Tracks Across America Tour '82

The Tracks Across America Tour '82 was a concert tour by the American band Blondie in 1982. The tour supported their latest album, The Hunter (the first tour since their European Tour in 1979–1980) and would be Blondie's last tour before disbanding in late 1982. The band would reconvene in the late 1990s.

Tracks Across America Tour 82'
Tour by Blondie
Associated albumThe Hunter
Start dateJuly 23, 1982
End dateAugust 21, 1982
Legs1
No. of shows19 in North America
Blondie concert chronology

Background

Though the tour nominally supported the album The Hunter, songs from Autoamerican (1980) also saw their first live performances as the band had not toured in support of that album. The non-album hit single "Call Me" and Debbie Harry's solo track "Chrome" were also performed live for the first time.

For the tour, guitarist Frank Infante was replaced with a session musician Eddie Martinez due to Infante's conflicting relationship with other band members.[1] The tour also featured a horn section performing with the band.

Originally, the tour was supposed to have two legs, the second being in Europe[2] with 41 dates in total, but the second leg was cancelled after slow ticket sales.[3] Only 19 of the concerts (all in North America) were performed.

The show at the Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which took place an 18 August 1982, was recorded and filmed for the broadcast on HBO. Since then, it has been released several times as a semi-official live album[4] and on video (both on VHS and DVD).[5]

The tour turned out to be unsuccessful for Blondie with shows taking place at half-empty venues.[1] Guitarist Chris Stein's health had been worsening during the tour. He was rapidly losing weight and shortly after the tour ended was diagnosed with pemphigus vulgaris, a rare autoimmune disease.[1] Shortly afterwards, Blondie disbanded. They would not have any further live performances until a series of reunion concerts in 1997 and 1998.

Opening acts
  • Duran Duran (August 2–18; Duran Duran did not appear with Blondie at John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia on August 21. Blondie were third on the bill of an all-day stadium show. The line-up that day consisted of Robert Hazard and the Heroes, A Flock of Seagulls, Blondie, Elvis Costello and the Attractions, and Genesis.) [1]

Setlist
  1. "Rapture"
  2. "In the Sun"
  3. "Sunday Girl"
  4. "Little Caesar"
  5. "Union City Blue"
  6. "Chrome"
  7. "Island of Lost Souls"
  8. "Danceway"
  9. "The Tide is High"
  10. "Heart of Glass"
  11. "Hanging On The Telephone"
  12. "Dreaming"
  13. "One Way or Another"
  14. "War Child"
  15. "Start Me Up" (The Rolling Stones cover)
  16. "Call Me"
Notes

Tour dates
Date City Country Venue
North America
July 22, 1982 Sunrise United States Sunrise Musical Theater
July 23, 1982 Baton Rouge LSU Assembly Center
July 24, 1982 Mobile Municipal Auditorium
July 25, 1982 Atlanta Six Flags Over Georgia
July 26, 1982 Lakeland Lakeland Civic Center
July 28, 1982 Pembroke Pines Hollywood Sportatorium
July 30, 1982 Memphis Mid-South Coliseum
August 2, 1982 Kansas City Starlight Theatre
August 4, 1982 Rockford Rockford MetroCentre
August 5, 1982 Cedar Rapids Five Seasons Center
August 7, 1982 Minneapolis Parade Stadium
August 8, 1982 Hoffman Estates Poplar Creek Music Theater
August 9, 1982 Clarkston Pine Knob Music Theatre
August 10, 1982 Cleveland Agora Theatre and Ballroom
August 12, 1982 Providence Providence Civic Center
August 13, 1982 Boston Boston Garden
August 14, 1982 East Rutherford Brendan Byrne Arena
August 16, 1982 Columbia Merriweather Post Pavilion
August 18, 1982 Toronto Canada Exhibition Stadium
August 21, 1982 Philadelphia United States John F. Kennedy Stadium

Cancelled shows
Date City Country Venue Reason
Europe
August 25, 1982 Bayonne France Arena de Bayonne Slow ticket sales[8]
August 27, 1982 Frejus Arena de Frejus
August 29, 1982 Marbella Spain Marbella Music Festival
September 1, 1982 Glasgow Scotland The Apollo
September 2, 1982
September 4, 1982 Edinburgh Edinburgh Playhouse
September 5, 1982
September 7, 1982 Newcastle England Newcastle City Hall
September 8, 1982
September 11, 1982 Birmingham NEC Arena
September 12, 1982
September 16, 1982 London Wembley Arena
September 17, 1982
September 18, 1982
September 19, 1982
September 23, 1982 Copenhagen Denmark Grondbyhallen
September 25, 1982 Stockholm Sweden Ice Stadium Stockholm
September 26, 1982 Gothenburg Scandinavium
September 29, 1982 Paris France Casino de Paris

Personnel
Blondie
Additional musicians[9]
  • Eddie Martinez – guitar
  • Abel Domingues – keyboards
  • Douglas Harris – horns
  • Joseph Kohanski – horns
  • Arthur Pugh – horns

References
  1. "Once More (Into the Bleach): Blondie Returns For Its Fifteenth Round". Discoveries magazine. Archived from the original on 2017-09-11. Retrieved 2013-11-24.
  2. "Debs launches Blondiemania memorial tour". NME Magazine. Retrieved 2013-11-24.
  3. "Tour off, rumours of split BLONDIE SHAMBLES". NME. Retrieved 2013-11-24.
  4. Live in Toronto at Allmusic
  5. Blondie.net store
  6. Parade Stadium setlist at setlist.fm
  7. Meadowlands Sports Complex Archived 2013-10-16 at the Wayback Machine at Blondie.net
  8. "Official Blondie Web Site: Gig List - Blondie". archive.blondie.net. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  9. End credits of Blondie Live it Toronto video
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