Communiqué Tour

Communiqué Tour

World tour by Dire Straits
File:Communiqué Tour Poster.jpg
Location	Europe, North America
Associated album	Communiqué
Start date	11 February 1979 (1979-02-11)
End date	21 December 1979 (1979-12-21)
Legs	4
No. of shows	116
Dire Straits concert chronology

The Communiqué Tour was a 1979 concert tour of Europe and North American by the British rock band Dire Straits, supporting their second album, Communiqué, released in June 1979. The tour started on 11 February 1979 in Rotterdam and consisted of 116 concerts in Europe and North America, ending on 21 December 1979 in London. In the United States, 51 concerts were sold out during 38 days. All of the concerts in Europe were sold out as well. The tour lineup included Mark Knopfler (guitar, vocals), David Knopfler (guitar), John Illsley (bass), and Pick Withers (drums).

The Rockpalast show in Cologne, Germany on 16 February 1979 was filmed and broadcast by WDR TV channel. Two shows at the Rainbow Theatre in London were also filmed, and footage from these shows were included in the BBC documentary Arena (1980). The concert at the Roxy in Los Angeles on 28–29 March 1979 was filmed and included in the Bavarian TV report documentary (1979). Soundboard recordings from the tour include the concert at Old Waldorf in San Francisco on 31 March 1979, which was released as promo LP by Warner Bros. Records, the concerts at the Tower Theatre in Philadelphia and the Orpheum in Boston were circulated as bootlegs.

The tour consisted of seven preview concerts in February in Europe, followed by four legs:

• North America: 23 February – 2 April
• Europe: 23 May – 8 July
• North America: 8 September – 7 October
• Europe: 1 November – 21 December

Tour dates

Date	City	Country	Venue
Preview concerts
11 February 1979	Rotterdam	Netherlands	De Doelen
12 February 1979	Hanover	Germany	Niedersachsenhalle
13 February 1979	Düsseldorf		Philipshalle
14 February 1979	Mannheim		Mannheimer Rosengarten
15 February 1979	Stolberg		Stadthalle
16 February 1979	Cologne		Rockpalast
18 February 1979	Bremen		Stadthalle Bremen
North America
23 February 1979	Boston	United States	Paradise Theater
24 February 1979
25 February 1979	Providence		Alumni Hall
26 February 1979	Willimantic		Shaboo Inn
28 February 1979	Albany		Hullabaloo
2 March 1979	New York City		The Bottom Line
3 March 1979
6 March 1979	Upper Darby Township		Tower Theater
8 March 1979	Washington, D.C.		The Bayou
9 March 1979
11 March 1979	Buffalo		After Dark
12 March 1979	Cleveland		Agora Theatre and Ballroom
13 March 1979	Toronto	Canada	University of Toronto
14 March 1979	Montreal		Plateau Hall
15 March 1979	Detroit	United States	Centerstage
16 March 1979	Chicago		Park West
17 March 1979	Milwaukee		Palms
19 March 1979	Kansas City		Memorial Hall
21 March 1979	Houston		Opry House
22 March 1979	Austin		Opry House
23 March 1979	Dallas		Palladium
25 March 1979	Denver		Regis University
27 March 1979	San Diego		Roxy
28 March 1979	West Hollywood		Roxy Theatre
29 March 1979
31 March 1979	San Francisco		Old Waldorf
1 April 1979
2 April 1979	Davis		University of California, Davis
Europe
23 May 1979	Offenbach am Main	Germany	Stadthalle Offenbach
24 May 1979
25 May 1979	Stuttgart		Stadthalle
26 May 1979	Würzburg		Küernackhalle
27 May 1979	Wettingen	Switzerland	Stadthalle
29 May 1979	Munich	Germany	Circus Krone
30 May 1979	Neunkirchen am Brand		Hemmerleinhalle
31 May 1979	Eppelheim		Rhein-Neckar-Halle
1 June 1979	Munich		Circus Krone
2 June 1979	Freiberg		Stadthalle
4 June 1979	Geleen	Netherlands	Pinkpop Festival Burgemeester Damen Sportpark
5 June 1979	Paris	France	Palais des Sports
8 June 1979	Liverpool	England	Liverpool Empire Theatre
9 June 1979	Glasgow	Scotland	The Apollo
10 June 1979	Edinburgh		Odeon
11 June 1979	Sheffield	England	Sheffield City Hall
13 June 1979	Birmingham		Birmingham Odeon
14 June 1979	Newcastle upon Tyne		Newcastle City Hall
15 June 1979	Manchester		Manchester Apollo
16 June 1979	Bristol		Colston Hall
17 June 1979	London		Hammersmith Odeon
18 June 1979	Brighton		Brighton Dome
20 June 1979	London		Hammersmith Odeon
21 June 1979
23 June 1979	Frankfurt	Germany	Loreley Festival
24 June 1979	Dortmund		Westfalenhallen (festival)
29 June 1979	Berlin		Deutschlandhalle (festival)
1 July 1979	Munich		Olympiastadion (festival)
7 July 1979	Torhout	Belgium	Festival
8 July 1979	Brussels		Rock Werchter
North America
8 September 1979	Boston	United States	Orpheum Theatre
9 September 1979	Providence		Ocean State Theater
10 September 1979	Hempstead		Calderone Concert Hall
11 September 1979	New York City		Palladium
13 September 1979	Passaic		Capitol Theatre
14 September 1979	Upper Darby Township		Tower Theater
15 September 1979	Washington, D.C.		Charles E. Smith Center
17 September 1979	Norfolk		Chrysler Hall
18 September 1979	Greensboro		Greensboro Coliseum Complex
20 September 1979	Charlotte		Charlotte Park Center
21 September 1979	Atlanta		Fox Theatre
23 September 1979	Jacksonville		Civic Auditorium
24 September 1979	Tampa		Curtis Hixon Hall
25 September 1979	Miami		Casino Miami Jai-Alai
28 September 1979	Columbia		Township
29 September 1979	Knoxville		Knoxville Civic Auditorium and Coliseum
1 October 1979	Louisville		Louisville Gardens
2 October 1979	Cincinnati		Bogart's
3 October 1979	Cleveland		Palace Theatre
4 October 1979	Detroit		Centerstage
6 October 1979	St. Louis		Kiel Opera House
7 October 1979	Chicago		Uptown Theatre
Europe
1 November 1979	Rotterdam	Netherlands	Ahoy Rotterdam
2 November 1979	Nijmegen		Concertgebouw de Vereeniging
3 November 1979
4 November 1979	Amsterdam		Carré Theatre
5 November 1979
7 November 1979	Zwolle		IJsselhallen
8 November 1979	Essen	Germany	Grugahalle
9 November 1979	Cologne		Messehalle
11 November 1979	Münster		Halle Münsterland
12 November 1979	Braunschweig		Stadthalle
13 November 1979	Hamburg		Congress Center Hamburg
14 November 1979	Kiel		Ostseehalle
16 November 1979	Vejle	Denmark	Idraettenshus
17 November 1979	Lund	Sweden	Olympen
18 November 1979	Copenhagen	Denmark	Tivoli Theatre
19 November 1979
20 November 1979	Gothenburg	Sweden	Scandinavium
21 November 1979	Oslo	Norway	Ekeberghallen
23 November 1979	Stockholm	Sweden	Johanneshov
26 November 1979	Oldenburg	Germany	Weser-Ems Halle
27 November 1979	Brussels	Belgium	Forest National
11 December 1979	Dublin	Ireland	Stadium
12 December 1979
13 December 1979	Belfast	Northern Ireland	Whitla Hall
14 December 1979
18 December 1979	London	England	Lewisham Odeon
19 December 1979
20 December 1979			Rainbow Theatre
21 December 1979

Setlist

A typical setlist from the Communiqué Tour consisted of the following sixteen songs:

1. "Down to the Waterline"
2. "Six Blade Knife"
3. "Once upon a Time in the West"
4. "Lady Writer"
5. "Single Handed Sailor"
6. "Water of Love"
7. "In the Gallery"
8. "Follow Me Home"
9. "News"
10. "What's the Matter Baby"
11. "Lions"
12. "Sultans of Swing"
13. "Wild West End"
14. "Where Do You Think You're Going?"
15. "Eastbound Train"
16. "Southbound Again"

The following additional songs were performed on the tour.

• "Angel of Mercy"
• "Portobello Belle"
• "Nadine"
• "Setting Me Up"
• "Bernadette"
• "Twisting by the Pool"
• "Solid Rock"