Tracks Across America Tour '82

The Tracks Across America Tour '82 was a concert tour by the American band Blondie in 1982. The tour supported their latest album, The Hunter (the first tour since their European Tour in 1979–1980) and would be Blondie's last tour before disbanding in late 1982. The band would reconvene in the late 1990s.

Tracks Across America Tour 82'

Tour by Blondie
Associated album	The Hunter
Start date	July 23, 1982
End date	August 21, 1982
Legs	1
No. of shows	19 in North America
Blondie concert chronology

Background

Though the tour nominally supported the album The Hunter, songs from Autoamerican (1980) also saw their first live performances as the band had not toured in support of that album. The non-album hit single "Call Me" and Debbie Harry's solo track "Chrome" were also performed live for the first time.

For the tour, guitarist Frank Infante was replaced with a session musician Eddie Martinez due to Infante's conflicting relationship with other band members.^[1] The tour also featured a horn section performing with the band.

Originally, the tour was supposed to have two legs, the second being in Europe^[2] with 41 dates in total, but the second leg was cancelled after slow ticket sales.^[3] Only 19 of the concerts (all in North America) were performed.

The show at the Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which took place an 18 August 1982, was recorded and filmed for the broadcast on HBO. Since then, it has been released several times as a semi-official live album^[4] and on video (both on VHS and DVD).^[5]

The tour turned out to be unsuccessful for Blondie with shows taking place at half-empty venues.^[1] Guitarist Chris Stein's health had been worsening during the tour. He was rapidly losing weight and shortly after the tour ended was diagnosed with pemphigus vulgaris, a rare autoimmune disease.^[1] Shortly afterwards, Blondie disbanded. They would not have any further live performances until a series of reunion concerts in 1997 and 1998.

Opening acts

• Duran Duran (August 2–18; Duran Duran did not appear with Blondie at John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia on August 21. Blondie were third on the bill of an all-day stadium show. The line-up that day consisted of Robert Hazard and the Heroes, A Flock of Seagulls, Blondie, Elvis Costello and the Attractions, and Genesis.) ^[1]

Setlist

1. "Rapture"
2. "In the Sun"
3. "Sunday Girl"
4. "Little Caesar"
5. "Union City Blue"
6. "Chrome"
7. "Island of Lost Souls"
8. "Danceway"
9. "The Tide is High"
10. "Heart of Glass"
11. "Hanging On The Telephone"
12. "Dreaming"
13. "One Way or Another"
14. "War Child"
15. "Start Me Up" (The Rolling Stones cover)
16. "Call Me"

Notes

• "Chrome" is a song from Debbie Harry's first solo studio album KooKoo.
• "Theme from A Summer Place" was performed on 7 August at the Parade Stadium in Minneapolis.^[6]
• Fab Five Freddy joined Blondie onstage on 14 August at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey.^[7]

Tour dates

Date	City	Country	Venue
North America
July 22, 1982	Sunrise	United States	Sunrise Musical Theater
July 23, 1982	Baton Rouge		LSU Assembly Center
July 24, 1982	Mobile		Municipal Auditorium
July 25, 1982	Atlanta		Six Flags Over Georgia
July 26, 1982	Lakeland		Lakeland Civic Center
July 28, 1982	Pembroke Pines		Hollywood Sportatorium
July 30, 1982	Memphis		Mid-South Coliseum
August 2, 1982	Kansas City		Starlight Theatre
August 4, 1982	Rockford		Rockford MetroCentre
August 5, 1982	Cedar Rapids		Five Seasons Center
August 7, 1982	Minneapolis		Parade Stadium
August 8, 1982	Hoffman Estates		Poplar Creek Music Theater
August 9, 1982	Clarkston		Pine Knob Music Theatre
August 10, 1982	Cleveland		Agora Theatre and Ballroom
August 12, 1982	Providence		Providence Civic Center
August 13, 1982	Boston		Boston Garden
August 14, 1982	East Rutherford		Brendan Byrne Arena
August 16, 1982	Columbia		Merriweather Post Pavilion
August 18, 1982	Toronto	Canada	Exhibition Stadium
August 21, 1982	Philadelphia	United States	John F. Kennedy Stadium

Cancelled shows

Date	City	Country	Venue	Reason
North America
August 20-21, 1982	New York	United States	Madison Square Garden	Slow ticket sales
Europe
August 25, 1982	Bayonne	France	Arena de Bayonne	Slow ticket sales[8]
August 27, 1982	Frejus		Arena de Frejus
August 29, 1982	Marbella	Spain	Marbella Music Festival
September 1, 1982	Glasgow	Scotland	The Apollo
September 2, 1982
September 4, 1982	Edinburgh		Edinburgh Playhouse
September 5, 1982
September 7, 1982	Newcastle	England	Newcastle City Hall
September 8, 1982
September 11, 1982	Birmingham		NEC Arena
September 12, 1982
September 16, 1982	London		Wembley Arena
September 17, 1982
September 18, 1982
September 19, 1982
September 23, 1982	Copenhagen	Denmark	Grondbyhallen
September 25, 1982	Stockholm	Sweden	Ice Stadium Stockholm
September 26, 1982	Gothenburg		Scandinavium
September 29, 1982	Paris	France	Casino de Paris

Personnel

Blondie

• Debbie Harry – vocals
• Chris Stein – guitar
• Clem Burke – drums
• Jimmy Destri – keyboards
• Nigel Harrison – bass

Additional musicians^[9]

• Eddie Martinez – guitar
• Abel Domingues – keyboards
• Douglas Harris – horns
• Joseph Kohanski – horns
• Arthur Pugh – horns