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Cover to Cover tour

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Cover to Cover
World tour by George Michael
Tour itinerary cover
Location
  • Europe
  • South America
  • Asia
  • North America
Start date15 January 1991 (1991-01-15)
End date31 October 1991 (1991-10-31)
Legs3
No. of shows29
Guests
George Michael concert chronology

The Cover to Cover tour was the second solo concert tour by English singer-songwriter George Michael.[1] The tour spanned 9 months between January and October 1991, comprising 29 shows across the United Kingdom, Brazil, Japan, Canada and the United States.[1]

A cover version of "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", a 1974 song by Elton John, recorded during the tour, was released in November 1991, and became a massive hit on both sides of the Atlantic. Michael and John had performed the song together at the Live Aid concert in 1985, and again at Michael's concert at Wembley Arena on 23 March 1991, where the duet was recorded. In April 1993, live performances of "Killer", "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" and "Calling You" formed part of the Five Live EP which again topped the UK Singles Chart. His next tour happened only 15 years later.[2]

Background

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In September 1990, George Michael released his second solo studio album, Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1. Following his decision to be taken more seriously as a songwriter, Michael refused to do any promotion for the album.[3]

The North American portion of the tour was originally scheduled to begin on 6 February 1991 at the Massey Hall in Toronto, Ontario, concluding on 20 February in Los Angeles,[4] but was postponed until late 1991.[5] The tour finally began on 15 January 1991 at the NEC Arena in Birmingham, England, and concluded on 31 October at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland.[6] The tour was not a proper promotion for Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1; rather, it was more about Michael singing covers of his favourite songs.[7]

On 25 and 27 January 1991, Michael headlined the Rock in Rio II festival. He was joined by his ex-Wham! bandmate, Andrew Ridgeley, the second night.[1]

Critical reception

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In a review of the 5 October 1991 concert at the Forum in Inglewood, California, Richard Cromelin of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "[...] at the Forum on Saturday, everything was as charged as ever in Georgeland: a screaming, sellout crowd, a hard-working star and hit after hit (so what if they were mostly three years old and more?)." He noted, "When the curtain rose, Michael was posed as the moody pop icon sporting his trademark sunglasses and five-o'clock shadow. But in what might serve as a metaphor for his self-liberation, he soon scrapped the male-model attitude and spent the rest of the show smiling and chatting with unpretentious warmth."[8]

In a review of the concerts held at the Madison Square Garden in New York City for The New York Times, Stephen Holden opined that, "while the program's range and its taste in material showed Mr. Michael to be a dedicated student of contemporary pop-soul music, his performances rarely came close to matching the power of the original hit versions. [...] The show's better moments were Mr. Michael's performances of original songs that have the same mixture of traditional pop formality and soulful emotiveness as his singing. A version of the Wham! hit 'Everything She Wants', arranged in an early Motown style, and the evening's final encore, 'Freedom! '90', a proclamation of personal liberation, which became a spirited audience sing-along, proved to be the evening's peppy high points."[9]

Recordings

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The four Wembley Arena performances during 19–23 March 1991 were professionally recorded for a commercial release of the tour. A cover version of "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", a duet with Elton John, was recorded on 23 March,[10] and was later released as a single in November 1991. Performances of "Killer", "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" and "Calling You" were released as part of the Five Live EP, released on 19 April 1993.[11] A performance of "Tonight" was featured on the Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin compilation album.[12]

According to David Austin, whom Michael called his best friend in the A Different Story documentary,[13] "There are 22 or 23 live tracks from the Cover to Cover tour that are simply amazing, finished and mixed and have never been heard before."[14]

Set list

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  1. "Killer" / "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone"
  2. "Victims"
  3. "Father Figure"
  4. "Fame"
  5. "Waiting for That Day"
  6. "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now"
  7. "Living for the City"
  8. "Hard Day"
  9. "Calling You"
  10. "Back to Life"
  11. "Faith"
  12. "Superstition"
  13. "Tonight"
  14. "Why Did You Do It?"
  15. "Baby, Don't Change Your Mind"
  16. "Everything She Wants"
  17. "Desperado"
  18. "Mother's Pride"
  19. "What a Fool Believes"
  20. "Freedom"
  21. "Ain't Nobody"
  22. "I'm Your Man"
  23. "Sign Your Name"
  24. "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"
  25. "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)"
  26. "Careless Whisper"
  27. "They Won't Go When I Go"
  28. "Freedom! '90"

Shows

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List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, tickets sold, number of available tickets, and amount of gross revenue
Date City Country Venue Attendance Gross
Europe
15 January 1991 Birmingham England NEC Arena — —
16 January 1991
South America
25 January 1991[a] Rio de Janeiro Brazil Maracanã Stadium — —
27 January 1991[a]
Asia
6 March 1991 Tokyo Japan Tokyo Dome — —
7 March 1991
9 March 1991
10 March 1991
Europe
19 March 1991 London England Wembley Arena — —
20 March 1991
22 March 1991
23 March 1991
North America
1 October 1991 Oakland United States Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena — —
2 October 1991 Sacramento ARCO Arena
5 October 1991 Inglewood Great Western Forum 27,145 / 27,145 $622,553
6 October 1991
9 October 1991 Tacoma Tacoma Dome — —
10 October 1991 Vancouver Canada Pacific Coliseum
13 October 1991 Denver United States McNichols Sports Arena
15 October 1991 Houston The Summit
16 October 1991 Dallas Reunion Arena
18 October 1991 Auburn Hills The Palace of Auburn Hills
20 October 1991 Rosemont Rosemont Horizon 10,054 / 14,417 $256,648
22 October 1991 Toronto Canada Maple Leaf Gardens 14,201 / 14,201 $364,800
25 October 1991 New York City United States Madison Square Garden 29,031 / 29,031 $752,685
26 October 1991
28 October 1991 Worcester Worcester Centrum — —
29 October 1991 Philadelphia The Spectrum 11,248 / 14,570 $256,955
31 October 1991 Landover Capital Centre — —

Notes

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  1. ^ a b The concerts on 25 and 27 January 1991, at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro are part of Rock in Rio.

Personnel

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As printed in the official Japanese tour programme:

Wembley Arena, March 19/20/22/23 1991 promotional cassette

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A free exclusive cassette was given to audience members at the Wembley Arena concerts between 19–23 March. It contained one previously unreleased track, a cover of "I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever)", which was later released as a B-side to "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me".

Cassette track listing
  1. "I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever)" (previously unreleased)
  2. "Freedom" (Back to Reality mix)
  3. "If You Were My Woman" (live at Wembley Stadium, 11 Jun 1988)
  4. "Fantasy"

References

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  1. ^ a b c Steele, Robert (2017). Careless Whispers: The Life & Career of George Michael: Revised & Updated. Omnibus Press. p. 177. ISBN 978-1-78323-968-9. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  2. ^ "Demand High For Rare George Michael Tour". Billboard. 19 June 2006. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  3. ^ Levine, Nick (8 September 2020). "How George Michael transformed pop". www.bbc.com. BBC Online. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  4. ^ Sakamoto, John (26 October 1990). "It's George!". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  5. ^ Sakamoto, John (8 November 1990). "Michael visit on hold". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  6. ^ Aparicio, Nestor (1 November 1991). "George Michael delivers in final show of U.S. tour". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  7. ^ Moon, Tom (31 October 1991). "George Michael At The Spectrum". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on 18 October 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  8. ^ Cromelin, Richard (7 October 1991). "POP MUSIC REVIEW : Just Like Old Times : Michael Keeps the Faith for Sellout Crowd". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  9. ^ Holden, Stephen (28 October 1991). "Reviews/Pop; George Michael's Tour, From Motown to Disco". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  10. ^ "In Honour of George Michael (1963–2016)". eltonjohn.com. 30 December 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  11. ^ "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 17 April 1993. p. 29. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  12. ^ Cater, Evan. "Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin – Various Artists". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
  13. ^ Tannenbaum, Rob (21 June 2022). "George Michael Preferred Music to Fame. The Doc He Made Does, Too". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  14. ^ "The songs George Michael left behind". Herald Sun. 21 October 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
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