US Summer Tour

US Summer Tour
National tour by Whitney Houston
LocationNorth America
Associated albumWhitney Houston
Start dateJune 3, 1985
End dateDecember 1, 1985
Legs1
No. of shows59
Whitney Houston concert chronology

The US Summer Tour was the debut promotional tour of American singer Whitney Houston, designed to promote her debut album Whitney Houston, released on February 14, 1985. The tour took place in multiple theaters, festivals, and clubs around the United States throughout the summer and fall between June 3 and December 1, 1985.

Background

Houston released her self-titled debut album in February 1985 and first began promoting the album through performing at nightclubs all across the country, starting at one of her old haunts, Manhattan's Sweetwaters jazz club, one of many venues her mother Cissy regularly performed at and at which Houston was discovered by her label head and mentor Clive Davis, who signed her to his label Arista roughly two years prior.

After Sweetwaters, Houston performed at other nightclubs, including Los Angeles' Roxy Theatre in May while also promoting her album on national TV shows in both her native United States and in Europe. That month, her first leading single, "You Give Good Love", peaked at number one on the Hot Black Singles chart. Not too long afterwards, it was announced that Houston would open for American singer Jeffrey Osborne on his national US tour at the end of June. Houston had recorded Osborne's composition, "All at Once", on her debut. Not too long after joining Osborne's tour, Houston started getting rave reviews for her performances.[1][2]

Around August, just as her second single, "Saving All My Love for You", was being promoted by her label, Houston joined longtime friend Luther Vandross' The Night I Fell In Love Tour on a few selected dates. By the end of August, as her debut album hit the top ten of the Billboard 200, it was decided by Houston's management, which was led by Gene Harvey, that Houston would begin headlining her own shows since her fame was starting to outgrow that of Osborne and Vandross.[3][4]

Houston's first headlining show was at Humphrey's in San Diego for two shows on August 28. On October 28, two days after "Saving All My Love for You" topped the Billboard Hot 100, Houston gave the first of two sold-out shows at Carnegie Hall before heading back to London where she filmed the music video for "How Will I Know" in early November before returning to the States where she eventually finished her tour at the Universal Amphitheater in California on December 1.[5]

Set list

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

Notes

  • Houston's set also included "I Am Changing" and "Home" which was often performed at select venues.
  • August 28: in San Diego, Houston's opening act was comedian Roseanne Barr.[6]
  • October 26: Houston performed at Disney World's 'On Stage' event at the Skyleidsocope,[7] on October 28: at Carnegie Hall, she performed "A Brand New Day" from the film The Wiz, after opening with "Greatest Love of All". She also performed "I Am Changing" from the broadway musical Dreamgirls.[8]
  • November 20: at Carnegie Hall, Houston performed "I Am Changing", and closed show with the final encore, "Home" from the musical The Wiz.
  • November 24: in Houston, she performed two additional duets with brother Gary Houston; "Hold Me" and "Take Good Care of My Heart".[9]

Shows

List of 1985 concerts[10]
Date City Country Venue
June 3, 1985 Pittsburgh United States Syria Mosque Theater
June 25, 1985 Hoffman Estates Poplar Creek Music Theater
June 27, 1985 New York City Pier 84
June 29, 1985 Columbia Merriweather Post Pavilion
June 30, 1985 Pittsburgh Syria Mosque Theater
July 1, 1985 New York City Pier 84
July 2, 1985 Boston Boston Common
July 3, 1985
July 12, 1985 Highland Heights Front Row Theater
July 13, 1985
July 14, 1985
July 15, 1985
July 24, 1985 Milwaukee Riverside Theater
July 25, 1985 Hoffman Estates Poplar Creek Music Theater
July 26, 1985 St. Louis Fox Theatre
July 30, 1985 Devon Valley Forge Music Fair
July 31, 1985
August 1, 1985
August 2, 1985 Westbury Theatre at Westbury
August 3, 1985
August 8, 1985 Des Moines Veterans Memorial Auditorium
August 9, 1985 Merrillville Holiday Star Theatre
August 10, 1985
August 11, 1985 Clarkston Pine Knob Music Theatre
August 16, 1985 Houston The Summit
August 22, 1985 New Orleans UNO Lakefront Arena
August 24, 1985 Jackson Mississippi Coliseum
August 25, 1985 Memphis Mid-South Coliseum
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 1, 1985 Costa Mesa Pacific Amphitheatre
September 20, 1985 Highland Heights Front Row Theater
September 21, 1985 Austell Six Flags Over Georgia
September 22, 1985 Williamsburg Busch Gardens Theater
September 27, 1985 Washington, D.C. DAR Constitution Hall
September 28, 1985 Hartford Bushnell Memorial Hall
September 29, 1985 Boston Berklee Performance Center
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 12, 1985 Baton Rouge Riverside Centroplex
October 13, 1985 San Marcos Strahan Arena
October 19, 1985 Indianapolis Clowes Memorial Hall
October 26, 1985 Lake Buena Vista Epcot Skyleidoscope
October 28, 1985 New York City Carnegie Hall
November 11, 1985 Upper Darby Tower Theater
November 15, 1985
November 17, 1985 New Haven Woolsey Hall
November 20, 1985 New York City Carnegie Hall
November 23, 1985 Dallas Dallas Convention Center Arena
November 24, 1985 Houston Houston Music Hall
November 26, 1985 Gary Genesis Convention Center
November 29, 1985 Phoenix Celebrity Theatre
November 30, 1985 San Diego Golden Hall
December 1, 1985 Los Angeles Universal Amphitheatre

Personnel

Band

  • Music director / piano – John Simmons
  • Keyboards – Willard Meeks
  • Saxophone – Josh Harris
  • Guitar – Curtis Taylor Neishloss
  • Bass - Rickey Minor
  • Drums – Brian Brake
  • Percussion – Kevin Jones
  • Background vocalists – Gary Houston, Felicia Moss, Voneva Simms

References

  1. ^ "Singer Whitney Houston Hits A High Note Early In Her Career". Orlando Sentinel. July 2, 1985.
  2. ^ Clarence Waldron (1 September 1986). Whitney Houston Headlines Her First Tour Across the Country (p58-60). Jet. Retrieved 2010-01-12.
  3. ^ Defendorf, Richard (October 20, 1985). "Whitney Houston Takes Fame in Stride". Orlando Sentinel.
  4. ^ "SINGER WHITNEY HOUSTON HITS A HIGH NOTE EARLY IN HER CAREER". Orlando Sentinel. August 4, 1985. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  5. ^ Holden, Stephen (October 29, 1985). "POP: WHITNEY HOUSTON IN CARNEGIE HALL DEBUT". New York Times. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  6. ^ Infusino, Divina (August 30, 1985). Savvy Whitney Houston Gives A Stunning Show Archived 2016-04-02 at the Wayback Machine. San Diego Union Times
  7. ^ Defendorf, Richard (October 20, 1985). Whitney Houston Takes Fame In Stride. Orlando Sentinel
  8. ^ Holden, Stephen (October 29, 1985). "POP: Whitney Houston In Carnegie Hall Debut". New York Times.
  9. ^ Spies, Michael (November 25, 1985). Future Looking Starry for Whitney Houston Archived 2016-08-10 at the Wayback Machine. Houston Chronicle
  10. ^ North America:
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