Learning to Breathe. They were unsigned at the time, their contract with re:think Records/Sparrow having expired with the completion of Learning to Breathe. Bassist Tim Foreman has said that "this was the most freedom we had ever felt while tracking an album – no record labels, no distractions, just four guys making the record we'd always wanted to make." They finished recording in two weeks, but shortly afterwards, were signed to the major record label Columbia Records/Red Ink. This ultimately delayed the release, as the label submitted the album for further mixing and marketing. "Sony is a big battleship of a company," said lead singer Jon Foreman. "It takes a long time to turn it around. It's like parallel parking a Buick." It was finally released February 25, 2003 as The Beautiful Letdown.