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.

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.

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

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".

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. 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.

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.

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".

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.

Set list

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.

The average set list was as follows: "Young Guns (Go for It)" "Club Tropicana" "Blue" "Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)" "A Ray of Sunshine" Break "Careless Whisper" "Bad Boys" "Love Machine" "Nothing Looks the Same in the Light" "Come On" "Young Guns (Go for It)" "Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)" "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 ShowDenotes 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."

References