An in-depth look at the 1977 tour
Comments and Observations
There is surprisingly little known about the tour in support of A New World Record.
The tour, dubbed A New World Record Tour Of America was a tour in North America only, running from October 1976 to April of 1977 with a break in December. The reason the tour was only in North America can probably be attributed to the band's high success rate in the USA. If so, it's somewhat ironic given that late in 1976 Livin' Thing was ELO's breakout hit in England. The Unexpected Messages book states that it was a 40 city tour, but as the book only mentions the second leg of the tour (January to April 1977), it is unclear if the 40 cities was for the entire tour or the second leg only.
Another explanation for the tour being only in North America (and brief compared to previous tours) could be simply due to scheduling issues. The band may have had the tour booked without consideration for when an album was to be released, thus the timing was that the A New World Record tour only happened in North American tour.
Following the tour, other than a few promotional appearances to promote Telephone Line over the summer of 1977, the band stayed busy the rest of the year with working on the Out Of The Blue album. It is also known that the band played an August 10, 1977 gig in San Diego, which would have put it after the recording of the Out Of The Blue album, but two months before the release of that album. As such, it is considered part of the A New World Record tour here, but it is probably just a one-off performance while the band was doing promotional appearances in California and Telephone Line was climbing the charts.
As in previous shows, Mik Kaminski and Hugh McDowell performed solo violin and cello performances during the show. Mik performed a self-written and unnamed solo piece which merged with the drums, bass and keyboards joining in on a modern arrangement of the traditional Jewish folk song Hava Nagila. Hugh performed his own self-written and unnamed solo piece which similarly merged with bass, drums and guitar joining in for a modern arrangement of the traditional Hungarian folk song Csárdás and more of Hugh's self-written piece. This information is drawn from the one an only bootleg recording of a performance from the A New World Record tour, so it is also possible that the performance varied from show to show.
Beyond these small bits and one bootlegged performance from New York City's Madison Square Garden on February 11, 1977, very little else is known about this tour.
Band and crew members
The band and crew on this tour were:
Jeff Lynne: vocals, guitar
Bev Bevan: drums
Richard Tandy: keyboards
Kelly Groucutt: bass, vocals
Mik Kaminski: violin
Hugh McDowell: cello
Melvyn Gale: cello
Don Arden: Business and personal management
Dave Arden: Business and personal management
Other crew is uncertain, although probably Jake Commander, Brian Jones and Phil Copestake were involved as engineers or technician as they were known to be good friends with the band and involved in most of their tours.
Tour dates
This tour ran in October and November of 1976 as well as early 1977. By summer of that year, Jeff Lynne was in Switzerland writing songs for Out Of The Blue. Details are not entirely clear due to a lack of documentation. The following schedule is only partially complete.
Date City, Country Venue Opening Act(s) Comments late 1976 or early 1977 Miami, Florida, USA Hollywood Sportatorium Black Oak Arkansas January 17, 1977 Phoenix, Arizona, USA Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum Steve Hillage & Journey January 25, 1977 San Francisco, California, USA Cow Palace Steve Hillage & Firefall February 11, 1977 New York City, New York, USA Madison Square Garden Steve Hillage Some sources have this performance at Madison Square Garden as on February 17th instead of the 11th. It is believed that the 17th is accurate, but it's unconfirmed. February 12, 1977 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA The Spectrum Steve Hillage February 13, 1977 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA The Spectrum Steve Hillage February 15, 1977 Erie, Pennsylvania, USA Erie County Fieldhouse Steve Hillage February 17, 1977 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA Civic Arena Steve Hillage February 18, 1977 Cincinnati, Ohio, USA Riverfront Coliseum Gentle Giant & Steve Hillage February 19, 1977 Cleveland, Ohio, USA Public Auditorium Steve Hillage February 21, 1977 Detroit, Michigan, USA Cobo Hall Steve Hillage February 22, 1977 Detroit, Michigan, USA Cobo Hall Steve Hillage February 23, 1977 Flint, Michigan, USA International Music Arena Steve Hillage February 25, 1977 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA Exhibition Auditorium Steve Hillage February 26, 1977 Chicago, Illinois, USA The Uptown Theatre Steve Hillage February 27, 1977 Chicago, Illinois, USA The Uptown Theatre Steve Hillage February 28, 1977 Chicago, Illinois, USA The Uptown Theatre Steve Hillage March 10, 1977 Atlanta, Georgia, USA Unknown Unknown March 18, 1977 Dallas, Texas, USA Moody Coliseum Unknown March 21, 1977 Houston, Texas, USA The Summit Elliot Murphy March 23, 1977 St. Louis, Missouri, USA Kiel Auditorium Widowmaker March 24, 1977 Evansville, Indiana, USA Roberts Stadium Journey March 25, 1977 South Bend, Indiana, USA Notre Dame Athletic and Convocation Center Elliot Murphy ? 1977 Ottawa, Canada Unknown Unknown April 4, 1977 Toronto, Canada Maple Leaf Gardens Unknown April 6, 1977 Montreal, Canada Place de Nationale Unknown April 19, 1977 New York City, New York, USA Madison Square Garden N/A ELO opened for Boston at this performance April 22, 1977 Inglewood, California, USA The Forum Steve Hillage August 10, 1977 San Diego, California, USA San Diego Sports Arena Journey
Setlist
This is the only known setlist used on the tour. It's very similar to the Face The Music tour setlist, with the exclusion of most Eldorado tracks and the On The Third Day suite to include the new A New World Record songs. It is entirely possible that the setlist varied somewhat during the tour, but given the only documentation of the tour that is available-- a New York City bootlegged performance-- this is all that is currently known.
One fan reports that ELO performed "a cool rendition of Eleanor Rigby" by The Beatles at the April 22nd show, but that remains unconfirmed. Given the string arrangements in the original song and the featured string players in ELO, it would be a natural song for the band to perform.
Song Title Arrangement Song comments Fire On High Face The Music album arrangement, but all the acoustic guitar parts are replaced with a heavy electric guitar; the taped intro may have been cut, but that remains unconfirmed It's unclear if this performance used the taped intro. The only known recording of a concert from this tour does not include that part. Poker Face The Music album arrangement, but Jeff sings all the lead vocals rather than trading lines with Kelly Groucutt; also the ending is extended slightly, giving the song a bigger finish Nightrider Face The Music album arrangement Eldorado Overture Eldorado album version This is a taped intro from the Eldorado album. Can't Get It Out Of My Head Eldorado album arrangement except the keyboard is different on the bridge Hugh's Cello Solo/Csárdás N/A Showdown Standard single arrangement, but half of the instrumental bridge is played with electric piano and everything after the "I'm the fool for you" line is cut and replaced with a guitar outro Tightrope A New World Record album arrangement, but the choir parts are played with guitar and some of the lead guitar parts are played with keyboard Telephone Line A New World Record album arrangement, but with a non-fading end Livin' Thing A New World Record album arrangement, but cuts the "I'm takin' a dive" line from the violin bridge and all the female backing vocals; the ending does not fade, but includes a couple of extra choruses, followed by an instrumental finish Rockaria! A New World Record album arrangement, but Kelly Groucutt sings the opera bits and the entire final verse ("Now listen here baby...") Mik's Violin Solo/Hava Nagila N/A Strange Magic Face The Music album arrangement, but the lead guitar parts are played on keyboard, there are no female backing vocals, and it has a non-fading end Evil Woman Face The Music album arrangement, but without the orchestral intro and a non-fading end Do Ya A New World Record album arrangement, except it adds four extra guitar riffs at the beginning and the bridge and it cuts the last verse; the song is played with a very hard sounding rock 'n' roll guitar; Kelly Groucutt sings the entire second verse Ma-Ma-Ma Belle Ma-Ma-Ma Belle single arrangement with added piano throughout; a 30 second drum intro is used to get the audience worked up; Kelly Groucutt sings lead on the second verse and the following chorus; the end has an additional chorus and a lengthy instrumental part running nearly 1:20 before a big ending Roll Over Beethoven ELO 2 UK album arrangment, but cuts the mellotron intro; also, the third and fourth verses and second chorus are cut, replaced by a long instrumental jam and picks up at the repeated "Roll Over Beethoven" part; the ending is extended, drawing out the last notes in a long jam
Releases
No performance from this tour has seen official release.
Only one performances of this concert tour is known to have been bootlegged. It is:
Date Location Source Quality Comments February 11, 1977 New York City, New York, USA Audience Fair
Opening Acts
The myriad of opening acts on this tour are a bit unclear, but they were known to include the rock musicians Elliot Murphy and Steve Hillage, as well as the band Gentle Giant for at least one show.
Promotions
There is so little known about this tour that there are no known interesting stories to tell about promotions.
Photos
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| Jeff Lynne on the A New World Record tour |
Ticket stub for February 27, 1977 show
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Ticket stub for March 24, 1977 show
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Ticket stub for April 4, 1977 show
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Fan Comments
Below are fan comments from fans who attended shows on this tour.
I was at two of the ELO shows in 1977 that you have on your site. One was the show in Phoenix, the other was the show in Chicago. You are missing the opening act for both of those shows. It was Steve Hillage. As far as what venue the concert was at in Phoenix . . . I don't know the name of the place, but it was the stadium that the Phoenix Suns played in. Funny, I was talking with my sister tonite about how they had problems with playing taped music on the Out of the Blue Tour....but that when I saw them....the violin and cellos played their own music and was not an orchestra dubbed in....I even remembered the Hava Nagila solo.... By the way...for sure I remember this, too....the opening act for that show was Black Oak Arkansas....This is for sure..... But...I also remember one other cool thing about the show....During the cello solo...they pointed a green laser on the particular string of the cello being bowed....and ..... the straight line laser would reflect or deflect off the vibrating string into these cool hairs of green looking like electricity all over the arena....It was one of the coolest effects I have ever seen.... This was my very first concert....I remember it well....Played the violin in my school's orchestra and was a huge elo fan.....Have all the music on albums....[even a European album in bubblegum pink or purplish color]......
-Jack Bly
i was at the madison square garden show --7th row-- FANTASTIC show. i was 16. the opening act was steve hillage. his single at the time was george harrison's "it's all too much", which he played live. then, ELO came on to a packed and adoring crowd.
-Seth Swirsky
I saw ELO in either late 76 or early 77 [I was in 10th grade] in Miami, Florida [at the Hollywood Sportatorium] definitely during the New World Record Tour....
-Lou Arslanian
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Song Comments
Fire On High (A New World Record Tour)
Poker (A New World Record Tour)
Nightrider (A New World Record Tour)
Eldorado Overture (A New World Record Tour)
Can't Get It Out Of My Head (A New World Record Tour)
Hugh's Cello Solo/Csárdás (A New World Record Tour)
Hugh's cello solo is mostly a self-written piece, but for almost a full minute the rest of the band joins in to play Csárdás (sometimes written as Czardas), composed by Vittorio Monti, before returning to Hugh's self-written cello piece.
Showdown (A New World Record Tour)
Tightrope (A New World Record Tour)
Telephone Line (A New World Record Tour)
Livin' Thing (A New World Record Tour)
Rockaria! (A New World Record Tour)
Mik's Violin Solo/Hava Nagila (A New World Record Tour)
Strange Magic (A New World Record Tour)
Evil Woman (A New World Record Tour)
Do Ya (A New World Record Tour)
Ma-Ma-Ma Belle (A New World Record Tour)
Roll Over Beethoven (A New World Record Tour)
"On Roll Over Beethoven [in concert] we used to do verse and verse about; someone does a verse and gets a rest on the next one."
Kelly Groucutt (March 3, 2006 - Guitar & Bass magazine)
Robert Porter
June 2009