Moment of Truth World Tour

The Moment of Truth World Tour was the second world concert tour (and third concert tour overall) by American singer and actress Whitney Houston, which supported her hit album Whitney. The tour spanned fifteen months between July 1987 and November 1988, comprising 160 shows across four continents and 20 countries.

Moment of Truth World Tour

World tour by Whitney Houston
Cover of the official tour program
Location	North America 90 Europe 46 Oceania 6 Asia 18
Associated album	Whitney
Start date	July 4, 1987
End date	November 20, 1988
Legs	7
No. of shows	160
Box office	$20 million ($53.17 in 2024 dollars)[1] (North America leg)
Whitney Houston concert chronology

Pollstar Magazine's reported that it was the seventh-highest grossing tour in 1987, and the highest grossing tour by a female artist that year. The North American leg tour alone grossed over $20.1 million.^[2]

The name of the tour, Moment of Truth, was a track that was to be on the Whitney album and subsequently left off and was replaced with "You're Still My Man". The song "Moment of Truth" was featured on the B-side to the US 7-inch single for "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)". It was also released on the CD single for "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)".

Overview

The Moment of Truth World Tour began in Tampa, Florida at Tampa Stadium.

Following the release of Whitney, Houston began promoting the album with a world tour. The tour began on July 4 in Tampa, Florida, where she played to over 70,000 people. Houston performed a total of 89 dates during the 1987 North American leg of the tour, returning to Florida, where that leg ended at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida on December 8. Most of the North American shows followed the same pattern as her last tour with slight differences and an increasing number of songs, incorporating album tracks such as "Just the Lonely Talking Again", "Love Is a Contact Sport" and her Grammy-nominated rendition of "For the Love of You" along with the two then-current hit singles "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" and "Didn't We Almost Have It All".

In Europe, Houston visited 14 countries and the microstate of Monaco, playing to over half a million fans. The European leg started in April 1988 with four dates at the Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, Netherlands. During the shows in Rotterdam, Houston received a call from her mentor Clive Davis, informing her of having set the all-time chart record of seven consecutive number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 after her single "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" topped the chart. During the European and subsequent legs of the tour, "For the Love of You" and "Just the Lonely Talking Again" were replaced by "So Emotional" and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" along with two covers of Aretha Franklin songs.

During May 1988, Houston played nine consecutive nights at Wembley Arena in London, then a historic record for a female performer at the arena, surpassing Tina Turner's seven-date residence during her Break Every Rule World Tour. On June 11, Houston cancelled an Italian concert date after agreeing to fly back to London to pay tribute to a then-imprisoned Nelson Mandela in support of the anti-apartheid movement at the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute benefit concert. Houston performed a set at Wembley Stadium, playing to over 72,000 fans during the event.^[3] Following this, Houston resumed her tour in Italy. Following the end of the European leg of the tour, Houston returned to the United States to perform a benefit concert for the United Negro College Fund on August 28 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, which was then followed by an Arista Records party in Houston's honor for setting her consecutive number ones chart record. It was Houston's only North American date during 1988 after playing 89 dates the previous year. The concert raised over $300,000 for the UNCF. ^[4]

The tour was one of the top ten highest-grossing tours of 1987.^[5] The North American leg of the tour alone grossed over $24 million, helping make Houston the second highest-earning female entertainer of the year, according to Forbes.^[6] Every date of the European leg of the tour was sold out.^[4]

The show

Like her previous tour, Houston again performed on a round stage in the center of the arena or auditorium so that everyone could see her. The seven-piece band was situated below her. There were two outfit changes; no stage props. However, unlike her previous tour, Houston called upon three backup dancers during the uptempo songs. The dance routines were choreographed by Damita Jo Freeman and Khandi Alexander. Jonathan Butler opened for select dates, and Kenny G was featured as the main opening act for the North American leg.^[7]

With two albums under her belt, the singer had more material to choose from. She included most of the songs from Whitney, the biggest hits from her debut, as well as the gospel song "He/I Believe". Houston also performed songs from her peers during various concerts, interpreting Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Luther Vandross, Anita Baker, and Janet Jackson.^[8] Like her debut tour, Houston proved herself to be a creative musician. She rearranged most of the songs into soulful jazzy numbers and did a lot of improvisation. The Montreal Gazette said, "Whatever faults the 24-year-old singer has, she is first and foremost a creative musician."^[9] The pop hit "How Will I Know" was given a jazzy beginning and gospel-like ending. "You Give Good Love" was slowed down into a steamy and sensual slow jam. Houston often scatted with sax player Jay Davidson on "Just the Lonely Talking Again".^[8] Most critics noted "He/I Believe" and "Greatest Love of All" as being the show's highlights.

Despite the praise for her voice and arrangements, many critics noted her lack of dancing and movements. The Richmond Times said "she is about as stiff as a cardboard box."^[10] Some noted that she lacked a true personality. Others complained that despite the name of the tour, she followed the same formula as her previous tour.^[8] Jon Pareles of the New York Times reviewed her Madison Square Garden concert and said, "Ms. Houston may be a new kind of pop singer for the video era: an encyclopedic, restless virtuoso. She has absorbed the soul and pop styles of everyone from Aretha Franklin to Barbra Streisand to Diana Ross to Al Green; she can deliver a gospel rasp, a velvety coo, a floating soprano and a cheerleader's whoop."^[11]

Opening acts

• Kenny G (US leg)
• Jonathan Butler (US leg—select dates)
• Giorge Pettus (Europe leg—select dates)

Set list

North America

1. Instrumental intro (contains elements of "How Will I Know, "Saving All My Love for You" and "You Give Good Love")
2. "Let the Feeling Flow"
3. "How Will I Know"
4. "You Give Good Love"
5. "Love Is a Contact Sport"
6. "Just the Lonely Talking Again"
7. "Love Will Save the Day"
8. "Saving All My Love for You"
9. "You're Still My Man"
10. "For the Love of You" (contains elements of "Never Too Much")
11. "He, I Believe"
12. "Didn't We Almost Have It All"
13. "Sweet Love" / "Control" / "Stop to Love"
14. "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)"
15. "Greatest Love of All"

Source:^[12]

Europe / Oceania / Asia

1. "Didn't We Almost Have It All"
2. "Love Will Save the Day"
3. "You Give Good Love"
4. "So Emotional"
5. "Where Do Broken Hearts Go"
6. "Love Is a Contact Sport"
7. "How Will I Know"
8. "Saving All My Love for You"
9. "He, I Believe"
10. "Wonderful Counselor" (contains elements of "He's All Right")
11. "(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman"
12. "You Send Me"
13. "Greatest Love of All"
14. "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)"

Source:^[13]

Notes

• 1987 North America leg: Houston's set included a medley of "Sweet Love", "Control", and "Stop to Love", also included was "Sweet Thing" on selected tour dates; like her previous tour, Houston included gospel songs in her set.
• September 2, 1987: the concert in Saratoga Springs, New York was aired with her performances for "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" and "Didn't We Almost Have It All" during the televised ceremony for the MTV Video Music Awards on September 11, 1987.
• September 8 and 9, 1987: the concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Kenny G. was featured on stage playing saxophone while Houston performed "For The Love of You".^[14]
• October 12, 1987: during the concert in Portland, Oregon, Houston sang "Happy Birthday" a cappella to her brother and back-up singer.
• June 11, 1988: Houston performed a set of her hit songs at Wembley Stadium for an All star music concert titled "FreedomFest, Mandela Day" to celebrate Nelson Mandela's 70th Birthday.
• August 28, 1988: Houston performed a USA Benefit concert for The United Negro College Fund at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Whitney performed a medley of "When I First Saw You" / "Family" with brother Gary Houston and mother Cissy Houston as tribute to the Broadway musical, Dreamgirls. The medley was performed with Gary at selected cities in Europe and North America.

Shows

List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, tickets sold, number of available tickets and amount of gross revenue

Date	City	Country	Venue	Attendance	Revenue
North America[15]
July 4, 1987	Tampa	United States	Tampa Stadium	49,659 / 55,000	$883,551
July 5, 1987	Milwaukee		Marcus Amphitheater	23,178 / 23,178	—
July 7, 1987	Canandaigua		Finger Lakes Performing Arts Center	12,500 / 12,500	$186,280
July 8, 1987	Lake Placid		Olympic Center Complex Arena	8,000 / 8,000	$131,291
July 9, 1987	Providence		Providence Civic Center	13,342 / 13,342	$240,546
July 11, 1987	Columbia		Merriweather Post Pavilion	—	—
July 12, 1987
July 14, 1987	Cuyahoga Falls		Blossom Music Center	18,723 / 18,723	$254,101
July 17, 1987	Indianapolis		Market Square Arena	14,000 / 14,000	$231,682
July 18, 1987	Saint Paul		Harriet Island Pavilion	—	—
July 19, 1987
July 21, 1987	Hoffman Estates		Poplar Creek Music Theater	—	—
July 22, 1987
July 24, 1987	Peoria		Peoria Civic Center	11,206 / 11,206	$196,105
July 25, 1987	St. Louis		St. Louis Arena	10,491 / 19,398	$194,084
July 26, 1987	Cincinnati		Riverbend Music Center	—	—
July 27, 1987
July 30, 1987	Pittsburgh		Civic Arena	16,908 / 16,908	$317,153
July 31, 1987	Clarkston		Pine Knob Music Theatre	28,287 / 28,287	$481,680
August 1, 1987
August 2, 1987	Pittsburgh		Civic Arena	—	—
August 3, 1987	Notre Dame		Notre Dame Stadium
August 5, 1987	Charlotte		Charlotte Coliseum	11,737 / 11,737	$198,783
August 7, 1987	Birmingham		Birmingham–Jefferson Civic Center	16,000 / 16,000	$255,658
August 8, 1987	Atlanta		Omni Coliseum	16,062 / 16,062	$305,185
August 9, 1987	Greensboro		Greensboro Coliseum	12,624 / 15,781	$219,981
August 11, 1987	Norfolk		Norfolk Scope
August 12, 1987	Richmond		Richmond Coliseum	10,386 / 10,386	$175,945
August 13, 1987	Hershey		Hersheypark Stadium	22,000 / 22,000	$377,055
August 14, 1987	Philadelphia		The Spectrum	18,800 / 18,800	$348,674
August 16, 1987	Wantagh		Jones Beach Marine Theater	20,480 / 20,480	$409,600
August 17, 1987
August 19, 1987	Holmdel Township		Garden State Arts Center	21,356 / 21,356	$366,276
August 20, 1987
August 21, 1987	Hartford		Hartford Civic Center	30,613 / 30,613	$561,088
August 22, 1987
August 24, 1987	Boston		Boston Common	36,000 / 36,000	$732,478
August 25, 1987
August 26, 1987
August 28, 1987	Montreal	Canada	Montreal Forum	16,348 / 16,348	$287,395
August 29, 1987	Ottawa		Lansdowne Park	—	—
August 30, 1987	Toronto		CNE Grandstand	24,568 / 24,568	$436,315
September 2, 1987	Saratoga Springs	United States	Saratoga Performing Arts Center	—	—
September 3, 1987	Syracuse		Onondaga War Memorial	15,000 / 15,000	$217,146
September 5, 1987	Providence		Providence Civic Center	13,415 / 13,415	$240,934
September 8, 1987	New York City		Madison Square Garden	58,800 / 58,800	$862,000
September 9, 1987
September 12, 1987	Lexington		Rupp Arena	16,625 / 16,625	$290,938
September 13, 1987	Champaign		Assembly Hall	—	—
September 18, 1987	Austin		Frank Erwin Center	16,966 / 16,966	$281,731
September 19, 1987	Houston		The Summit	17,000 / 17,000	$294,591
September 20, 1987	Dallas		Reunion Arena	15,984 / 15,984	$292,863
September 23, 1987	Albuquerque		Tingley Coliseum	10,626 / 10,626	$189,583
September 24, 1987	Las Cruces		Pan American Center
September 26, 1987	Irvine		Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre	14,555 / 14,555	$281,453
September 27, 1987	Mountain View		Shoreline Amphitheatre	16,113 / 16,113	$280,089
September 29, 1987	Las Vegas		Thomas & Mack Center	11,787 / 14,000	$224,071
October 1, 1987	Oakland		Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena	14,803 / 14,803	$273,856
October 2, 1987	Inglewood		The Forum	15,600 / 15,600	$289,192
October 9, 1987	Seattle		Seattle Center Coliseum	29,417 / 29,417	$535,249
October 10, 1987
October 11, 1987	Vancouver	Canada	Pacific Coliseum	16,500 / 16,500	$279,720
October 12, 1987	Portland	United States	Memorial Coliseum Complex	12,725 / 12,725	$231,270
October 27, 1987	Denver		McNichols Sports Arena	13,673 / 16,000	$262,277
October 29, 1987	Kansas City		Kemper Arena	12,799 / 13,105	$206,316
October 30, 1987	Ames		Hilton Coliseum	12,500 / 12,500	$212,853
October 31, 1987	Iowa City		Carver–Hawkeye Arena	14,000 / 14,000	$243,828
November 3, 1987	Omaha		Omaha Civic Auditorium	10,859 / 10,859	$197,118
November 4, 1987	Oklahoma City		Myriad Convention Center Arena	9,530 / 9,530	$160,738
November 8, 1987	Champaign		Assembly Hall
November 9, 1987	Worcester		Centrum in Worcester	12,430 / 12,430	$264,319
November 10, 1987	East Rutherford		Brendan Byrne Arena	17,257 / 17,257	$335,818
November 12, 1987	New Haven		New Haven Coliseum
November 14, 1987	Morgantown		WVU Coliseum	14,060 / 14,060	$224,174
November 17, 1987	Charleston		Charleston Civic Center	—	—
November 19, 1987	Murfreesboro		Murphy Center
November 20, 1987	Knoxville		Stokely Athletic Center	13,478 / 13,478	$207,553
November 21, 1987	Chapel Hill		Dean Smith Center	9,633 / 20,991	$168,578
November 22, 1987	Columbia		Carolina Coliseum
November 25, 1987	Memphis		Mid-South Coliseum
November 27, 1987	New Orleans		Louisiana Superdome
November 28, 1987	Biloxi		Mississippi Coast Coliseum
November 29, 1987	Tallahassee		Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center
November 30, 1987	Honolulu		Neal S. Blaisdell Arena
December 1, 1987	Auburn		Memorial Coliseum
December 2, 1987	Jacksonville		Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Coliseum
December 4, 1987	Tampa		USF Sun Dome	6,492 / 8,400	$103,950
December 5, 1987	Pembroke Pines		Hollywood Sportatorium	—	—
December 8, 1987	Orlando		Orange County Civic Center
Oceania
January 7, 1988	Gold Coast	Australia	Village Theatre Sanctuary Cove	—	—
Europe[16]
April 17, 1988	Brussels	Belgium	Forest National	—	—
April 19, 1988	Rotterdam	Netherlands	Rotterdam Ahoy
April 21, 1988
April 23, 1988
April 24, 1988
April 27, 1988	Birmingham	England	NEC Arena
April 28, 1988
April 30, 1988
May 1, 1988
May 2, 1988
May 4, 1988	London		Wembley Arena
May 5, 1988
May 7, 1988
May 10, 1988
May 11, 1988
May 12, 1988
May 14, 1988
May 15, 1988
May 16, 1988
May 18, 1988	Paris	France	Palais omnisports de Paris-Bercy
May 20, 1988	Frankfurt	West Germany	Festhalle Frankfurt
May 21, 1988
May 24, 1988	Copenhagen	Denmark	Valby-Hallen
May 25, 1988	Drammen	Norway	Drammenshallen
May 27, 1988	Stockholm	Sweden	Johanneshovs Isstadion
May 28, 1988
May 29, 1988	Gothenburg		Scandinavium	14,606 / 14,606
June 1, 1988	West Berlin	West Germany	Waldbühne
June 2, 1988				—
June 4, 1988	Dortmund		Westfalenhallen
June 5, 1988	Brussels	Belgium	Forest National
June 6, 1988	Wroclaw	Poland	Centennial Hall
June 8, 1988	Rome	Italy	Palazzo dello Sport
June 9, 1988
June 11, 1988	London	England	Wembley Stadium
June 12, 1988	Milan	Italy	Palatrussardi
June 13, 1988
June 16, 1988	Vienna	Austria	Wiener Stadthalle
June 18, 1988	Basel	Switzerland	St. Jakobshalle
June 19, 1988
June 21, 1988
June 23, 1988	Munich	West Germany	Olympiahalle
June 24, 1988
June 26, 1988
June 28, 1988	Barcelona	Spain	Plaça de Toros La Monumental
June 29, 1988	Madrid		Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas
July 3, 1988	Monte Carlo	Monaco	Salle Des Etoiles Sporting Club
North America[17]
August 27, 1988	New York City	United States	Madison Square Garden	17,702 / 17,702	$482,681
Asia
September 21, 1988	Hiroshima	Japan	Hiroshima Green Arena	—	—
September 22, 1988	Fukuoka		Fukuoka Kokusai Center
September 26, 1988	Tokyo		Nippon Budokan
September 27, 1988
September 28, 1988
October 1, 1988	Osaka		Osaka-jō Hall
October 2, 1988
October 5, 1988	Nagoya		Nagoya Rainbow Hall
October 6, 1988
October 7, 1988	Shizuoka		Kusanagi Athletic Stadium
October 11, 1988	Sapporo		Makomanai Indoor Stadium
October 13, 1988	Sendai		Sendai Gymnasium
October 15, 1988	Yokohama		Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium
October 16, 1988	Tokyo		Nippon Budokan
October 17, 1988
Oceania
October 22, 1988	Melbourne	Australia	National Tennis Centre	—	—
October 25, 1988	Canberra		National Indoor Sports Centre
October 31, 1988	Perth		Perth Entertainment Centre
November 7, 1988	Sydney		Sydney Entertainment Centre
November 11, 1988	Brisbane		Brisbane Entertainment Centre
Asia
November 18, 1988	Kowloon	British Hong Kong	Hong Kong Coliseum	—	—
November 19, 1988
November 20, 1988
Total				938,203 / 973,720 (96%)	$15,925,795

Personnel

Band

• Musical director / piano – John Simmons
• Bass guitar / bass synthesizer – Rickey Minor
• Keyboards – Willard Meeks
• Saxophone – Jay Davidson
• Guitar – Steve Kelly
• Drums – Gregory Grainger
• Percussion – Kevin Jones
• Background vocalists – Gary Houston, Felicia Moss, Voneva Simms, Billy Baker

Choreography

• Choreographer – Damita Jo Freeman
• Assistant choreographer – Khandi Alexander

Dancers

• Frantz Hall, Leesa Humphrey, Raymond Delbarrio

Tour management

• Manager – Tony Bulluck

Broadcast and recordings

• One of the Wembley Arena shows in London was recorded for a Whitney Houston 1988 Europe tour special and broadcast on Rai Uno TV in Italy. Performances from this show—"Love Will Save the Day", "Greatest Love of All", "He, I Believe" and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" were featured in the tour special. There were no official recordings released to the public.
• The show at Sanctuary Cove, Queensland, Australia on January 7th, 1988 was filmed. No official recordings have been released to the public.