Club Fantastic Tour

The Club Fantastic Tour (also advertised as the Club Fantastic '83 Tour) was the debut concert tour by English pop duo Wham!, launched in support of their first studio album Fantastic (1983). It was sponsored by Fila sportswear and spanned two months from October to late November 1983, comprising 30 sold-out shows across England, Scotland and Wales.^[1][2]

Club Fantastic Tour

Tour by Wham!
Tour programme cover
Location	United Kingdom
Associated album	Fantastic
Start date	9 October 1983 (1983-10-09)
End date	30 November 1983 (1983-11-30)
No. of shows	29 (30 scheduled)
Supporting act	Gary Crowley
Wham! concert chronology

Background

Wham! announced a tour in August 1983. Their co-manager Simon Napier-Bell had a plan to raise some revenue; if little money was to be made from records, then it was time for the duo to begin performing with a 30-date tour of the UK. Napier-Bell secured a £50,000 sponsorship deal with the sportswear manufacturer Fila, with George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley wearing the company's clothing on stage throughout the tour.^[1]

Halfway through the tour, Michael lost his voice and had to cancel ten consecutive shows; concerts were pushed back and rescheduled.^[3]

Concert synopsis

The show started with Michael entering the stage right-side in yellow Fila sports gear, and Ridgeley entering the stage left-side in red Fila sports gear while the band played "Bad Boys". Pepsi & Shirlie, backing singers and dancers, ran on stage for "Club Tropicana".^[4]

Ridgeley then announced the next song, "Blue", a slow love ballad. He held a plectrum in his mouth and shook hands. They then sang "Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)", dancing as a foursome. They continued with "A Ray of Sunshine", which ended the first part of the set.^[4] During the break a screen appeared and the crowd were shown family photos such as Ridgeley in pyjamas, and a young Michael in glasses. A mixed compilation of the group's music videos was played.^[5]

Then Michael sang "Careless Whisper" to a backing track on his own. He and Ridgeley changed into white Wham! singlet T-shirts and sang "Bad Boys". "Love Machine" followed, then "Nothing Looks the Same in the Light". "Come On" ended the set, with the two playing a mock game of badminton, occasionally whacking a shuttlecock out to the crowd.^[6]

The encore was "Young Guns (Go for It)" with the duo wearing camp cowboy outfits, "Wham Rap!" with them wearing white, and finally Chic's 1979 disco hit "Good Times".^[4]

Opening acts

The group decided to go back to their clubbing roots and had Gary Crowley (of Capital Radio) as the opening DJ act. Also included were some body-poppers called Eklypse who did dance routines for over an hour before the show.^[2]

Set list

Lyceum Theatre, the venue of five consecutive shows in London

The first set saw the band play most of the hits from the Fantastic album before Michael was on stage alone singing songs like "Careless Whisper", a then-unreleased track.^[2]

The average set list was as follows:^[7]

1. "Young Guns (Go for It)"
2. "Club Tropicana"
3. "Blue"
4. "Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)"
5. "A Ray of Sunshine"

   Break

6. "Careless Whisper"
7. "Bad Boys"
8. "Love Machine"
9. "Nothing Looks the Same in the Light"
10. "Come On"
11. "Young Guns (Go for It)"
12. "Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)"
13. "Good Times"

Tour dates

List of concerts, showing date, city, country and venue

Date	City	Country	Venue
United Kingdom
9 October 1983	Aberdeen	Scotland	Capitol Theatre
10 October 1983
11 October 1983	Edinburgh		Playhouse Theatre
13 October 1983	Glasgow		Apollo Theatre
14 October 1983	Blackpool	England	Opera House
15 October 1983	Newcastle		City Hall
16 October 1983	Manchester		Apollo Theatre
18 October 1983	Liverpool		Royal Court Theatre
19 October 1983	Sheffield		City Hall
21 October 1983	Leicester		De Montfort Hall
22 October 1983	St Austell		Coliseum
23 October 1983	Bristol		Studio
24 October 1983	Swansea	Wales	Top Rank
27 October 1983	London	England	Hammersmith Odeon
28 October 1983
29 October 1983
30 October 1983	Brighton		Centre
1 November 1983	Nottingham		Royal Centre
2 November 1983	Poole		Arts Centre
3 November 1983	Crawley		Leisure Centre
4 November 1983	Leeds		University
6 November 1983	Birmingham		Odeon Theatre
7 November 1983
8 November 1983	London		Lyceum
9 November 1983
10 November 1983	Brighton		Centre
13 November 1983	London		Lyceum
14 November 1983
15 November 1983
16 November 1983
17 November 1983
19 November 1983	Whitley Bay		Ice Rink
20 November 1983	Swansea	Wales	Top Rank
21 November 1983	Poole	England	Arts Centre
24 November 1983	Birmingham		Odeon Theatre
25 November 1983	Leeds		University
26 November 1983	London		Hammersmith Odeon
28 November 1983	Nottingham		Royal Centre
29 November 1983	Brighton		Centre
30 November 1983

Key

Show	Denotes cancelled concert dates that were rescheduled.

Personnel

Andrew Ridgeley George Michael Shirlie Holliman Pepsi DeMacque Musicians Tommy Eyre – keyboards Deon Estus – bass guitar Trevor Morrell – drums Robert Ahwai – guitar David "Babs" Baptiste – saxophone Paul Spong – trumpet Colin Graham – trumpet Janey Hallet – backing vocals Gee – backing vocals Jenny – backing vocals

Danny Cummings – percussion Mike Brady – recorder Barry Mead – tour manager Ken – production manager Glenn – guitar tech Wendy – assistant tour manager Lesley Morrall – wardrobe Mel – hair & makeup Promoter – Harvey Goldsmith Entertainments Management – Simon Napier-Bell & Jazz Summers Personal security – Dave Moulder Concert Publishing Co. – programme & merchandising Sponsor Fila – sportswear

Quotes

Gary Crowley described the tour as "some of my bestest bestest memories ... The nearest I'll ever get to being in the Beatles' A Hard Day's Night."^[8]