The Inner Mounting Flame Tour was the first concert tour by the jazz fusion band Mahavishnu Orchestra.

History The band's first ever live performance was on July 21, 1971 at the Gaslight at the Au Go Go in New York City, where they opened for blues guitarist John Lee Hooker. McLaughlin recalled: "The first set was shaky but the second set just took off and every night it was great. They wanted to hold us over and a few days after the second week ... we went into the studio". The band ending up doing a 18-date residency at the night club. The band ended up performing in several colleges, high schools, night clubs, music venues with a capacity of less than a thousand people, and small arenas and sports venues across the United States. The band also played at the Mar y Sol Pop Festival in Puerto Rico, the Summerfest festival in Milwaukee, and many more festivals across North America. The group also played in Europe for the first time, simply appearing at music festivals. The band grew to popularity thanks to appearing at festivals and touring endlessly, and the group's shows were praised by The Harvard Crimson and The New York Times.

Live releases Live material from this tour has appeared on the following releases:

"The Noonward Race" from April 3, 1972 at the Mar y Sol Pop Festival in Puerto Rico was released on the 1972 live album Mar Y Sol: The First International Puerto Rico Pop Festival, the 2011 re-release of the 1980 compilation album The Best of the Mahavishnu Orchestra and the 2011 remaster of The Inner Mounting Flame.

Tour dates DateCityCountryVenueNorth AmericaJuly 21, 1971New York CityUnited StatesGaslight at the Au Go GoJuly 22, 1971July 23, 1971July 24, 1971July 25, 1971July 26, 1971July 28, 1971July 29, 1971July 30, 1971July 31, 1971August 1, 1971August 2, 1971August 4, 1971August 5, 1971August 6, 1971August 7, 1971August 8, 1971August 9, 1971September 14, 1971(2 shows)Beacon TheatreSeptember 15, 1971(2 shows)October 2, 1971MadisonBaldwin GymOctober 22, 1971ProvidenceAlumnae HallNovember 4, 1971SyracuseJabberwockyNovember 5, 1971November 6, 1971November 18, 1971DurhamUniversity of New HampshireNovember 20, 1971CortlandLusk Field HouseNovember 28, 1971Stony BrookPritchard GymnasiumDecember 3, 1971OronoMemorial HallDecember 4, 1971KingstonFrank W. Keaney GymnasiumDecember 9, 1971PotsdamClarkson College of Technology GymnasiumDecember 10, 1971BurlingtonRoy L. Patrick GymnasiumDecember 11, 1971(2 shows)Stony BrookPritchard GymnasiumDecember 21, 1971ChicagoQuiet KnightDecember 22, 1971December 23, 1971December 24, 1971December 25, 1971December 26, 1971December 29, 1971New York CityCarnegie HallJanuary 22, 1972SchenectadyMemorial ChapelJanuary 23, 1972PhiladelphiaVillanova Field HouseJanuary 26, 1972BostonSymphony HallJanuary 28, 1972ProvidenceLoew's TheatreJanuary 29, 1972BuffaloCentury TheatreFebruary 3, 1972RoslynMy Father's PlaceFebruary 4, 1972February 5, 1972February 6, 1972February 12, 1972NashvilleNeely AuditoriumFebruary 18, 1972PhiladelphiaSpectrumFebruary 19, 1972East Garden CityNassau Community CollegeFebruary 20, 1972BrockportSUNY BrockportFebruary 25, 1972ColumbiaCarolina ColiseumFebruary 26, 1972GrinnellGrinnell CollegeFebruary 27, 1972MinneapolisGuthrie TheaterFebruary 28, 1972ColumbiaLivestock CenterMarch 1, 1972EvanstonCahn AuditoriumMarch 3, 1972MilwaukeeMilwaukee Performing Arts CenterMarch 4, 1972WorcesterClark UniversityMarch 8, 1972West ChesterHollinger Field HouseMarch 11, 1972BethlehemGrace HallMarch 12, 1972OswegoLaker HallMarch 17, 1972BrownsvilleZodiacMarch 18, 1972WatervilleHorsetrader and Coffee HouseMarch 21, 1972DenverDenver ColiseumMarch 22, 1972Long BeachLong Beach ArenaMarch 23, 1972(2 shows)Santa MonicaSanta Monica Civic AuditoriumMarch 24, 1972San FranciscoWinterland BallroomMarch 25, 1972March 27, 1972Los AngelesWhisky a Go GoMarch 28, 1972April 1, 1972PrincetonAlexander HallApril 3, 1972ManatíPuerto RicoTortuguero LagoonApril 7, 1972Ewing TownshipUnited StatesKendall HallApril 8, 1972Asbury ParkSunshine InApril 9, 1972New York CityPhilharmonic HallApril 11, 1972WilmingtonDelcastle Technical High SchoolApril 14, 1972CarlisleDickinson Dining HallApril 16, 1972BostonAquarius TheaterApril 17, 1972DetroitCobo ArenaApril 19, 1972MiddletownDave Finkelman AuditoriumApril 20, 1972Yellow SpringsAntioch CollegeApril 21, 1972ClevelandPublic HallApril 22, 1972MariettaBan Johnson Field HouseApril 23, 1972CincinnatiXavier University FieldhouseApril 24, 1972BloomingtonTown Cinema TheatreApril 25, 1972IndianapolisRitz TheaterApril 28, 1972ProvidenceGeorge V. Meehan AuditoriumApril 29, 1972SyracuseSkytopHamiltonCotterell CourtApril 30, 1972BuffaloKleinhans Music HallMay 4, 1972New York CityCity College of the City University of New YorkMay 5, 1972New HavenWoolsey HallMay 6, 1972Coral GablesUnion PatioMay 7, 1972AtlantaSports ArenaMay 9, 1972New York CityCity College of the City University of New YorkMay 12, 1972IndianaCollege LodgeMay 13, 1972BlackwoodCamden County CollegeMay 14, 1972AlfredAlfred UniversityMay 15, 1972New York CityAssembly HallMay 17, 1972NewtownCouncil Rock High School NorthMay 20, 1972PassaicCapitol TheatreMay 21, 1972ChicagoAuditorium TheatreMay 24, 1972Boca RatonFlorida Atlantic UniversityMay 26, 1972TampaFort Homer W. Hesterly ArmoryMay 27, 1972Pembroke PinesHollywood SportatoriumMay 28, 1972TallahasseeBobby Tully GymnasiumJune 2, 1972OrlandoOrlando Sports StadiumJune 9, 1972DallasDallas Memorial AuditoriumJune 10, 1972AustinArmadillo World HeadquartersJune 11, 1972HoustonHofheinz PavilionJune 12, 1972(2 shows)San DiegoThe Funky QuartersJune 14, 1972Los AngelesWhisky a Go GoJune 15, 1972June 16, 1972June 17, 1972June 18, 1972BerkeleyBerkeley Community TheatreJune 21, 1972BostonBoston CommonJuly 6, 1972(2 shows)New York CityCarnegie HallJuly 7, 1972HartfordBushnell Memorial HallJuly 8, 1972StockbridgeLenox Arts Center at the Music InnJuly 10, 1972AmherstStudent Union BallroomJuly 17, 1972HackensackOrrie de Nooyer AuditoriumJuly 19, 1972CincinnatiReflectionsJuly 20, 1972ColumbusAgora BallroomJuly 21, 1972DaytonVictoria Opera HouseJuly 22, 1972IndianapolisRitz TheaterJuly 23, 1972MilwaukeeHenry Maier Festival ParkJuly 29, 1972(2 shows)WestportStaples High SchoolJuly 30, 1972HyannisCape Cod Melody TentJuly 31, 1972GaithersburgShady Grove Music FairAugust 4, 1972WildwoodWildwood Convention HallAugust 5, 1972New York CityWollman RinkAugust 7, 1972BaltimorePainters Mill Music FairAugust 9, 1972Highland ParkThe PavilionAugust 10, 1972DetroitFord AuditoriumAugust 11, 1972AkronRubber BowlAugust 12, 1972Ann ArborCrisler ArenaAugust 13, 1972MinneapolisGuthrie TheaterEuropeAugust 15, 1972CopenhagenDenmarkAugust 17, 1972MunichWest GermanyDeutsches MuseumAugust 20, 1972MontreuxSwitzerlandPavillon MontreuxAugust 21, 1972Saint-TropezFranceAugust 23, 1972OllioulesAugust 25, 1972LondonEnglandParis TheatreSeptember 2, 1972Crystal Palace BowlNorth AmericaSeptember 8, 1972DurhamUnited StatesCameron Indoor StadiumSeptember 9, 1972AtlantaAtlanta Symphony HallSeptember 15, 1972MiddletownWesleyan Hockey RinkSeptember 16, 1972PutneyWindham College FieldhouseSeptember 17, 1972TroyRPI Field HouseSeptember 22, 1972RutherfordRutherford Campus GymnasiumSeptember 23, 1972PittsburghSoldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and MuseumOctober 1, 1972PhiladelphiaAcademy of MusicOctober 6, 1972BuffaloBuffalo State Union Social HallOctober 13, 1972Washington, D.C.Lisner AuditoriumOctober 14, 1972CincinnatiCincinnati GardensOctober 15, 1972Coral GablesUnion PatioOctober 27, 1972BostonAquarius TheaterOctober 28, 1972PrincetonAlexander HallOctober 29, 1972(2 shows)PlattsburghHawkins HallNovember 3, 1972ChicagoAragon BallroomNovember 4, 1972LawrenceHoch AuditoriumNovember 5, 1972St. LouisKiel AuditoriumNovember 6, 1972AlbuquerqueStudent Union BallroomNovember 9, 1972BerkeleyBerkeley Community TheatreNovember 10, 1972Santa MonicaSanta Monica Civic AuditoriumNovember 11, 1972SeattleParamount TheatreNovember 19, 1972WaterburyPalace TheaterDecember 1, 1972MiddleburyMiddlebury CollegeDecember 2, 1972ProvidencePalace Concert TheaterDecember 3, 1972WilliamstownChapin HallDecember 5, 1972LorettoMaurice Stokes Field HouseDecember 8, 1972PoughkeepsieKenyon GymDecember 9, 1972PhiladelphiaIrvine AuditoriumDecember 10, 1972New BritainWelte AuditoriumDecember 27, 1972Pembroke PinesMiami-Hollywood Motorsports Park

Personnel John McLaughlin - guitar Jerry Goodman - violin Rick Laird - bass guitar Jan Hammer - keyboards, organ Billy Cobham - drums, percussion

Notes

References Citations

Bibliography