Dazzle Ships tour

The tour to promote the *Dazzle Ships* album tour began in the UK on 14 April 1983, with some European gigs being played prior to the UK leg.

After cancelling the first two gigs planned for Belfast and Dublin, a premiere performance took place in Geneva, Switzerland on 17 March then moving on to Zurich. A series of live concerts were to be played in Germany during the rest of March although these were cancelled due to AM falling ill. The live performances resumed with concerts in France, Benelux and Scandinavia before starting in the UK at Bristol Colston Hall on 14 April. Two extra dates at London Hammersmith were added due to popular demand, before the tour moved on to Spain and Portugal, moving back up through France and Germany, ending in Mannheim on 02 June.

## Line-up

* Andy McCluskey, Paul Humphreys, Malcolm Holmes, Martin Cooper.

## Support act

The main support act on the tour were The Cocteau Twins, except for gigs in Spain where they were supported by Luna.

## Stage set

The elaborate stage set, designed by Kenneth Kennedy for PSA, reflected the album sleeve design. Holmes was placed high up at the rear, with Cooper stage left, Humphreys stage right and McCluskey to the front. All members generally wore white shirts, AM with white trousers, PH & MC generally with thin tie.

## Set-lists

Typical set-lists were based around tracks from the *Dazzle Ships* album, beginning with a taped intro of Radio Prague and Dazzle Ships (Parts II, III & VII), followed by ABC Auto-Industry with the four band members famously lined up front of stage waving semaphore flags in time to the the track. Other album tracks played were Genetic Engineering, Telegraph, The Romance of the Telescope, Radio Waves and Silent Running.

Other albums:

* *OMITD*: Bunker Soldiers, Almost, Electricity, Messages (single version), Julia's Song, Pretending to See the Future
* *Organisation*: Enola Gay, Statues, Stanlow (final song)
* *Architecture & Morality*: She's Leaving, Souvenir, Joan of Arc, Maid of Orleans, Georgia

Shows typically closed with a second encore of Stanlow.

## Dates & venues

### First European leg

Support Cocteau Twins

* 17 March 1983 - Salle des Fetes de Thonex, Geneva, Switzerland
* 20 March - Kongresshaus, Zurich Switzerland
* 31 March - Casino De Paris, Paris France
* 02 April - Forest Nationale, Brussels Belgium ("..*one of our most embarrassing concerts in a long while*..")
* 03 April - Zaal Brielpoort, Deinze, Belgium ("..*the best concert so far*..")
* 04 April - Limburghal, Genk Belgium
* 05 April - Amsterdam Theatre Carre, NL
* 07 April - Falkonersalen, Copenhagen, Denmark
* 08 April - Gota Lejon, Stockholm Sweden
* 09 April - Sendesaal, Cologne Germany
* 11 April - Casino de Paris, Paris France

### UK leg

* 14 April 1983 - Bristol Colston Hall, UK
* 15 April - Leicester De Montfort Hall, UK
* 17 April - Sheffield City Hall, UK
* 18 April - Sheffield City Hall, UK
* 19 April - London Hammersmith Odeon, UK
* 20 April - London Hammersmith Odeon, UK
* 22 April - Poole Arts Centre, UK
* 23 April - Brighton Conference Centre, UK
* 25 April - Birmingham Odeon, UK
* 26 April - Birmingham Odeon, UK
* 27 April - Edinburgh Playhouse, UK
* 28 April - Glasgow Apollo, UK
* 29 April - Newcastle City Hall, UK
* 01 May - Manchester Apollo, UK
* 02 May - Manchester Apollo, UK
* 03 May - Liverpool Empire, UK
* 04 May - Liverpool Empire, UK
* 05 May - Nottingham Royal Concert Hall, UK
* 06 May - Ipswich Gaumont, UK
* 07 May - Oxford Apollo, UK
* 09 May - London Hammersmith Odeon, UK
* 10 May - London Hammersmith Odeon, UK

### Second European leg

* 12 May - Pabellon de Deportes, Bilbao Spain

## Official releases

* Live recording of Telegraph at Hammersmith Odeon on 10 May 1983 was first released as a bonus track on the 12" of Tesla Girls in 1984. The intro to Radio Waves can also be heard at the end of the track.
* Full concert (except for Genetic Engineering) released as *Live at the Hammersmith Odeon, London 10.05.1983* as part of *Souvenir* box set in 2019. The concert was also filmed but footgae has never been released.

## Bootlegs

* Brighton Centre, 23 April (see page)
* Edinburgh Playhouse, 27 April
* Glasgow Apollo, 28 April [1] [2]

## Publicity material

Telegraph single ad with tour dates (*Smash Hits*)from tour programme

## Notes

* Album track International and Genetic Engineering B-side 4 Neu were not performed live until the Museum of Liverpool performances in 2014.
* This Is Helena was not performed live until the Royal Albert Hall full album performance in 2016.

 External links / resources

* omd-live.com/1983
* omdweb.com/1983
* Setlist.fm (1983)
* Dazzle Ships tour programme scans
* OMD Summer 1983 newsletter