“Well, at first we thought of just “The Onyx Tour” because onyx is a black gemstone and it’s supposed to ward off evil. And they actually, this is real, like they have black stones and um, mines and stuff like that Indians go to and they’re, like, really scared to even approach them ‘cause some of them are so strong and powerful, not in a bad way, but just the energy from them is like a…spiritual thing.
And um, the whole concept with the tour that I liked about it was that onyx… whatever light is reflected on it, that’s what it becomes and it’s kinda like being a character in a show. Whatever light is put on me, you know, performing as an entertainer and artist, it’s like, it’s like, you’re not set in your ways, you just kind of express yourself and that’s what you become when that light is set on you…
So I thought the whole onyx thing was really, really cool, but then to have it in a show and to make it more general and to tie everything together-The Onyx Hotel- since I’m traveling so much and I’m always on the go and, you know, going I thought, you know, to call the show “The Onyx Hotel Show” there’s a lot of things that we can do to, you know, make it smaller ‘cause “The Onyx” just in itself is so broad, I think “The Onyx Hotel” kinda limits it a little, which is good, so it’s not all over the place.”
- Britney Spears (attempting to explain the creative rationale behind the theme of her 2004 Onyx Hotel Tour - transcription taken from the In the Zone DVD).
I love you, but SERIOUSLY Britney?!! The “hotel” motif was just an excuse to have people dance around in their underwear atop erotically furnished motel beds. Need evidence? Click here for a link to a Youtube video for “Breathe on Me“ I don’t really see the shout out to Native American gemstone-mysticism, but perhaps I’m just not going “deep” enough :P
