Louder Than Concorde Tour

The Louder Than Concorde Tour was a concert tour by English musician and composer Elton John, in support of his 10th studio album Rock of the Westies. the tour included two legs (United Kingdom and North America) and a total of 62 shows.

Louder Than Concorde Tour
Tour by Elton John
Location
  • Europe
  • North America
Associated albumRock of the Westies
Start date29 April 1976
End date17 August 1976
Legs2
No. of shows
  • 30 in United Kingdom
  • 32 in North America
  • 62 in total
Elton John concert chronology

Tour

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John and his band recorded the Blue Moves album (and No. 1 hit single "Don't Go Breaking My Heart") in Toronto in March 1976, and began touring the UK on 29 April in Leeds. This leg of the tour, which included a midnight show in Glasgow, ended on 4 June in Cardiff. On 29 June 1976 in Landover, Maryland, the eastern half of the US got the newly named "Louder Than Concorde (But Not Quite As Pretty)" tour, a testament to the onslaught John and his ferocious band were delivering to a country in the midst of its Bicentennial celebration.

On 4 July 1976, John played Schaefer Stadium near Boston. Billie Jean King sang backing vocals and John slipped "Holiday Inn" in to the 20-song set list, a unique event on this tour. Part-way through this leg of the tour, Ray Cooper fell ill and was forced to miss roughly a dozen shows. Ever the punsmith, John declared that the missing percussionist was "Ray Cooper-ating from surgery."

The tour concluded in mid-August with a record-breaking seven sold-out nights at Madison Square Garden. For these shows, John and the band shared the stage with the New York Community Choir and performed encores with Kiki Dee, Alice Cooper and Divine. As this week was winding down, John notified the band that he was taking a break from touring and the group soon disbanded.[1]

Tour dates

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Date City Country Venue
Europe[2]
29 April 1976 Leeds England Leeds Grand
30 April 1976
1 May 1976 Manchester Manchester Bellevue
2 May 1976 Preston Preston Guildhall
3 May 1976 Liverpool Liverpool Empire
4 May 1976
5 May 1976 Leicester De Montfort Hall
6 May 1976 Hanley Victoria Hall
7 May 1976 Wolverhampton Wolverhampton Civic Hall
9 May 1976 Croydon Farfield Hall
11 May 1976 London Earls Court
12 May 1976
13 May 1976
14 May 1976 Watford Baileys
16 May 1976 Birmingham Birmingham Odeon
17 May 1976
18 May 1976 Sheffield Sheffield City Hall
20 May 1976 Newcastle Newcastle City Hall
21 May 1976 Edinburgh Scotland Usher Hall
22 May 1976 Dundee Caird Hall
24 May 1976 Glasgow Apollo Theatre
25 May 1976
27 May 1976 Coventry England New Theatre
28 May 1976
29 May 1976 Southampton Gaumont Theatre
30 May 1976 Taunton Taunton Odeon
31 May 1976 Bristol Bristol Hippodrome
1 June 1976
3 June 1976 Cardiff Cardiff Capitol
4 June 1976
North America[3]
29 June 1976 Landover United States Capital Centre
30 June 1976
1 July 1976
4 July 1976 Foxborough Schaefer Stadium
6 July 1976 Philadelphia The Spectrum
7 July 1976
8 July 1976
11 July 1976 Pontiac Pontiac Silverdome
13 July 1976 Greensboro Greensboro Coliseum
14 July 1976 Charlotte Charlotte Coliseum
16 July 1976 Atlanta Omni Coliseum
18 July 1976 Tuscaloosa Memorial Coliseum
20 July 1976 Louisville Freedom Hall
21 July 1976 Indianapolis Market Square Arena
24 July 1976 Saint Paul Saint Paul Civic Center
26 July 1976 Chicago Chicago Stadium
27 July 1976
28 July 1976
29 July 1976
1 August 1976 Richfield Richfield Coliseum
2 August 1976
3 August 1976 Cincinnati Riverfront Coliseum
7 August 1976 Buffalo Rich Stadium
10 August 1976 New York City Madison Square Garden
11 August 1976
12 August 1976
13 August 1976
15 August 1976
16 August 1976
17 August 1976

Set list

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  1. Grow Some Funk of Your Own
  2. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
  3. Island Girl
  4. Rocket Man
  5. Hercules
  6. Bennie and the Jets
  7. Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
  8. Love Song (Lesley Duncan cover)
  9. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (The Beatles cover)
  10. Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me
  11. Empty Sky
  12. Someone Saved My Life Tonight
  13. Don't Go Breaking My Heart
  14. I've Got the Music in Me (Kiki Dee cover)
  15. Philadelphia Freedom
  16. We All Fall in Love Sometimes
  17. Curtains
  18. Tell Me When the Whistle Blows

Encore:

  1. Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting
  2. Your Song
  3. Pinball Wizard (The Who cover)[4]

Personnel

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References

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  1. ^ "1975–1976". EltonJohn.com. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  2. ^ "Elton John Concerts". www.eltonography.com. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  3. ^ "Elton John Concerts". www.eltonography.com. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  4. ^ "Elton John Concerts". www.eltonography.com. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  5. ^ "1975–1976". EltonJohn.com. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
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