Showcase tour

The OMD '**Showcase tour**' was a short tour undertaken by OMD in September 1983. The primary aim of the tour was to perform new material, as well as previously released tracks, which the band had been working on since the previous *Dazzle Ships* album and tour. Although the tour had been mostly successful, album sales had been disappointing and the new tour was intended to go some way to restoring faith in the group by fans and the general public alike.

Support artist was Howard Jones who had just released his debut single 'New Song'.

## Announcement

The tour was announced in the UK music press towards the end of August, just a few weeks before the first date. (eg. *Record Mirror* 20 August - see image, r.)

## Setlist

As announced, the setlist was a mix of old and still unreleased tracks:

* New songs: Junk Culture, Heaven Is, All Wrapped Up, Never Turn Away, The Avenue, Tesla Girls

* Other songs: The Misunderstanding, Messages, Bunker Soldiers, She's Leaving, Maid of Orleans, Souvenir, Telegraph, Electricity, Enola Gay, Julia's Song, Red Frame/White Light

### Notes

* Junk Culture was a slightly different version to the one which was eventually released as the title track to the 1984 album. Bootleg recordings would also suggest that the track was played live.
* Heaven Is was an early version of the song, radically different to the 'official' version eventually released ten years later on the *Liberator* album. This live version is in fact closer to the Highland Studios Demo, released in 2015.
* All Wrapped Up was again an early version and very different to the final track released on the *Junk Culture* album. This live version is closer to Wrappup, released as a 12" single B-side in 1984.
* Never Turn Away, with PH lead vocal, was still in its early days and was in fact named as 'The Never Song'. The final version appeared on the *Junk Culture* album and was also released as the fourth and final single from the LP.
* The Avenue performed on tour is very similar to the track released as a bonus track on the 12" version of Locomotion in 1984. A demo version ('Sold Our Souls'), released in 2023, differs from this live version, suggesting it was one of the first 'completed' tracks of the new material.
* Tesla Girls was certainly one of the stronger of the new tracks to be showcased and was in fact often played twice in a single gig. It had been expected to be the lead single from the new album, although Locomotion, which still had to be written, took that place and Tesla Girls was only released as the third single from the album, almost a year after this live debut.

## Dates & venues

all UK, 1983

* 06 September - Rock City, Nottingham ("*the first time in 3 years that we'd played a small club in England with no big stage set*")
* 07 September - Top Rank, Cardiff
* 08 September - Caesar's, Bradford
* 09 September - The Hacienda, Manchester ("*the most problematic concert of the short tour*")
* 10 September - Royal Court, Liverpool ("we wish now that we had played there more often")

### Notes

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 quotation from Winter 1983 Fan Club Newsletter [1]
2. ↑ The Factory club would only sell tickets to members, "*not your average OMD fans*"...."*the atmosphere (was) not what it should have been*"

## Live recordings

No official live recordings from this tour have been released, although bootleg tape cassettes of the Manchester and Liverpool gigs did circulate.