Be Here Now Tour

Be Here Now Tour
Tour by Oasis
Associated album Be Here Now
Start date 14 June 1997
End date 25 March 1998
Legs 9
Shows 43 in Europe
24 in North America
7 in Oceania
5 in South America
4 in Asia
83 total
Oasis tour chronology
(What's the Story) Morning Glory? Tour
(1995-1996)
Be Here Now Tour
(1997-1998)
Standing on the Shoulder of Giants Tour
(2000)

The Be Here Now World Tour was a world concert tour by English rock band Oasis in support of their third album Be Here Now. The tour, which spanned the UK, Europe, the US, Canada, Japan, Australia, Asia, and Latin America, included 85 shows over a period of several months in 1997 and 1998. The tour started on 14 June 1997 in support of U2 at the KROQ Weenie Roast in Irvine, California, United States, and ended on 25 March 1998 at the Sports Palace in Mexico City, Mexico. With most shows being played during the autumn and winter months, a majority of the concerts were staged at indoor arenas and halls, in contrast to the larger outdoor venues typically featured on Oasis' summer tours.

Many performances were audio recorded by either broadcast media or concert attendees and have since been made available on various file-sharing outlets and fan web sites. A handful of performances were also carried by various television outlets throughout the world, including the 14 December concert at the G-Mex in Manchester, England.

Fueled partly by worldwide stardom and drug use, the tour and corresponding album became "infamous" for the amount of excess and spectacle they provided. Accordingly, they marked the end of the cocaine era for Noel Gallagher.[1] He would later say about the craziness and wild year on tour: "I kid you not, there was a sound guy who quit because there was too much 'food'...and I thought 'sure it's not the fucking coke you've been taking'".

As the tour came to an end, the album's reception had changed from rave and outstandingly positive to less-than satisfied and below average reviews with many critics restating that it was weak in comparison to the group's first two records. By mid-1998, their popularity had noticeably fallen in the United States as well as the UK, possibly due to their fading image as bad boy rock stars. They did, however, manage to maintain a large cult following in many countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Russia, Italy, Spain, South Korea and Japan where their public persona has strengthened even more over the last decade.

Contents

Stage setup

Oasis had a unique album-themed stage set up for the tour, featuring props and set pieces for the first time in their career. At various points on the tour, stage items included a Rolls Royce rigged with stage lights, an oversized telephone box, and other items from the Be Here Now album cover.

At the start of many performances, a man outfitted with a tailor suit and top hat would appear onstage to excite the crowd, beckoning them to scream and clap, while the opening piano loop for the song "Be Here Now" began playing over the concert PA. The band then entered onto the stage through a large door in the prop telephone box, which doubled as an entryway to backstage. As the tour progressed, different shows featured varying types and numbers of set pieces, though the "Be Here Now" introduction remained a constant through the duration of performances.

Set list

The band's typical set list was:

  1. "Be Here Now"
  2. "Stay Young"
  3. "Stand By Me"
  4. "Supersonic"
  5. "Some Might Say"
  6. "Roll with It"
  7. "D'You Know What I Mean?"
  8. "Don't Look Back In Anger"
  9. "Don't Go Away
  10. "Wonderwall"
  11. "Live Forever"
  12. "It's Gettin' Better (Man!!)"
  13. "All Around The World"
  14. "Fade In-Out"
  15. "Champagne Supernova"
  16. "Cigarettes & Alcohol"
  17. "Acquiesce"

The band would occasionally feature "Whatever", "Don't Go Away" and "My Big Mouth". They would also sometimes break while Noel performed a selection of songs acoustically, like "Help!" in Budokan, Nippon; "Talk Tonight"; and a song that he collaborated on with The Chemical Brothers called "Setting Sun". This would normally lead straight into an acoustic version of "Fade In-Out". The band also performed Magic Pie, this coming to an end before the G-Mex shows.

For the U2 support slots, Oasis played between 7 and 12 songs, generally from the same setlist as the main tour, but Noel acoustically performed "Cast No Shadow".

Tour dates

Date City Country Venue
North America
14 June 1997 Irvine United States Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
18 June 1997 Oakland O.co Coliseum
19 June 1997
Europe
8 September 1997 Oslo Norway Oslo Spektrum
9 September 1997 Stockholm Sweden Ericsson Globe
10 September 1997 Copenhagen Denmark Forum Copenhagen
13 September 1997 Exeter England Westpoint Arena
14 September 1997
16 September 1997 Newcastle Newcastle Arena
17 September 1997
19 September 1997 Aberdeen Scotland Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre
20 September 1997
22 September 1997 Sheffield England Sheffield Arena
23 September 1997
25 September 1997 London Earls Court Exhibition Centre
26 September 1997
27 September 1997
29 September 1997 Birmingham National Indoor Arena
30 September 1997
North America
7 October 1997 New York City United States Hammerstein Ballroom
8 October 1997
Europe
3 November 1997 Lille France Zénith de Lille
8 November 1997 Zaragoza Spain Pabellon Principe Felipe
10 November 1997 Madrid Palacio De La Comunidad
11 November 1997 Barcelona Palau dels Esports de Barcelona
13 November 1997 Geneva Switzerland SEG Geneva Arena
15 November 1997 Bologna Italy Palasport di Bologna
16 November 1997 Milan Mediolanum Forum
17 November 1997
19 November 1997 Munich Germany Olympiahalle
21 November 1997 Prague Czech Republic FK Viktoria Žižkov
22 November 1997 Berlin Germany Deutschlandhalle
24 November 1997 Hanover Messehalle
25 November 1997 Frankfurt am Main Festhalle Frankfurt
27 November 1997 's-Hertogenbosch Netherlands Brabanthallen
28 November 1997 Oberhausen Germany König Pilsener Arena
3 December 1997 Dublin Ireland Point Theatre
4 December 1997
5 December 1997
7 December 1997 Glasgow Scotland Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre
8 December 1997
10 December 1997 Cardiff Wales Motorpoint Arena Cardiff
11 December 1997
13 December 1997 Manchester England GMEX Arena
14 December 1997
16 December 1997 London Monto Water Rats
17 December 1997 Wembley Arena
18 December 1997
North America
8 January 1998 Camden United States Susquehanna Bank Center
9 January 1998 Fairfax Patriot Center
10 January 1998 Pittsburgh A. J. Palumbo Center
12 January 1998 East Rutherford Izod Center
15 January 1998 Toronto Canada Maple Leaf Gardens
17 January 1998 Rosemont United States Allstate Arena
18 January 1998 Minneapolis Northrop Auditorium
23 January 1998 Vancouver Canada Rogers Arena
24 January 1998 Seattle United States KeyArena
26 January 1998 San Francisco Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
27 January 1998 Los Angeles Gibson Amphitheatre
28 January 1998
31 January 1998 Dallas Bronco Bowl Auditorium
1 February 1998 Houston Theatre At Bayou Place
5 February 1998 West Palm Beach West Palm Beach Auditorium
6 February 1998 Orlando UCF Arena
8 February 1998 Atlanta Fox Theatre
Asia
18 February 1998 Tokyo Japan Nippon Budokan
19 February 1998
20 February 1998
22 February 1998 Wan Chai China Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre
Oceania
26 February 1998 Perth Australia Perth Entertainment Centre
28 February 1998 Adelaide Adelaide Entertainment Centre
1 March 1998 Melbourne Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre
3 March 1998 Sydney Sydney Entertainment Centre
6 March 1998 Brisbane Brisbane Entertainment Centre
9 March 1998 Auckland New Zealand Carter Holt Pavilion
10 March 1998 Wellington TSB Bank Arena
South America
14 March 1998 Santiago Chile Estadio San Carlos de Apoquindo
17 March 1998 Buenos Aires Argentina Luna Park
18 March 1998
20 March 1998 Rio de Janeiro Brazil Citibank Hall
21 March 1998 São Paulo Polo de Arte e Cultura de Anhembi
North America
24 March 1998 Mexico City Mexico Palacio de los Deportes
25 March 1998

References