TOUR REVIEW: 1991: The First American Tour

In 1991, Blur made their first trip to America and undertook a short US tour to promote Leisure and the modest success of There's No Other Way. The little jaunt consisted of four known dates, with more likely in between November 1st and 10th. The known tour dates are below:

October 1991:

28th - Lee's Palace, Toronto, Canada
Unknown date (somewhere between the 29th and 31st) - Unknown Venue, Boston, Massachusetts

November 1991:

1st - Marquee, New York City, New York
10th - Metro, Chicago, Illinois
14th - KROQ Noontime Free Concert, Roxy Theatre, Los Angeles, California
14th - Roxy Theatre, Los Angeles, California

The available recordings are highlighted, and it is not known at this time if any others exist.

The set lists for the two shows (which were considerably different) are:

November 10, 1991:

Popscene
Fool
High Cool
Bad Day
Oily Water
Bang
Slow Down
Turn It Up
She's So High
Wear Me Down
There's No Other Way
Come Together
Day Upon Day
Explain

November 14, 1991:

Popscene
High Cool
Bad Day
Bang
Slow Down
She's So High
Wear Me Down
There's No Other Way
I'm All Over
Come Together
Explain

As you can see, in addition to the material from Leisure, some new songs were played (Oily Water, Turn It Up, Popscene), and the second show has a rare live version of I'm All Over. Both of these are very nice to listen to (the Los Angeles show can already be found on BLAAP HERE, while I will try to get the Chicago show up soon).

What makes 1991 an interesting year in the history of Blur is that, not only were they on the rise in the UK with their debut album and the success of There's No Other Way, but they were starting to gain momentum in the USA. Sadly, this was to come to a screeching halt in both countries in 1992 with the poor chart performance of Popscene, conflicts with their record company in the UK (Food Records), the ineptitude of their US record company (SBK). And perhaps the two biggest factors that hardened and sharpened Blur's resolve in late 1992: their escalating drinking, and the disastrous US tour of 1992 (for more on this, go HERE). But at this point in 1991, the sky seemed to be the limit for the ascendant Blur. And you can feel that coming through in these performances...hopefully more information on the other tour dates will come to light, as well as some new recordings to analyze this period in their history.

And as always, if you have any additional recordings or know someone who does, please contact me privately.