Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour

The Rolling Stones' Steel Wheels Tour was a concert tour which was launched in North America in August 1989 to promote the band's album Steel Wheels; it continued to Japan in February 1990, with ten shows at the Tokyo Dome. The European leg of the tour, which featured a different stage and logo, was called the Urban Jungle Tour; it ran from May to August 1990. These would be the last live concerts for the band with original member Bill Wyman on bass guitar. This tour would also be the longest the band had ever done up to that point, playing over twice as many shows as their standard tour length from the 1960s and 1970s.

Steel Wheels Tour/Urban Jungle Tour
Tour by The Rolling Stones
Associated albumSteel Wheels
Start date31 August 1989
End date25 August 1990
Legs3
No. of shows115
Box officeUS$175 million ($219.51 in 2022 dollars)[1]
The Rolling Stones concert chronology

The tour was an enormous financial success, cementing the Rolling Stones' return to full commercial power after a seven-year hiatus in touring marked by well-publicized acrimony among band members.

History

The Rolling Stones began pre-tour preparations in July 1989 at the Wykeham Rise School, a former boarding school for girls in Litchfield, Connecticut. A 25-member entourage, as well as a security force larger than the surrounding towns, was hired to support the band.[2]

The group performed a pre-tour 'surprise show' that took place on 12 August 1989 at Toad's Place in New Haven, Connecticut, with a local act, Sons of Bob, opening the show for an audience of only 700 people who had purchased tickets for $3.01 apiece.[3] The official Steel Wheels Tour kicked off later that month at the now-demolished Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. During the opening show in Philadelphia, the power went out during "Shattered", and caused a slight delay in the show. Jagger came out and spoke to the crowd during the delay. The Stones returned to Vancouver, B.C. in Canada and played two sold-out concerts at B.C. Place Stadium. Fan reaction for tickets was unprecedented. One local radio station, 99.3 The Fox, even had a man (Andrew Korn) sit in front of the station in a bath tub filled with brown sugar and water for free tickets to the concert.

The stage was designed by Mark Fisher with the participation of Charlie Watts and Mick Jagger. Lighting design was by Patrick Woodroffe.

Canadian promoter Michael Cohl made his name buying the concert, sponsorship, merchandising, radio, television, and film rights to the Steel Wheels Tour. It became the most financially successful rock tour in history up to that time. Rival promoter Bill Graham, who also bid on the tour, later wrote that "Losing the Stones was like watching my favourite lover become a whore."

Performances from the tour were documented on the album Flashpoint, and the video Live at the Max, both released in 1991.

Opening acts for the tour included Living Colour, Dan Reed Network, Guns N' Roses and Gun.

The original two dates 13 & 14 July 1990 at Wembley Stadium had to be rescheduled for 24 & 25 August 1990 due to Keith Richards cutting a finger the previous week.[4]

In August 1990, an extra concert in Prague, Czechoslovakia, was added. Czechoslovakia had overthrown the Communist regime nine months earlier, and the Rolling Stones' concert was perceived as a symbolic end of the revolution. Czechoslovakia's new president Václav Havel, a lifelong fan of the band, helped to arrange the event, and met the band at the Prague Castle before the show. Performance expenses were partially covered by Havel and by the Czechoslovak Ministry of Industry. The attendance was over 100,000.[5][6] The band chose to donate all revenues from the gig (over 4 million Czechoslovak korunas) to the Committee of Good Will, a charity run by Havel's wife Olga Havlová.[7]

Recordings

Released in 1991, Flashpoint, is a 17-song live album of material recorded during the Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour.

In July 2020, Eagle Rock Entertainment released a recording and DVD set of the final date of the North American tour titled Steel Wheels Live.[8] The performance, recorded at the Atlantic City Convention Center, features guest appearances by John Lee Hooker, Eric Clapton, Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin.[9]

Personnel

The Rolling Stones

Additional musicians
  • Matt Clifford – keyboards, backing vocals, percussion, French horn
  • Bobby Keys – saxophone
  • Chuck Leavell – keyboards, backing vocals and musical director
  • Bernard Fowler – backing vocals, percussion
  • Lisa Fischer – backing vocals on the North American & Japanese tours only
  • Cindy Mizelle – backing vocals on the North American & Japanese tours only
  • Pamela Quinlan – backing vocals on North American & European tour only
  • Lorelei McBroom – backing vocals on the European tour only
  • Sophia Jones – backing vocals on the European tour only
  • The Uptown Horns:
  1. Arno Hecht – saxophone
  2. Bob Funk – trombone
  3. Crispin Cioe – saxophone
  4. Paul Litteral – trumpet

Entourage

Source[10]

  • Michael Cohl – Tour Director
  • Norman Perry – Assistant Tour Director[11]
  • Alan Dunn[12] – Logistics
  • Arnold Dunn – Band Road Manager
  • Timm Wooley – Financial Controller
  • Bob Hurwitz – Tour Accountant
  • Stan Damas – Police Liaison
  • Jim Callaghan[12] – Security Chief
  • Rowan Brade – Security
  • Bob Bender – Security
  • Joe Seabrook – Security
  • William Horgan – Security
  • Linn Tanzmann[13] – Band Press Representative[2]
  • Neil Friedman – Assistant Tour Publicist
  • Bennett Kleinberg – Advance Tour Publicist[14]
  • Dimo Safari – Tour Photographer
  • Beth Kittrell – Administrative Assistant
  • Caroline Clements – Makeup
  • Robern Pickering – Wardrobe
  • Fiona Williams – Stylist
  • LaVelle Smith – Choreographer
  • Torje Eike – Physiotherapist[15]
  • Joseph Sakowicz – Band/Entourage Luggage
  • Shelley Lazar – Ticket/Credentials Coordinator[16]
  • Miranda Guinness – Asst. to Mick Jagger
  • Tony Russell – Asst. to Keith Richards
  • Jo Howard – Asst. to Ron Wood
  • Tony King – Mick Jagger Press Liaison[17]
  • Patricia Aleck – Travel Advance
  • Cliff Burnstein – Creative Consultant
  • Peter Mensch – Creative Consultant

Production
  • Michael Ahern – Production Manager
  • Chuch Magee – Backline Crew Chief
  • Roy Lamb – Stage Manager
  • Mark Fisher – Set Designer
  • Patrick Woodroffe – Lighting Designer
  • Benji Lefevre – FOH Sound Engineer
  • Chris Wade-Evans – Monitor Sound Engineer
  • Pierre De Beauport – Guitar Technician
  • Andy Topeka – Keyboard Technician
  • Steve Thomas – Production Advance
  • Steve Howard – Promoter Production Rep
  • Bruce Haynes – Electrician
  • Shane Hendrick – Electrician
  • David Sinclair – Electrician
  • Henry Wetzel – Electrician

Tour set lists

For the opening night of the Steel Wheels Tour the setlist was as follows (all songs composed by Jagger/Richards unless otherwise noted):

  1. "Start Me Up"
  2. "Bitch"
  3. "Shattered"
  4. "Sad Sad Sad"
  5. "Undercover of the Night"
  6. "Harlem Shuffle" (Relf/Nelson)
  7. "Tumbling Dice"
  8. "Miss You"
  9. "Ruby Tuesday"
  10. "Play with Fire" (Nanker Phelge)
  11. "Dead Flowers"
  12. "One Hit (To the Body)" (Jagger/Richards/Wood)
  13. "Mixed Emotions"
  14. "Honky Tonk Women"
  15. "Rock and a Hard Place"
  16. "Midnight Rambler"
  17. "You Can't Always Get What You Want"
  18. "Little Red Rooster" (Dixon)
  19. "Before They Make Me Run"
  20. "Happy"
  21. "Paint It Black"
  22. "2000 Light Years from Home"
  23. "Sympathy for the Devil"
  24. "Gimme Shelter"
  25. "It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)"
  26. "Brown Sugar"
  27. "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"
  28. "Jumpin' Jack Flash" (encore)

For the final night of the Urban Jungle Tour (the last Rolling Stones concert with Bill Wyman) the band played:

  1. "Start Me Up"
  2. "Sad Sad Sad"
  3. "Harlem Shuffle"
  4. "Tumbling Dice"
  5. "Miss You"
  6. "Ruby Tuesday"
  7. "Angie"
  8. "Rock and a Hard Place"
  9. "Mixed Emotions"
  10. "Honky Tonk Women"
  11. "Midnight Rambler"
  12. "You Can't Always Get What You Want"
  13. "Before They Make Me Run"
  14. "Happy"
  15. "Paint It Black"
  16. "2000 Light Years from Home"
  17. "Sympathy for the Devil"
  18. "Street Fighting Man"
  19. "Gimme Shelter"
  20. "It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)"
  21. "Brown Sugar"
  22. "Jumpin' Jack Flash"
  23. "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (encore)

Other songs played on the tour:

  1. "Almost Hear You Sigh" (Jagger/Richards/Jordan)
  2. "Blinded By Love"
  3. "Boogie Chillen" (Hooker)
  4. "Can't Be Seen"
  5. "Factory Girl"
  6. "I Just Want to Make Love to You" (Dixon)
  7. "Salt of the Earth"
  8. "Terrifying"

Tour dates
List of 1989 concerts
Date City Country Venue Tickets sold / available Revenue Opening act(s)
12 August 1989[nb 1]New HavenUnited StatesToad's Place[nb 2] N/AN/AN/A
31 August 1989PhiladelphiaVeterans Stadium110,556 / 110,556$3,181,143Living Colour
1 September 1989
3 September 1989TorontoCanadaCNE Stadium121,897 / 121,897$3,368,752
4 September 1989
6 September 1989PittsburghUnited StatesThree Rivers Stadium62,939 / 62,939$1,790,526
8 September 1989East TroyAlpine Valley105,995 / 105,995$2,941,882
9 September 1989
11 September 1989
14 September 1989CincinnatiRiverfront Stadium53,555 / 53,555$1,522,536
16 September 1989RaleighCarter–Finley Stadium52,881 / 52,881$1,506,393
17 September 1989St. LouisBusch Stadium53,705 / 53,705$1,528,397
19 September 1989LouisvilleCardinal Stadium39,301 / 39,301$1,120,075
21 September 1989SyracuseCarrier Dome73,828 / 73,828$2,082,325
22 September 1989
24 September 1989Washington, D.C.Robert F. Kennedy Stadium105,267 / 105,267$2,988,142
25 September 1989
27 September 1989ClevelandMunicipal Stadium61,527 / 61,527$1,753,520
29 September 1989FoxboroughSullivan Stadium163,308 / 163,308$4,648,338
1 October 1989
3 October 1989
5 October 1989BirminghamLegion Field63,523 / 63,523$1,804,348
7 October 1989AmesCyclone Field55,857 / 55,857$1,589,273
8 October 1989Kansas CityArrowhead Stadium55,306 / 55,306$1,576,075
10 October 1989New York CityShea Stadium124,524 / 124,524$3,735,610
11 October 1989
18 October 1989Los AngelesLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum360,069 / 360,069$9,166,937Guns N' Roses
Living Colour
19 October 1989
21 October 1989
22 October 1989
25 October 1989New York CityShea Stadium263,213 / 263,213$7,871,842Living Colour
26 October 1989
28 October 1989
29 October 1989
1 November 1989VancouverCanadaBC Place Stadium110,591 / 110,591$3,065,058
2 November 1989
4 November 1989OaklandUnited StatesOakland–Alameda County Coliseum117,603 / 117,603$3,347,518
5 November 1989
8 November 1989HoustonAstrodome52,278 / 52,278$1,486,623
10 November 1989DallasCotton Bowl119,856 / 119,856$3,410,856
11 November 1989
13 November 1989New OrleansLouisiana Superdome59,339 / 59,339$1,682,220
15 November 1989MiamiOrange Bowl107,175 / 110,000$3,054,488
16 November 1989
18 November 1989TampaTampa Stadium63,415 / 63,415$1,802,884
21 November 1989AtlantaGrant Field49,311 / 49,311$1,401,082
25 November 1989JacksonvilleGator Bowl62,637 / 62,637$1,779,205
26 November 1989ClemsonMemorial Stadium63,784 / 63,784$1,817,844
29 November 1989MinneapolisHubert H. Humphrey Metrodome104,780 / 104,780$2,976,592
30 November 1989
3 December 1989TorontoCanadaSkyDome117,446 / 117,446$3,282,757
4 December 1989
6 December 1989IndianapolisUnited StatesHoosier Dome89,078 / 89,078$2,533,955
7 December 1989
9 December 1989PontiacSilverdome100,234 / 100,234$2,956,834
10 December 1989
13 December 1989MontrealCanadaOlympic Stadium123,962 / 123,962$3,490,126
14 December 1989
17 December 1989Atlantic CityUnited StatesConvention CenterN/AN/AN/A
19 December 1989
20 December 1989
List of 1990 concerts
Date City Country Venue Tickets sold / available Revenue Opening act(s)
14 February 1990TokyoJapanTokyo DomeN/AN/AN/A
16 February 1990
17 February 1990
19 February 1990
20 February 1990
21 February 1990
23 February 1990
24 February 1990
26 February 1990
27 February 1990
18 May 1990RotterdamNetherlandsDe KuipN/AN/AGun
19 May 1990
21 May 1990
23 May 1990HanoverWest GermanyNiedersachsenstadion
24 May 1990
26 May 1990FrankfurtWaldstadion
27 May 1990
30 May 1990CologneMüngersdorfer StadionDie Toten Hosen
31 May 1990
2 June 1990MunichOlympiastadionGun
3 June 1990
6 June 1990West BerlinOlympiastadion
10 June 1990LisbonPortugalEstádio José Alvalade
13 June 1990BarcelonaSpainEstadi Olímpic de Montjuïc
14 June 1990
16 June 1990MadridEstadio Vicente Calderón
17 June 1990
20 June 1990MarseilleFranceStade Vélodrome
22 June 1990ParisParc des Princes
23 June 1990
25 June 1990
27 June 1990BaselSwitzerlandSt. Jakob Stadium
4 July 1990LondonEnglandWembley Stadium
6 July 1990
7 July 1990
9 July 1990GlasgowScotlandHampden Park
16 July 1990CardiffWalesCardiff Arms Park
18 July 1990NewcastleEnglandSt James' Park
20 July 1990ManchesterMaine Road
21 July 1990
25 July 1990RomeItalyStadio Flaminio
26 July 1990
28 July 1990TurinStadio delle Alpi
31 July 1990ViennaAustriaPraterstadion
3 August 1990GothenburgSwedenEriksberg
4 August 1990
6 August 1990OsloNorwayValle Hovin
7 August 1990
9 August 1990CopenhagenDenmarkKøbenhavns Idrætspark
13 August 1990East BerlinEast GermanyRadrennbahn Weissensee Living Colour
14 August 1990
16 August 1990Gelsenkirchen West GermanyParkstadion
18 August 1990PragueCzechoslovakiaStrahov StadiumDan Reed Network
Vladimír Mišík & Etc...
24 August 1990LondonEnglandWembley Stadium
25 August 1990

See also

Notes
  1. Intimate small club show. This show would spark an ongoing Rolling Stones tradition of playing a small club show before the larger tour venues.[18]
  2. 700 capacity venue.[18]

References
  1. 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  2. Johnson, Kirk (19 July 1989). "THE TALK OF WASHINGTON, CONN.; Sedately, the Stones Roll Into a Small Town (Published 1989)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  3. Rolling Stones Steel Wheels North American Tour 1989 (Paperback)
  4. "Stones Cancel Two London Concerts Because of Richards Injury". AP News (Press release). 14 July 1990.
  5. Lipčík, Roman (4 October 1990). "The Rolling Stones' Czech Invasion". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
  6. Gregor, Marek (19 August 2010). "Jak se kameny valily Prahou" [How the stones rolled through Prague]. Reflex (in Czech). Prague. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
  7. Bednářová, Otka (February 1992). "Annual Report of the Olga Havel Foundation 1991" (Press release). Prague: Committee of Good Will – Olga Havel Foundation. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
  8. Chiu, David. "No Rolling Stones Tour This Year? No Problem, Thanks To 3 Latest Releases To Give Fans Satisfaction". Forbes. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  9. "Rolling Stones' archival concert film and album, 'Steel Wheels Live -- Atlantic City,' released today - Music News - ABC News Radio". abcnewsradioonline.com. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  10. Sandall, Robert; Fricke, David (1991). The Rolling Stones: Images of The World Tour 1989-1990. New York, NY: Fireside Books/Simon & Schuster, Inc. ISBN 0671742582.
  11. Harrington, Richard (24 September 1989). "THE SELLING OF ROCK ON THE MEGABUCKS MUSIC CIRCUIT". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  12. "The Rolling Stones: Our 1989 Cover Story". Spin. 10 November 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  13. "Jagger Shocks Group of Fans". The Item, Sumter SC. Associated Press. 5 October 1989. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  14. "Rock Around The Clock: A Day in the Life of Rock 'n' Roll". Spin. Vol. 6, no. 1. Camouflage Associates. April 1990. p. 70. ISSN 0886-3032.
  15. "How The Stones Keep Rolling". cbsnews.com. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  16. Vaziri, Aidin (5 April 2019). "SF resident Shelley Lazar, VIP ticket queen, friend of Beatles and Stones, dies at 69". SFGATE. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  17. Trebay, Guy (24 November 2006). "Mick Jagger's inimitable style, feathers and all - Culture - International Herald Tribune (Published 2006)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  18. Facebook > The Rolling Stones unofficially kicked off the Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour on August 12th 1989 at the 700 capacity venue Toad's Place in New Haven, Connecticut
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