Launched in support of her sixth studio album The Velvet Rope (1997), the tour visited Europe, North America, Japan, New Zealand, Africa, and Australia.

The tour's stage production was developed as a storybook setting, allowing spectators to cross beyond her "velvet rope" and experience her life story through the evolution of her musical career.

Catherine McHugh of Entertainment Design reports "Part of the reason Janet Jackson titled her latest record The Velvet Rope was to criticize barriers that separate different classes in society.

Jackson's spokeswoman said the tour's producers rejected proposed alterations, adding certain publications "sent back an image that colored Janet's bosom to appear as a sports bra.

"[4] The selected fan was required to be strapped into the chair due to safety concerns from Jackson's previous tour, after the participant had forcefully grabbed and fondled her while onstage.

"[8] The show's setlist consists of twenty-six songs, several band interludes and over twenty dance numbers, along with nine costume changes and four different sets, in addition to frequent pyrotechnics and theatrics.

Jackson performs an upbeat medley of "Escapade", "When I Think of You", "Miss You Much", "Runaway", and "Love Will Never Do (Without You)" across a "blindingly bright, poppy-induced set design" with varied props, which include a smiling clock tower, inflatable moons, mammoth chaise, vases, and books.

"The title of Janet Jackson's current album, The Velvet Rope, is intended to describe the emotional obstacles she perceives to exist in modern relationships, and to invite her fans behind her personal veil of the senses.

Sean Daly of Rolling Stone commended the show's "Vegas-style glam" and Jackson's "pure showmanship" as providing "a hellzapoppin' spectacle that featured enough over-the-top special effects to make Armageddon look like Driving Miss Daisy."

Its varied themes were contrasted with psychiatric thrillers A Clockwork Orange and Solid Gold, being "as damn freaky as it sounds", using a color scheme described as "a well-lighted explosion at the Crayola factory."

"[9] Sean Piccoli of The Sun Sentinel applauded the tour as a "birth of a new form of entertainment", effectively taking "music-video fundamentalism to a new extreme in live performance."

Jackson's "athletic, superchoreographed presentation" was considered "sheery sensory thrill", thought to have "made Spice World look like public theater."

Piccoli declared highlights to include the opening number, "an eerie incantation on the strangeness and isolation of celebrity", and the "explosively colorful" Control medley incorporating themes of "children's theater."

The tour's rendition of "Rope Burn", showcasing Jackson as she "coaxed a young man from the audience onstage for a veritable striptease routine – for which the fellow was strapped by wristbands to his seat", was also praised.

Although "those aren't terms normally employed in the pop-rock world", Hilburn applauded Jackson's credibility in portraying "a dazzling package, complete with snappy choreography, a colorful array of costumes and often striking staging."

[12] Its "eerie, robotic aura of a video game" was thought to be complemented by pyrotechnics detonated "At all the right, surprising moments", a troupe of "lockstep" dancers likened to "a phalanx of marching insects", and "stylized stage sets", ranging from "a child's nursery to a swing-era street scene.

"[14] Steve Jones of USA Today remarked, "Janet Jackson had a sellout crowd for the kickoff of her first U.S. tour in four years, and she blew the fans away with imaginative staging and sheer exuberance.

"[17] Similarly, Gemma Tarlach of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel observed, "A tiny dynamo of constant motion, Jackson strutted, slunk and grooved her way from one end of the stage to the other ...

"[20] James Sullivan of the San Francisco Chronicle observed her concert at the new arena "offered a career retrospective, punctuated by new material, periodic video diversions and fireworks."

"The show was a lot like an '80s flashback, though to its credit Jackson's eight-piece band—bass, guitar, drums and percussion, two keyboardists and two backup singers—added some inventive layering to her older hits.

[25] Jane Stevenson of The Toronto Sun exclaimed "pyrotechnics, set pieces and inflatables combine with non-stop singing and dancing for two hours of exhilarating entertainment.

[28] The tour's closing date at the Aloha Stadium in Hawaii broke attendance records, exceeding its original capacity to accommodate additional ticket demands, making Jackson the only artist in the venue's history to do so.

[32] A special edition double disc set was issued to Best Buy stores in Germany in other parts of Europe, including a seventeen-minute interview and tour photo book.

[34][35] In particular, Pink's rendition of the Divinyls' "I Touch Myself", depicting "a masturbatory fantasy brought to life", was considered "instantly" reminiscent of "Janet's Velvet Rope gropes.

Several performances and themes of Spears' Onyx Hotel Tour drew comparisons for its choreography and sensuality,[42][43] as well as a reworked lounge version of "Baby One More Time" sonically reminiscent of Jackson's "Rope Burn."

[46] In a documentary, Jay-Z revealed being inspired by a segment of Jackson's tour in which she stood in silence and stared at the crowd for several minutes to massive applause; imitating the technique during his own concerts.

An anecdote stated "Her performance of this song, when she brought a fan on stage for a strip tease during The Velvet Rope Tour has been co-opted by the likes of Britney Spears and Rihanna in later years.

"[44] Other artists observed to be inspired by the rendition include Pink, Beyoncé, Christina Aguilera, the Sugababes, Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj, and Chris Brown.

"[47] Katy Perry was also thought to emulate the performance on the California Dreams Tour, in which she brought a male onstage and "teasingly traced a finger down his bare chest and stomach.

[2] Dancer and choreographer Teresa Espinosa began her career on the tour and credits Jackson for her success, leading her to subsequently work with Britney Spears, Pink, Rihanna, Mariah Carey, and Selena Gomez.