Live Alive Tour

Live Alive Tour

Tour by Stevie Ray Vaughan
Associated album	Live Alive
Start date	November 22, 1986
End date	April 20, 1989
Legs	9
Number of shows	203
Stevie Ray Vaughan concert chronology

The Live Alive Tour was a concert tour by blues rock band Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. Staged in support of their 1986 live album Live Alive, the tour visited North America, Europe, and New Zealand from 1986 through 1989. A week before it began, guitarist and singer Stevie Ray Vaughan and bassist Tommy Shannon had achieved sobriety and was their first tour after succeeding in eliminating their addictions. Consisting of nine legs and 203 shows, the tour began in Towson, Maryland on November 22, 1986 and finished in San Diego on April 20, 1989. The first five legs alternated between the United States and Canada, before the next leg visited Europe. The tour was mostly well-received and provoked positive reactions from music critics. The band's 1989 album In Step, which included song ideas that were being performed on the tour, was recorded during a break in the tour, and some of its songs were played during the final concert in San Diego.

Background

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble's 1985 album Soul to Soul and the supporting tour consisted of controversial performances, particularly in Europe.^[1] After years of touring, Vaughan had earned a reputation for his alcohol and cocaine addictions,^[2] an image that eventually had a negative effect on his performance, business and personal relationships.^[3] The band's European tour in 1986—which was cancelled after sixteen shows—brought Vaughan to the peak of his substance abuse; a September 29 performance in Zurich, Switzerland was described by drummer Chris Layton as "weak" and "no energy".^[4] At the end of the tour, Vaughan checked into Atlanta's Peachford Hospital, where he spent four weeks in rehabilitation.^[5]

Planning, itinerary, and ticketing

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble's initial planning for the Live Alive tour emerged after Vaughan checked out of rehab, particularly when they hired a new tour manager, Skip Rickert.^[6] The wild antics of drug dealers and groupies being present backstage were eliminated after they changed their hospitality rider; Vaughan removed alcohol from his rider.^[7] They were also adamant about improvements in time management and itinerary planning.^[6]

Rehearsals for the tour began on November 19, 1986.^[8] During this time, Vaughan had feelings of self-doubt and was nervous about how his playing would sound after rehabilitation.^[8] Unlike many of the group's previous tours, which began either before or after the release of a new album, the tour started just five days after Live Alive was released.^[9] The first two legs of the tour were mostly indoor arena and theatre shows, 72 shows in the United States from November 1986 to March 1987. While the band had toured Europe every year between 1983 and 1985, they were absent from the European tour circuit for almost a year before their visit in 1988. Vaughan had requested a reduction of touring time, and the routing for the tour generally allowed no more than one show per day. This was intended to allow Vaughan to tour at a relaxed pace and enjoy the longevity of his future.^[10]

Tour dates

Date	City	Country	Venue	Support Act(s)
North America Leg 1
November 22, 1986	Towson	United States	Towson Center	The Outlaws
November 23, 1986	Boston		Orpheum Theatre
November 24, 1986
November 26, 1986	New York City		Radio City Music Hall	The Outlaws
November 28, 1986	Passaic		Capitol Theatre
November 29, 1986	Providence		Providence Performing Arts Center
November 30, 1986	Troy		Houston Field House
December 2, 1986	Poughkeepsie		Mid-Hudson Civic Center
December 4, 1986	Pittsburgh		Syria Mosque
December 5, 1986	Toledo		Toledo Sports Arena	The Outlaws
December 6, 1986	Grand Rapids		Welsh Auditorium
December 7, 1986	Columbus		Veterans Memorial Auditorium
December 9, 1986	Saginaw		Saginaw Civic Center
December 11, 1986	Ann Arbor		Hill Auditorium
December 12, 1986	Merrillville		Holiday Star Theatre	The Outlaws
December 13, 1986	Peoria		Peoria Civic Center
December 14, 1986	Muncie		Emens Auditorium
December 16, 1986	Orlando		Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre
December 27, 1986	Tampa		Curtis Hixon Hall
December 28, 1986	Miami		James L. Knight Convention Center
December 29, 1986	Cincinnati		Taft Theatre
December 30, 1986	Nashville		Grand Ole Opry House	Gregg Allman Band
December 31, 1986	Atlanta		Fox Theatre	Lonnie Mack
January 2, 1987	Tampa		Curtis Hixon Hall
January 3, 1987	Sunrise		Sunrise Musical Theater	The Neville Brothers
January 9, 1987	Austin		Antone's
January 27, 1987	Tampa		USF Sun Dome
January 30, 1987	Dallas		Fair Park Coliseum	Omar & the Howlers
January 31, 1987	Houston		Sam Houston Coliseum
February 1, 1987	San Antonio		Majestic Theatre
February 3, 1987	Austin		City Coliseum
February 4, 1987	McAllen		Villa Real Convention Center
February 6, 1987	Lafayette		Grant Street Dancehall	Marcia Ball
February 7, 1987	Birmingham		Alabama Theatre
February 8, 1987	Pensacola		Saenger Theatre
February 10, 1987	Charlotte		Park Center	Lonnie Mack
February 11, 1987	Raleigh		Dorton Arena
February 13, 1987	Johnson City		Freedom Hall Civic Center
February 14, 1987	Knoxville		Alumni Memorial Gym	Lonnie Mack
February 15, 1987	Louisville		Louisville Gardens
February 17, 1987	Spartanburg		Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium
February 19, 1987	Charleston		Charleston Municipal Auditorium	Lonnie Mack
February 20, 1987	Fairfax		Patriot Center
February 21, 1987	Brookville		C.W. Post
February 22, 1987	Portland		Portland City Hall Auditorium
February 24, 1987	Boston		Metro
February 26, 1987	New Orleans		Riverboat President	The Fabulous Thunderbirds Dr. John
February 28, 1987	Big Spring		Federal Correctional Institution	The Fabulous Thunderbirds
	Midland		Holiday Inn Country Villa
March 19, 1987	South Padre Island		Isla Blanca Park	The Fabulous Thunderbirds Eddie Money
March 21, 1987	Honolulu		Aloha Stadium	ZZ Top Run–D.M.C.
March 25, 1987	Daytona Beach		Ocean Center	Gregg Allman Band
North America Leg 2
May 5, 1987	Madison	United States	Madison Civic Center
May 7, 1987	Urbana		Foellinger Auditorium	Otis and the Elevators
May 8, 1987	Des Moines		Civic Center of Greater Des Moines
May 9, 1987	Cedar Rapids		Paramount Theatre	Blackfoot
May 10, 1987	La Porte		La Porte Civic Auditorium
May 12, 1987	Little Rock		Robinson Center
May 14, 1987	Memphis		Mud Island Amphitheatre	Anson Funderburgh
May 15, 1987	Tulsa		River Parks Amphitheater
May 16, 1987	Amarillo		Tri-State Fairgrounds
May 17, 1987	El Paso		El Paso County Coliseum
May 19, 1987	Santa Fe		Paolo Soleri Amphitheater
May 21, 1987	Phoenix		Celebrity Theatre	Gregg Allman Band
May 22, 1987
May 23, 1987	Santa Barbara		Santa Barbara Bowl
May 24, 1987	Concord		Concord Pavilion
May 27, 1987	Los Angeles		Wiltern Theatre	Lou Ann Barton
May 28, 1987
May 29, 1987
May 30, 1987
May 31, 1987	Monterey		Laguna Seca Ranch	Huey Lewis and the News Bonnie Hayes
North America Leg 3
June 5, 1987	Columbia	United States	Merriweather Post Pavilion
June 7, 1987	Grand Rapids		Welsh Auditorium	Gregg Allman Band
June 9, 1987	Bloomington		Met Center
June 10, 1987	Green Bay		City Center
June 12, 1987	Clarkston		Pine Knob Music Theatre
June 13, 1987
June 14, 1987	Fort Wayne		War Memorial Coliseum
June 16, 1987	Omaha		Omaha Civic Auditorium	Gregg Allman Band
June 17, 1987	Morrison		Red Rocks Amphitheatre
June 19, 1987	Hoffman Estates		Poplar Creek Music Theater
June 20, 1987	Indianapolis		Sports and Music Center
June 21, 1987	Urbana		Champaign County Music Park (Champaign Jam)	Gregg Allman Band Henry Lee Summer
June 23, 1987	Cincinnati		Riverbend Music Center	Gregg Allman Band
June 25, 1987	Norwich		Chelsea Parade Historic District (Rose Arts Festival)	Young Neal and the Vipers
June 27, 1987	Saratoga Springs		Saratoga Performing Arts Center (Newport Jazz Festival)
June 28, 1987	Canandaigua		Finger Lakes Performing Arts Center (Newport Jazz Festival)
June 29, 1987	New York City		Pier 84	Gregg Allman Band
June 30, 1987	Philadelphia		Mann Music Center
July 1, 1987	Mansfield		Great Woods
July 2, 1987	Allentown		Allentown Fairgrounds (Great Allentown Fair)
July 22, 1987	Montreal	Canada	La Ronde
July 23, 1987	Toronto		Kingswood Music Theatre
North America Leg 4
August 8, 1987	Dallas	United States	Park Central Amphitheater
August 9, 1987	New Orleans		Audubon Zoo	Gregg Allman Band
August 12, 1987	West Allis		Wisconsin State Fair Park (Wisconsin State Fair)
August 13, 1987	Columbus		Ohio State Fair
August 15, 1987	New York City		Pier 84
August 16, 1987	Old Orchard Beach		The Ball Park
August 18, 1987	New Orleans		Audubon Zoo
August 20, 1987	Springfield		Illinois State Fair	Gregg Allman Band John Anderson
August 21, 1987	Louisville		Freedom Hall	Gregg Allman Band
August 23, 1987	St. Louis		Fox Theatre
August 25, 1987	Joplin		Joplin Memorial Hall
August 26, 1987	Oklahoma City		Zoo Amphitheater
August 28, 1987	Pueblo		Colorado State Fair
August 29, 1987	Kansas City		Starlight Theatre
August 30, 1987	Des Moines		Iowa State Fairgrounds (Iowa State Fair)
September 2, 1987	San Bernardino		Orange Pavilion
September 3, 1987	Fresno		Warnors Theatre
September 4, 1987	Lancaster		Antelope Valley Fair
September 5, 1987	San Diego		SDSU Open Air Theatre
September 6, 1987	Nashville		Starwood Amphitheatre	Lynyrd Skynyrd William Lee Golden Gary Chapman Great White
September 11, 1987	Albuquerque		Tingley Coliseum
September 12, 1987	Oklahoma City		Zoo Amphitheater
October 2, 1987	Costa Mesa		Pacific Amphitheatre
October 5, 1987	Los Angeles		Greek Theatre	The Fabulous Thunderbirds
October 6, 1987
November 7, 1987	Cocoa		Brevard County Fair
November 8, 1987	Tampa		USF Sun Dome
November 20, 1987	San Antonio		Majestic Theatre
November 21, 1987	Corpus Christi		Bayfront Plaza Auditorium
December 2, 1987	Austin		Austin Opera House
December 27, 1987	Sacramento		Community Center Theater	The Paladins
December 28, 1987	Reno		Lawlor Events Center	The Paladins Voodoo Cats
December 29, 1987	Redding		Redding Civic Auditorium	The Paladins
December 31, 1987	Oakland		Kaiser Convention Center	Tower of Power Junior Walker The Paladins
North America Leg 5
March 3, 1988	St. Louis	United States	Fox Theatre
March 4, 1988	Merrillville		Holiday Star Theatre	The Fabulous Thunderbirds
March 5, 1988
March 6, 1988	Akron		James A. Rhodes Arena
April 2, 1988	St. John's	Canada	Memorial Stadium
April 4, 1988	Sydney		Centre 200
April 5, 1988	Halifax		Halifax Metro Centre	The Razorbacks
April 8, 1988	Orono	United States	University of Maine	The Blue Flames (local Maine artists)
April 9, 1988	Lowell		Lowell Memorial Auditorium
April 10, 1988	Springfield		Paramount Theater
April 11, 1988	Providence		Providence Performing Arts Center
April 13, 1988	Upper Darby		Tower Theater
April 14, 1988	Bethlehem		Stabler Arena	Bill Carter
April 15, 1988	Richmond		Carpenter Center
April 17, 1988	Chapel Hill		UNC-Chapel Hill
April 19, 1988	Orlando		Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre
April 20, 1988	Sunrise		Sunrise Musical Theater
April 22, 1988	New Orleans		Riverboat President (Jazz Fest)	B.B. King John P. Hammond
April 28, 1988	Boston		Matthews Arena
April 29, 1988	Hamilton		Colgate University
April 30, 1988	Medford		Tufts University
May 1, 1988	Storrs		Memorial Stadium
May 5, 1988	Quebec City	Canada	Quebec Coliseum	Robert Plant
May 7, 1988	Montreal		Montreal Forum
May 8, 1988	Ottawa		Ottawa Civic Centre
May 10, 1988	Toronto		Maple Leaf Gardens
May 11, 1988	Rochester	United States	Rochester Community War Memorial
May 13, 1988	Emmitsburg		Knott Arena
May 15, 1988	Hartford		Hartford Civic Center	Robert Plant
May 17, 1988	East Rutherford		Brendan Byrne Arena
May 18, 1988
May 20, 1988	Mansfield		Great Woods
May 22, 1988	Columbia		Merriweather Post Pavilion
May 23, 1988	Philadelphia		Spectrum
May 25, 1988	Cuyahoga Falls		Blossom Music Center
May 26, 1988	Kalamazoo		Wings Stadium
May 27, 1988	Davenport		LeClaire Park Bandshell	Cold Shot (Members see reference)
Europe Leg 6
June 19, 1988	Rotterdam	Netherlands	Ahoy Rotterdam	Hothouse Flowers
June 21, 1988	Newcastle upon Tyne	England	Newcastle City Hall
June 22, 1988	Manchester		Manchester Apollo
June 23, 1988	London		Hammersmith Odeon
June 24, 1988
June 25, 1988	St. Gallen	Switzerland	Sittertal (OpenAir Festival)	Ladysmith Black Mambazo Stephan Eicher Stanley Clarke
June 28, 1988	Stockholm	Sweden	Gröna Lund
June 29, 1988	Oslo	Norway	Sardine's
July 1, 1988	Ringe	Denmark	Midtfyns Festival	Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers Silly Gnags
July 2, 1988	Hamburg	Germany	Hamburg Stadtpark	Hothouse Flowers
July 3, 1988	Pistoia	Italy	Piazza del Duomo (Pistoia Blues Festival)	Otis Rush Fabio Treves Melvin Taylor
July 4, 1988	Paris	France	Palais des Sports
July 6, 1988	Lignano Sabbiadoro	Italy	Arena Alpe Adria
July 7, 1988	Milan		Palatrussardi (Barley Arts Festival)	Los Lobos The Pogues
July 8, 1988	Salerno		Stadio Donato Vestuti
July 10, 1988	Stuttgart	Germany	Theaterhaus Stuttgart	Hothouse Flowers
July 11, 1988	Fürth		Stadthalle
July 13, 1988	Mannheim		Music Circus
July 14, 1988	Bonn		Biskuithalle	Hothouse Flowers
July 15, 1988	Saarbrücken		Congresshalle
July 16, 1988	Peer	Belgium	Deusterstraat (Belgium Rhythm 'n' Blues Festival)
July 17, 1988	Oulu	Finland	Kuusisaari (Kuusrock)
North America Leg 7
August 16, 1988	Bristol	United States	Lake Compounce	Roomful of Blues
August 18, 1988	Columbia		Merriweather Post Pavilion
August 19, 1988	New York City		Pier 84
August 20, 1988
August 24, 1988	Darien		Darien Lake
August 25, 1988	Cleveland		Nautica Stage
August 26, 1988	Clarkston		Pine Knob Music Theatre
August 27, 1988	Danville		David S. Palmer Arena
August 28, 1988	Atlanta		Chastain Park
August 30, 1988	Du Quoin		Du Quoin State Fairgrounds (Du Quoin State Fair)	The Fabulous Thunderbirds
September 1, 1988	Cincinnati		Riverbend Music Center
September 2, 1988	Hoffman Estates		Poplar Creek Music Theater	The Fabulous Thunderbirds
September 3, 1988	Madison		Dane County Expo Grounds
September 5, 1988	Morrison		Red Rocks Amphitheatre
September 30, 1988	San Diego		SeaWorld San Diego
October 1, 1988
October 2, 1988	Costa Mesa		Pacific Amphitheatre	Santana The Fabulous Thunderbirds
October 4, 1988	Santa Cruz		Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium
October 5, 1988	Berkeley		Greek Theatre	The Fabulous Thunderbirds
October 6, 1988
October 8, 1988	Santa Barbara		Santa Barbara Bowl
October 9, 1988	Concord		Concord Pavilion	Omar & the Howlers
October 14, 1988	Austin		Austin Opera House	The Fabulous Thunderbirds Bonnie Raitt The Clovers Ruth Brown Chuck Jackson
October 15, 1988
November 25, 1988	San Francisco		The Warfield
December 29, 1988	Asbury Park		The Stone Pony
December 31, 1988	New York City		The Ritz
January 1, 1989
January 21, 1989	Washington, D.C.		Washington Convention Center (Celebration for Young Americans)	Ruth Brown Joe Cocker Albert Collins Steve Cropper Bo Diddley Willie Dixon Donald "Duck" Dunn Anton Fig Eddie Floyd Chuck Jackson Etta James Dr. John Delbert McClinton Samuel David Moore Billy Preston Percy Sledge Koko Taylor Joe Louis Walker
New Zealand Leg 8
April 8, 1989	Auckland	New Zealand	Mount Smart Supertop (Preserve Out Planet Pop Concert)	Toni Childs Mental As Anything Tim Finn Herbs Midge Marsden When the Cat's Away Shona Laing The Bats
North America Leg 9
April 20, 1989	San Diego	United States	Starlight Bowl

References

Footnotes

(( Cold Shot, Rock Band)) Members; Ronald (Cov) Colvin, Lead Guitar; David Virgil, Lead Vocals; Rick Downey, Bass Guitar; David (DT) Stanton, Drums; Larry Rivers, Keyboards)

1. Hopkins 2011, p. 146
2. Hopkins 2011, p. 95
3. Hopkins 2011, pp. 97-98, 129, 136, 138
4. Hopkins 2011, pp. 144-147
5. Hopkins 2011, p. 150
6. Hopkins 2011, p. 153
7. Hopkins 2011, p. 150
8. Hopkins 2011, p. 154
9. Hopkins 2011, pp. 152, 154
10. Hopkins 2011, p. 155

Bibliography

• Hopkins, Craig. Stevie Ray Vaughan - Day by Day, Night After Night: His Final Years, 1983–1990. Backbeat Books; October 18, 2011. ISBN 978-1-61774-022-0.