Junk Culture tour

The tour to promote the *Junk Culture* album tour began in the UK on 26 May 1984, and then moved on to Spain, France, Germany, Canada, USA, Australia (from 03 August), two dates in Japan, then back to Benelux and again to the UK and Europe, finishing in the Rep. of Ireland on 20 October.

The group toured for the first time as a six-piece with the addition of the Weir Brothers on brass.

Some of the new album tracks had already been played live in the showcase preview in September 1983.

Planned dates in Portugal (straight after the first UK leg) were cancelled.

## Line-up

* Andy McCluskey, Paul Humphreys, Malcolm Holmes, Martin Cooper, Graham Weir, Neil Weir.

## Support act

Support acts varied throughout the tour although the most notable were Fiction Factory (first UK leg and various dates later in the year), The Reverb Bros (selected dates on second UK leg) and Liverpool band Cook Da Books (final Eire dates).

## Set-lists

Typical set-lists were based around *all* tracks from the *Junk Culture* album, usually opening with a recording of the title track. Locomotion was often performed a second time as a final encore.

Most of the group's previous hits were also featured (including Telegraph) and selected non-singles such as Motion & Heart, She's Leaving, Bunker Soldiers and Julia's Song, the latter with augmented brass parts which would also be committed to vinyl. Early B-side, a cover version of Waiting For The Man, was also revived for this tour, again with added brass by the Weir Bros.

New songs were added from the second UK leg in September, notably Radio Waves and Stanlow as a show closer. *Junk Culture* tracks Apollo and Never Turn Away were dropped.

Almost was played on 28 September to mark the 6th anniversary of OMITD's first ever gig.

## Dates & venues

### UK (first leg)

* 26 May - Apollo, Glasgow
* 27 May - Empire Theatre, Liverpool
* 28 May - Apollo, Manchester
* 29 May - City Hall, Newcastle
* 30 May - Odeon, Birmingham
* 31 May - Assembly Rooms, Derby
* 01 June - St David's Hall, Cardiff
* 02 June - Univeristy, Leeds
* 03 June - Hammersmith Odeon, London

### Europe

* *scheduled Portugal dates cancelled*
* 15 June - Leon Palacio De Los Deportes, Spain
* --
* 23 June - Barcelona Festival of Sant Juan, Spain
* *break*
* 06 July - Hermann-Loens Stadion, Schloss Neuhaus, Paderborn Germany (*festival*)
* 15 July - Elixir Festival, Brest France (*festival*)

### USA & Canada

* 19 July - Ottawa Barrymore's Music Hall, ON, CAN
* 20 July - Toronto CNE Bandshell, ON, Canada
* 21 July - Montreal Old Port, QC, Canada
* 23 July - New Haven Toad's Place, CT, USA
* 24 July - Washington DC Wax Museum, USA
* 25 July - Long Island Spize Club, Farmingdale, NY, USA
* 26 July - Boston Paradise Theatre, MA, USA
* 27 July - New York The Ritz, NY, USA (1/2)
* 28 July - New York The Ritz, NY, USA (2/2)
* 29 July - Los Angeles The Palace Theater, CA, USA
* 30 July - San Francisco Kabuki, CA, USA

### Australia

* 03 August - The Venue, Melbourne
* ---
* 30 August - Canterbury Court Ballroom, Perth

### Japan

* 01 September - Koseinenkin Hall, Osaka Japan
* 03 September - Koseinenkin Kaikan Theatre, Tokyo Japan

### Europe (second leg)

* 07 September - Firato, Amsterdam NL (*hi-fi exhibition - recorded for Veronica Radio*)
* 14 September - Utrecht, NL
* 15 September - Namur, BE (outdoor festival, RTL TV)

### UK (second leg)

* 16 September - Chippenham Goldiggers
* 17 September - Bristol Colston Hall
* ---
* 03 October - Hammersmith Odeon, London

### Europe (third leg)

* 05 October - Geleen Hanenhof, NL
* 06 October - Deinze Zaal Brielpoort, BE
* 07 October - Hamburg Musichalle, DE
* 08 October - Munich Alabamahalle, DE
* 09 October - Frankfurt Alte Oper, DE
* 11 October - Berlin Metropole, DE
* 12 October - Dusseldorf Philipshalle, DE
* 14 October - Casino De Paris, Paris F

### Extra show

* 16 October - Hammersmith Odeon (*again*)

### Eire/NI

* 18 October - Dublin National Stadium, Eire
* 19 October - Belfast Avoniel Leisure Centre, UK
* 20 October - Galway Leisureland, Eire

## Official releases

* Waiting For The Man, recorded at Hammersmith Odeon on 03 June, was released as a bonus track on the 12" issue of the Never Turn Away single in October 1984.
* White Trash, recorded at the same concert, was released on the 2x7" limited gatefold edition of the So In Love single.
* An edited recording of the Hammersmith Odeon gig on 03 October was broadcast on BBC Radio 1 on 03 November (see page). This performance was also filmed.
* Telegraph live at the Nemur RTL Festival, 15 Sept., on *Dazzle Ships* (2023 release)

## Bootlegs

* London, 03 June 1984
* Recording of above mentioned Radio 1 *In Concert* programme

## Notes

* The tour programme features a page written by Mal and Martin about recording the album and rehearsing for the live show, with several jovial 'digs' at Andy & Paul.[1]
* The Portugal dates were cancelled at the last minute, so the band took advantage of the plane tickets and 5 days off to take a holiday.
* PH was hit by a flying bottle at the Barcelona gig although was luckily only slightly injured.
* The video for Tesla Girls was made during a relatively quiet period in early July. OMD also recorded a performance of Talking Loud and Clear for Top of the Pops in the same period.

### Remarks

1. ↑ Performance was filmed but the band were not happy with the results. Another afternoon performance was filmed at the same venue in October.
2. ↑ OMD played in the early hours of 24 June, AM's 25th birthday
3. ↑ Two performances in one day.
4. ↑ Televised concert. Only Telegraph has had official audio release, on *Dazzle Ships* (2023 release).
5. ↑ Two performances including and afternoon show which was filmed (Winter 1984 Newsletter). None of the footage has ever been released.
6. ↑ Here begins "*Gordian Troeller's sighsteeing tour of Germany*" - see Winter 1983 newsletter.

## External links / resources

* omd-live.com/1984
* omdweb.com/1984
* Setlist.fm (1984)
* Junk Culture tour programme scans
* OMD Summer 1984 newsletter (first UK leg & Australia report)
* OMD Christmas 1984 newsletter (Japan, Europe, second UK leg & Eire report)