Pacific Rim Tour

The Pacific Rim Tour was a concert tour of arenas and stadiums by American Pop/R&B singer Whitney Houston. The tour included 10 concert dates in Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Australia and United States in 1997. The tour was in support of her 1996 multi-platinum album, The Preacher's Wife.

Opening act

• Bobby Brown (Hawaii)

Set list

1. "I'm Every Woman"
2. "So Emotional"
3. "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)"
4. Love Medley: "All at Once" / "Saving All My Love for You" / "Greatest Love of All"
5. "Queen of the Night"
6. "Change the World" (performed by Gary Houston)
7. "My Name Is Not Susan"
8. "All the Man That I Need"
9. "A Song for You" (performed by Bobby Brown)
10. "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)"
11. "Freeway of Love"²
12. "Count on Me" (performed with CeCe Winans)¹
13. "In Return" (performed by CeCe Winans)¹
14. "I Love the Lord"
15. "I Go to the Rock"
16. "My Prerogative" (performed by Bobby Brown), (contain elements of "Superstition" with Whitney)²
17. "I Will Always Love You"
18. "Step by Step"
19. "Something in Common" (performed with Bobby Brown)²

¹ performed at Osaka, and Tokyo, Japan dates
² performed only in Hawaii, Taipei and select dates in Japan

Notes

• May 20, Bangkok: according to audience members, "when speaking and singing the high notes, she sounded like she had a cold. But she still kept on singing. She said 'tonight my voice is deep.' A member of the royal family (princess) was in the audience and Whitney showed her great respect."^[1]

• May 21, in Melbourne: Dionne Warwick and Bobby Brown joined Houston on stage to sing along on "Step by Step."

• May 22, Melbourne: that night, fans arrived at the Palladium Crown Entertainment Complex for Whitney's second concert only to be told she had cancelled. Guests were told that she had a "severe throat infection" and was "advised by her throat specialist not to perform."^[1]

• May 25, in Taipei: 45,000 people, and a few surprises: Whitney performed Aretha Franklin's "Freeway of Love". Bobby Brown performed his pop hit "My Prerogative," and they had an alternative duet version, with a mixture of Stevie Wonder's classic "Superstition" in it.^[1]

• May 29, Hawaii: Bobby Brown opened up the show singing his hit tunes. Whitney was in disguise singing background vocals for Bobby. According to audience members, "when she came out, the crowd went wild. She sang very well even though she had a cold. She closed the show with "Step by Step".'^[1]

The band

• Musical Director: Rickey Minor
• Bass guitar, bass synthesizer: Rickey Minor
• Keyboards: Bette Sussman
• Keyboards: Wayne Linsey
• Drums: Michael Baker
• Percussion: Bashiri Johnson
• Guitars: Paul Jackson Jr.
• Saxophone, EWI: Gary Bias
• Trumpet: Raymond Brown
• Trombone: Reginald Young
• Backing vocals: Gary Houston, Pattie Howard, Sharlotte Gibson, Valerie Pinkston-Mayo
• Dancers: Carolyn Brown, Merlyn Mitchell, Shane Johnson, Saleema Mubaarak

Tour dates

Classic Whitney Live

Houston performed two special concerts, billed as "Classic Whitney Live from Washington, D.C." at the historic DAR Constitution Hall in Washington D.C. in October. Houston performed a few of her greatest hits, as well as gospel favorites and songs saluting some of her influences including Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin and Diana Ross. The second concert on October 5 was broadcast live on HBO cable channel TV. Whitney and The Whitney Houston Foundation for Children donated the proceeds, over $300,000 from ticket sales to the Children's Defense Fund, a national non-profit organization devoted to providing a voice for all children of America, particularly poor, minority and disabled children.^[3]

Set list

1. "I Will Always Love You"
2. "I Know Him So Well" (duet with Cissy Houston)
3. Dionne Warwick Medley: "Walk On By" / "A House Is Not a Home" / "I Say a Little Prayer" / "Alfie"
4. Aretha Franklin Medley: "Baby I Love You" / "(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone" / "Ain't No Way"
5. Tribute to Sammy Davis Jr.: "Mr. Bojangles" (feat. dance solo by Bobby Brown)
6. Tribute to United States great men: "Abraham, Martin and John"
7. Diana Ross Medley: "God Bless The Child" / "Endless Love" (duet with Gary Houston) / "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" / "The Boss" / "Missing You"¹
8. Tribute to George Gershwin:¹ "I Loves You, Porgy" / "Porgy, I's Your Woman Now" / "Summertime"
9. "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)"²
10. "I Love the Lord"¹
11. "I Go to the Rock"
12. "The Greatest Love of All"
13. "Amazing Grace" (saxophone solo by Kirk Whalum)
14. "Step by Step"
15. "I'm Every Woman"

¹ not performed at the October 3, show.
² "Exhale" featured Monica, Shirley Caesar and BeBe Winans at the October 5, show.

Dates

References

External links

• WhitneyHouston.com
• PacificRim Tour1997
• ClassicWhitney.com