Reg Strikes Back Tour
Elton John started the Reg Strikes Back tour in promotion of the album with the same name.[1] It was his self-proclaimed comeback album, and his way of fighting back against bad press. It started on 9 September 1988[2] and ended on 10 June 1989.[3]
Tour by Elton John | |
Associated album | Reg Strikes Back |
---|---|
Start date | 9 September 1988 |
End date | 10 June 1989 |
Legs | 3 |
No. of shows | 87 in total |
Elton John concert chronology |
Tour
After taking over a year off (to recover from throat surgery, address personal issues and record Reg Strikes Back in London), John returned to the stage with a new rhythm section. He wanted more of an R&B sound to his material, so drummer Jonathan Moffett and bassist Romeo Williams, along with backing singers Marlena Jeter, Natalie Jackson and Alex Brown, were added to the band. Guitarist Davey Johnstone, now also in the role of music director, had assembled the new band, a task that he continues to do. [4]
The band’s first show was at an AIDS benefit at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, where they played a 14-song set that featured the never-released John/Taupin composition, Love Is Worth Waiting For. The US tour then began on 9 September at the Miami Arena in Miami, Florida and concluded on 22 October at New York’s Madison Square Garden. [5]
After recording the Sleeping With The Past album in Denmark, the band (now with backing vocalist Mortonette Jenkins instead of Alex Brown) resumed their tour on 20 March 1989 at La Halle Tony Garnier in Lyon, France and played across Eastern Europe and the UK, concluding on 10 June 1989 at the RDS Arena in Dublin. [6]
Instrumentation
John did not play a grand piano on this tour, replacing it with a Roland RD-1000 digital piano, a mainstay of the Elton John sound. Where John uses a Yamaha DCFIIISPRO concert grand piano with MIDI output on stage and has done since his switch to Yamaha pianos in 1993, the rack form of the RD-1000, the MKS20, has been in his rack ever since.
Tour dates
Date | City | Country | Venue | Tickets sold / available | Revenue |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
North America | |||||
9 September 1988 | Miami | United States | Miami Arena[7] | 25,913 / 25,913 | $550,651 |
10 September 1988[8] | |||||
11 September 1988 | Tampa | USF Sun Dome | |||
13 September 1988 | Columbia | Merriweather Post Pavilion | 16,325 / 16,325 | $306,570 | |
14 September 1988 | Cuyahoga Falls | Blossom Music Center | |||
16 September 1988 | Hoffman Estates | Poplar Creek Music Theater | 50,119 / 50,119 | $930,331 | |
17 September 1988 | |||||
18 September 1988 | Milwaukee | Marcus Amphitheater | 18,857 / 24,000 | ||
20 September 1988 | Greenwood Village | Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre | |||
23 September 1988 | Los Angeles | Hollywood Bowl[9] | |||
24 September 1988 | |||||
25 September 1988 | |||||
27 September 1988 | Costa Mesa | Pacific Amphitheatre | |||
30 September 1988 | Dallas | Starplex Amphitheater | |||
1 October 1988 | Houston | The Summit | 13,483 / 13,483 | $312,954 | |
4 October 1988 | Philadelphia | The Spectrum | 30,876 / 30,876 | $669,468 | |
5 October 1988 | |||||
7 October 1988 | Hartford | Hartford Civic Center | |||
8 October 1988 | Worcester | The Centrum | |||
9 October 1988 | |||||
10 October 1988 | |||||
12 October 1988 | Auburn Hills | The Palace of Auburn Hills | 67,691 / 67,691 | $1,523,048 | |
13 October 1988 | |||||
14 October 1988 | |||||
15 October 1988 | |||||
17 October 1988 | New York City | Madison Square Garden | 96,750 / 96,750 | $2,250,580 | |
18 October 1988[10] | |||||
20 October 1988 | |||||
21 October 1988 | |||||
22 October 1988 | |||||
Asia with Eric Clapton | |||||
31 October 1988 | Nagoya | Japan | Rainbow Hall | 11,255 / 11,255 | $528,985 |
2 November 1988 | Tokyo | Tokyo Dome | 53,972 / 53,972 | $2,536,684 | |
4 November 1988 | Nippon Budokan | 13,741 / 13,741 | $645,827 | ||
5 November 1988 | Osaka | Osaka Stadium | 31,985 / 31,985 | $1,503,295 | |
Europe[11] | |||||
20 March 1989 | Lyon | France | Halle Tony Garnier | ||
23 March 1989 | Paris | Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy | |||
24 March 1989 | |||||
25 March 1989 | |||||
26 March 1989[12] | |||||
27 March 1989 | |||||
29 March 1989 | Brussels | Belgium | Forest National | ||
30 March 1989 | |||||
1 April 1989 | Düsseldorf | Germany | Philipshalle | ||
2 April 1989 | Kiel | Ostseehalle | |||
4 April 1989 | Berlin | Deutschlandhalle | |||
6 April 1989 | Hamburg | Alsterdorfer Sporthalle | |||
7 April 1989 | Copenhagen | Denmark | Brøndby Hall | ||
9 April 1989 | Stockholm | Sweden | Globe Arena | ||
10 April 1989 | Oslo | Norway | Drammenshallen | ||
12 April 1989 | Essen | Germany | Grugahalle | ||
13 April 1989 | Cologne | Cologne Sporthalle | |||
14 April 1989 | Frankfurt | Festhalle Frankfurt | |||
15 April 1989 | |||||
17 April 1989 | Saarbrücken | Saarlandhalle | |||
19 April 1989 | Lausanne | Switzerland | Patinoire de Malley | ||
21 April 1989 | Zaragoza | Spain | Pabellón Municipal de Deportes | ||
22 April 1989 | San Sebastian | Velódromo de Anoeta | |||
23 April 1989 | Madrid | Palacio de Deportes | |||
25 April 1989 | Barcelona | Palau dels Esports de Barcelona | |||
26 April 1989 | Verona | Italy | Verona Arena | ||
27 April 1989 | Milan | Palatrussardi | |||
28 April 1989 | Rome | Palaeur | |||
1 May 1989 | Vienna | Austria | Wiener Stadthalle | ||
2 May 1989 | |||||
3 May 1989 | Zürich | Switzerland | Hallenstadion | ||
5 May 1989 | |||||
6 May 1989 | |||||
8 May 1989 | Stuttgart | Germany | Schleyerhalle | ||
17 May 1989 | Birmingham | England | National Exhibition Centre | ||
18 May 1989 | |||||
19 May 1989 | |||||
21 May 1989 | London | Wembley Arena | |||
22 May 1989 | |||||
23 May 1989 | |||||
24 May 1989 | |||||
25 May 1989 | |||||
27 May 1989 | |||||
28 May 1989 | |||||
29 May 1989 | |||||
30 May 1989 | |||||
1 June 1989 | Edinburgh | Scotland | Edinburgh Playhouse | ||
2 June 1989 | |||||
5 June 1989 | Belfast | Northern Ireland | King's Hall | ||
6 June 1989 | |||||
8 June 1989 | Dublin | Ireland | RDS Stadium | ||
9 June 1989 | |||||
10 June 1989 |
Setlist
- Sixty Years On
- I Need You to Turn To
- The King Must Die
- Burn Down the Mission
- Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word
- Have Mercy on the Criminal
- Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
- Tiny Dancer
- The Ballad of Danny Bailey
- I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues
- Philadelphia Freedom
- The Bitch Is Back
- Sad Songs (Say So Much)
- Goodbye Marlon Brando
- A Word in Spanish
- Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters
- Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters (Part Two)
- Nikita
- Daniel
- Rocket Man
- I Don't Wanna Go on with You Like That
- Candle in the Wind
- Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting
- Your Song
- Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
- I'm Still Standing
- Song for Guy
Tour band
- Roland RD-1000 digital piano and Lead Vocals: Elton John
- Guitar: Davey Johnstone
- Bass: Romeo Williams
- Keyboards/Guitar: Fred Mandel
- Keyboards: Guy Babylon
- Drums: Jonathan Moffett
- Backing vocals: Mortonette Jenkins
- Backing vocals: Marlena Jeter
- Backing vocals: Natalie Jackson
References
- eltonography.com, Retrieved 29 August 2011
- eltonography.com, Retrieved 29 August 2011
- eltonography.com, Retrieved 4 September 2011
- http://www.eltonjohn.com/band/1988/
- http://www.eltonjohn.com/band/1989/
- http://www.eltonjohn.com/band/1989/
- articles.sun-sentinel.com, Retrieved 29 August 2011
- articles.sun-sentinel.com, Retrieved 29 August 2011
- seeing-stars.com, Retrieved 29 August 2011
- guitars101.com, Retrieved 29 August 2011
- en.allexperts.com, Retrieved 29 August 2011
- songkick.com, Retrieved 29 August 2011