The Greatest Love World Tour

The Greatest Love World Tour
Tour by Whitney Houston
Associated album Whitney Houston
Start date July 26, 1986
End date December 1, 1986
Legs 4
No. of shows 35 in North America
5 in Europe
7 in Japan
3 in Oceania
50 in total
Box office $5 million
Whitney Houston concert chronology

The Greatest Love World Tour is a concert tour and the first worldwide tour by American R&B/pop singer Whitney Houston, in support of her successful multi-platinum debut album Whitney Houston. The four-month tour began in North America on July 26, 1986 at the Merriweather Post Pavilion with an itinerary that included visits in Europe, Japan and Australia.

History

Houston's debut album was released in early 1985 and she performed at various clubs to promote the album. Following the success of the hit single "You Give Good Love", Houston became the opening act for singers' Luther Vandross and Jeffrey Osborne on their individual 1985 US tours.[1] After the next single, "Saving All My Love For You" became Houston's first #1 in the US, she began headlining her own shows, playing at various American theaters, festivals, and clubs throughout the summer and fall of 1985.[2] With more #1 hits on the way, and Houston's album at the top of the album charts, she would become a household name. She then embarked on her first worldwide tour, the successful The Greatest Love Tour. The tour started in North America during the summer of 1986, before heading to Europe, Japan, Australia and back to USA for a final show in Hawaii during the fall.

US Tour 1985

Setlist

  1. "Greatest Love of All"
  2. "Love Will Find a Way"
  3. "Someone for Me"
  4. "You Give Good Love"
  5. "Thinking About You"
  6. "Nobody Loves Me Like You Do" (duet with Gary Houston)
  7. "How Will I Know"
  8. "Saving All My Love for You"

Notes

Tour dates

Date City Country Venue
North America
June 3, 1985 Pittsburgh United States Syria Mosque Theater
July 12, 1985 Highland Heights Front Row Theater
July 13, 1985
July 14, 1985
August 8, 1985 Des Moines Veterans Memorial Auditorium
August 9, 1985 Merrillville Holiday Star Theatre
August 10, 1985
August 16, 1985 Houston The Summit
August 28, 1985 San Diego Humphreys Concerts by the Bay
August 29, 1985 Concord Concord Pavilion
August 30, 1985 Los Angeles Greek Theatre
August 31, 1985
September 27, 1985 Washington, D.C. DAR Constitution Hall
October 2, 1985 Chicago Park West
October 3, 1985
October 6, 1985 Grand Rapids DeVos Hall
October 10, 1985 Baltimore Lyric Opera House
October 11, 1985
October 19, 1985 Indianapolis Clowes Memorial Hall
October 28, 1985 New York City Carnegie Hall
November 20, 1985
November 23, 1985 Dallas Dallas Convention Center Theatre
November 24, 1985 Houston Houston Music Hall
November 30, 1985 San Diego Golden Hall
December 1, 1985 Los Angeles Universal Amphitheatre

The show

The show consisted of Houston on a fringed round stage in the center of the arena/theater with a 9-piece band playing and four backup vocalists behind her.[1] There were no costume changes or background dancers. Brother Gary Garland would replace Jermaine Jackson and Teddy Pendergrass on the duets. A young Washington, DC comedian Sylvia Traymore Morrison,(1st African American Female Impressionist), opened the show and did hilarious impressions of such stars as Dionne Warwick, Tina Turner, Cher and others.[1]

While on her first global tour, Houston revealed she was a creative musician; rearranging most of the songs during her shows and sometimes deviating from the album's version. In "You Give Good Love", Houston would slow it down and emphazise the soulful elements of the song, treating it like a gospel number while breaking it down with her background singers.[6] During "Saving All My Love", Houston arranged the song into a bluesy jazz number that recalled Billie Holiday. Houston often scatted with sax player Josh Harris during the end of the song.[6] Many critics noted "He/I Believe" and "I Am Changing" as the show's highlights. The former is a song she learned from her mother which joins the gospel songs "He Is" with "I Believe". The latter is a cover of the show Jennifer Holliday's show stopping Dreamgirls song.[6] After opening the show with a tease of the anthemic "Greatest Love of All", Houston closed out the show with a slowed down soulful version of the song.

Billboard magazine's Carlo Wolff said the following on his column for her show at Saratoga Performing Arts Center on July 28, 1986.

“ For the second date of her first headlining tour, the show was remarkably polished and emotional...A versatile, purposeful singer Houston may not be La Diva yet. But she is certainly La Divette.[7] ”

Opening acts

    Sylvia from Washington, DC, is the  1st African American Female Impressionist
    Sylvia went on a 20+ city tour with Whitney
  • Mark McCollum (comedian) (USA—Leg)

Set list

  1. "Instrumental Intro" (contains elements of "Also sprach Zarathustra" and excerpts from "Greatest Love of All")
  2. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"
  3. "Eternal Love"
  4. "You Give Good Love"
  5. "Hold Me" (duet with Gary Houston)
  6. "How Will I Know"
  7. "Take Good Care of My Heart" (duet with Gary Houston)
  8. "Nobody Loves Me Like You Do" (duet with Gary Houston)
  9. "Saving All My Love for You"
  10. "Someone for Me"
  11. "I Am Changing"
  12. "Heart to Heart"
  13. "All at Once"1
  14. "Didn't We Almost Have It All"2
  15. "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)"2
  16. "He, I Believe"
  17. "Greatest Love of All"

1 performed at select dates in Japan and Europe
2 performed at select dates in North America and Japan

Notes

  • July, August: for select dates, Houston performed "Memories" (she recorded prior to her debut album), "A Brand New Day" and a duet with her mother, gospel singer Cissy Houston.
  • Houston also added Kenny Loggins's US pop hit "Heart to Heart" and "I Am Changing" from the musical Dreamgirls as part of her set list for the tour.
  • Europe, Japan: on select dates, Houston performed "All at Once", which replaced "Didn't We Almost Have It All".
  • September 13: the concert in San Francisco, Houston brought out a cake and sang "Happy Birthday" to her father John Houston.
  • August, October & November: during the later part of tour, Houston was also working on her second album and would preview two new songs such as "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" and "Didn't We Almost Have It All".[1][8]

Band

Houston and John Simmons were friends from their church in New Jersey. While Houston was trying to get a recording contract, she would perform sets as part of her mother's nightclub act in New York. Simmons was her musical director. Houston asked Simmons to put together a band that would back her during her nightclub act and record label showcases.[9] The tour manager was Tony Bulluck, who remained her tour manager on several of her tours later, including the Nothing but Love Tour. Rickey Minor and Houston's brother Gary Houston remained band members throughout her touring career.

  • Music Director/Piano: John Simmons
  • Bass guitar/bass synthesizer: Ricky Minor
  • Guitar: Curtis Taylor Neishloss
  • Keyboards: Willard Meeks
  • Saxophone: Josh Harris
  • Drums: Brian Brake
  • Percussion: Kevin Jones
  • Background Vocalists: Gary Houston, Felicia Moss, Voneva Simms, Billy Baker

Tour dates

Date City Country Venue
North America[10][11][12][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]
July 26, 1986 Columbia United States Merriweather Post Pavilion
July 28, 1986 Saratoga Springs Saratoga Performing Arts Center
July 29, 1986 Boston Boston Common
July 31, 1986
August 1, 1986
August 2, 1986 Wantagh Jones Beach Marine Theater
August 4, 1986 Holmdel Township Garden State Arts Center
August 6, 1986 Wantagh Jones Beach Marine Theater
August 10, 1986 Atlanta Chastain Park Amphitheater
August 11, 1986
August 12, 1986 Nashville Starwood Amphitheatre
August 14, 1986 Cincinnati Riverbend Music Center
August 15, 1986 Louisville Freedom Hall
August 16, 1986 Indianapolis Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum
August 18, 1986 Cuyahoga Falls Blossom Music Center
August 19, 1986 Clarkston Pine Knob Music Theatre
August 20, 1986
August 22, 1986 Toronto Canada CNE Stadium
August 24, 1986 Ottawa Lansdowne Park
August 26, 1986 Montreal Montreal Forum
August 27, 1986 Philadelphia United States Mann Center for the Performing Arts
August 30, 1986 Hoffman Estates Poplar Creek Music Theater
August 31, 1986
September 1, 1986 St. Louis Municipal Theatre of St, Louis
September 7, 1986 Syracuse New York State Fairgrounds
September 8, 1986 Morrison Red Rocks Amphitheatre
September 12, 1986 Sacramento Cal Expo Amphitheatre
September 13, 1986 Mountain View Shoreline Amphitheatre
September 14, 1986 Concord Concord Pavilion
September 16, 1986 Fresno Selland Arena
September 18, 1986 San Diego San Diego Sports Arena
September 19, 1986 Costa Mesa Pacific Amphitheatre
September 21, 1986 Los Angeles Greek Theatre
September 23, 1986
Europe
October 10, 1986 Brussels Belgium Forest National
October 11, 1986 Rotterdam Netherlands Ahoy Rotterdam
October 17, 1986 London England Wembley Arena
October 19, 1986
October 20, 1986
Asia
November 4, 1986 Osaka Japan Osaka Festival Hall
November 5, 1986 Osaka-jō Hall
November 6, 1986 Nagoya Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium
November 8, 1986 Yokohama Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium
November 10, 1986 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
November 11, 1986
November 12, 1986
Oceania
November 15, 1986 Sydney Australia Sydney Entertainment Centre
November 16, 1986
November 17, 1986
North America[19]
November 30, 1986 Honolulu United States Blaisdell Arena
December 1, 1986
Cancellations and rescheduled shows
August 28, 1986 Geddes, New York State Fair Grandstand Rescheduled for September 8, 1986[20]
November 19, 1986 Brisbane, Australia Brisbane Entertainment Centre Cancelled[21]
November 20, 1986 Brisbane, Australia Brisbane Entertainment Centre Cancelled[21]
November 23, 1986 Melbourne, Australia National Tennis Centre Cancelled[21]
November 24, 1986 Melbourne, Australia National Tennis Centre Cancelled[21]
November 26, 1986 Perth, Australia Perth Entertainment Centre Cancelled[21]
November 27, 1986 Sydney Sydney Entertainment Centre Cancelled[21]

Boxscore data

Not all data are listed
Date(s) Venue City Ticket price(s) Ticket sold / available Ticket grossing
July 26, 1986[10] Merriweather Post Pavilion Columbia, Maryland $16.50 / $11.50 13,000 / 13,000 (100%) $176,267
July 28, 1986[10] Saratoga Performing Arts Center Saratoga Springs, New York $15 / $10 20,000 / 20,000 (100%) $218,735
July 29, 31, August 1, 1986[10] Boston Common Boston, Massachusetts $19.50 / $17.50 37,500 / 37,500 (100%) $667,065
August 2, 6, 1986[11] Jones Beach Theatre Wantagh, New York $22 / $20.50 / $17.50 20,600 / 20,600 (100%) $376,326
August 4, 1986[11] Garden State Arts Center Holmdel, New Jersey $18.50 / $11 10,600 / 10,600 (100%) $156,647
August 10–11, 1986[11] Chastain Park Atlanta, Georgia $22 / $20.50 / $17.50 12,702 / 12,702 (100%) $259,545
August 14, 1986[12] Riverbend Music Center Cincinnati, Ohio $20 / $11.50 16,289 / 16,289 (100%) $251,000
August 15, 1986[13] Freedom Hall Arena Louisville, Kentucky $10 15,600 / 15,600 (100%) $156,310
August 16, 1986[13] Indiana State Fair Indianapolis, Indiana $14.50 / $12.50 16,287 / 16,287 (100%) $225,965
August 22, 1986[14] CNE Stadium Toronto, Ontario $23.50 / $19.50 25,370 / 25,370 (100%) $465,286
September 1, 1986[12] The Muny St. Louis, Missouri $20.50 / $18.50 / $16.50 9,846 / 9,846 (100%) $189,980
September 8, 1986[15] Red Rocks Amphitheatre Denver, Colorado $24.40 / $22 / $19.80 8,950 / 8,950 (100%) $203,854
September 12, 1986[15] California Exposition & State Fair Sacramento, California $17.50 8,273 / 8,500 (97.3%) $144,778
September 13, 1986[15] Shoreline Amphitheatre Mountain View, California $18.50 / $15.50 15,211 / 15,211 (100%) $256,782
September 14, 1986[15] Concord Pavilion Concord, California $22.50 / $15.50 8,333 / 8,333 (100%) $152,458
September 16, 1986[16] Fresno Convention Center Fresno, California $17.50 5,908 / 5,908 (100%) $99,715
September 18, 1986[16] San Diego Sports Arena San Diego, California $25 / $18.50 9,051 / 9,051 (100%) $172,092
September 19, 1986[17] Pacific Amphitheatre Costa Mesa, California $24.75 / $15 13,946 / 18,764 (74.3%) $294,954
November 30 – December 1, 1986[19] Neal S. Blaisdell Center Honolulu, Hawaii $22.50 – $17.50 17,600 / 17,600 (100%) $362,313
Total 285,066 / 290,011 (98.3%) $4,830,072

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Clarence Waldron (1 September 1986). Whitney Houston Headlines Her First Tour Across the Country (p58-60). Jet. Retrieved 2010-01-12.
  2. ↑ Whitney Houston Takes Fame in Stride.Orlando Sentinel
  3. ↑ Whitney Houston Gives A Stunning Show. San Diego Union Times
  4. ↑ Pop: Whitney Houston In Carnegie Hall Debut.October 29, 1985, Stephen Holden, New York Times
  5. ↑ Future Looking Starry for Whitney Houston. Houston Chronicle
  6. 1 2 3 Takiff, Jonathon. "Whitney Makes Converts". Philadelphia Daily News. August 28, 1986.
  7. ↑ Carlo Wolff (August 23, 1986). Talent in Action. Billboard. Retrieved 2010-01-15.
  8. ↑ AllWhitney.com
  9. ↑ Charles, Nat. "Conducting Electricity, and Idolatry". New York Times. January 14, 2007.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Boxscore: Top Concert Grosses". Billboard. 98 (33): 26. August 16, 1986. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "Boxscore: Top Concert Grosses". Billboard. 98 (34): 42. August 23, 1986. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  12. 1 2 3 4 "Boxscore: Top Concert Grosses". Billboard. 98 (37): 31. September 13, 1986. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  13. 1 2 3 "Boxscore: Top Concert Grosses". Billboard. 98 (35): 27. August 30, 1986. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  14. 1 2 "Boxscore: Top Concert Grosses". Billboard. 98 (36): 20. September 6, 1986. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 "Boxscore: Top Concert Grosses". Billboard. 98 (39): 21. September 27, 1986. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  16. 1 2 3 "Boxscore: Top Concert Grosses". Billboard. 98 (40): 25. October 4, 1986. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  17. 1 2 "Boxscore: Top Concert Grosses". Billboard. 98 (41): 27. October 11, 1986. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  18. ↑ Sources for dates in North America:
  19. 1 2 "Boxscore: Top Concert Grosses". Billboard. 98 (52): 36. December 27, 1986. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  20. ↑ hardrain-whitney-houston-at-state-fair
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Teeds, J. "MELBOURNE CONCERT DOUBT". Sunday Mail. November 23, 1986.
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