Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour

The Rolling Stones' Steel Wheels Tour was a concert tour which was launched in North America in August 1989 to promote the band's album Steel Wheels; it continued to Japan in February 1990, with ten shows at the Tokyo Dome.^[2] The European leg of the tour, which featured a different stage and logo, was called the Urban Jungle Tour; it ran from May to August 1990. These would be the last live concerts for the band with original member Bill Wyman on bass guitar. This tour would also be the longest the band had ever done up to that point, playing over twice as many shows as their standard tour length from the 1960s and 1970s.^[2]

Steel Wheels Tour/Urban Jungle Tour

Tour by The Rolling Stones
Location	Asia Europe North America
Associated album	Steel Wheels
Start date	31 August 1989
End date	25 August 1990
Legs	3
No. of shows	115
Box office	US$175 million (US$421,185,685 in 2024 dollars[1])
The Rolling Stones concert chronology

The tour was a financial success, cementing the Rolling Stones' return to full commercial power after a seven-year hiatus in touring marked by well publicized acrimony among band members.^[3]

History

The Rolling Stones began pre-tour preparations in July 1989 at the Wykeham Rise School, a former boarding school for girls in Litchfield, Connecticut. A 25-member entourage, was hired to support the band.^[4]

The group performed a pre-tour 'surprise show' that took place on 12 August 1989 at Toad's Place in New Haven, Connecticut, with a local act, Sons of Bob, opening the show for an audience of only 700 people who had purchased tickets for $3.01 apiece.^[5] Toad's owner, Mike Spoerndle, had promoted the event as a private birthday party for Jim Koplik, the club's promoter.^[6] The official Steel Wheels Tour kicked off later that month at the now-demolished Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. During the opening show in Philadelphia, the power went out during "Shattered (song)", and caused a slight delay in the show. Jagger came out and spoke to the crowd during the delay. The Stones returned to Vancouver, B.C. in Canada and played two sold-out concerts at B.C. Place Stadium. Fan reaction for tickets was unprecedented. One local radio station, 99.3 The Fox, even had a man (Andrew Korn) sit in front of the station in a bath tub filled with brown sugar and water for free tickets to the concert.^{[citation needed]}

The stage was designed by Mark Fisher with the participation of Charlie Watts and Mick Jagger. Lighting design was by Patrick Woodroffe.

Canadian promoter Michael Cohl made his name buying the concert, sponsorship, merchandising, radio, television, and film rights to the Steel Wheels Tour. It became the most financially successful rock tour in history up to that time.^[3] Rival promoter Bill Graham, who also bid on the tour, later wrote that "Losing the Stones was like watching my favourite lover become a whore."

Performances from the tour were documented on the album Flashpoint, and the video Live at the Max, both released in 1991.

Opening acts for the tour included Living Colour, Dan Reed Network, Guns N' Roses and Gun.

The original two dates at Wembley Stadium that originally were set to take place on 13 and 14 July 1990 had to be rescheduled for 24 and 25 August 1990 due to Keith Richards cutting a finger the previous week.^[7]

In August 1990, an extra concert in Prague, Czechoslovakia, was added. Czechoslovakia had overthrown the Communist regime nine months earlier, and the Rolling Stones' concert was perceived as a symbolic end of the revolution. Czechoslovakia's new president Václav Havel, a lifelong fan of the band, helped to arrange the event, and met the band at the Prague Castle before the show. Performance expenses were partially covered by Havel and by the Czechoslovak Ministry of Industry. The attendance was over 100,000.^[8][9] The band chose to donate all revenues from the gig (over 4 million Czechoslovak korunas) to the Committee of Good Will, a charity run by Havel's wife Olga Havlová.^[10]

Recordings

Released in 1991, Flashpoint, is a 17-song live album of material recorded during the Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour.

In July 2020, Eagle Rock Entertainment released a recording and DVD set of the final date of the North American tour titled Steel Wheels Live.^[11] The performance, recorded at the Atlantic City Convention Center, features guest appearances by John Lee Hooker, Eric Clapton, Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin.^[12]

Personnel

The Rolling Stones

• Mick Jagger – lead vocals, guitar, harmonica, percussion
• Keith Richards – rhythm guitars, lead guitars, vocals
• Ronnie Wood – lead guitars
• Bill Wyman – bass guitar
• Charlie Watts – drums

Additional musicians

• Matt Clifford – keyboards, backing vocals, percussion, French horn
• Bobby Keys – saxophone
• Chuck Leavell – keyboards, backing vocals and musical director
• Bernard Fowler – backing vocals, percussion
• Lisa Fischer – backing vocals on the North American & Japanese tours only
• W. "Bindy" Bindeman – backing vocals, keyboards- Japanese tours only
• Cindy Mizelle – backing vocals on the North American & Japanese tours only
• Pamela Quinlan – backing vocals on North American & European tour only
• Lorelei McBroom – backing vocals on the European tour only
• Sophia Jones – backing vocals on the European tour only
• The Uptown Horns:

1. Arno Hecht – saxophone
2. Bob Funk – trombone
3. Crispin Cioe – saxophone
4. Paul Litteral – trumpet

Entourage

Source^[13]

• Michael Cohl – Tour Director
• Norman Perry – Assistant Tour Director^[14]
• Alan Dunn^[15] – Logistics
• Arnold Dunn – Band Road Manager
• Timm Wooley – Financial Controller
• Bob Hurwitz – Tour Accountant
• Stan Damas – Police Liaison
• Jim Callaghan^[15] – Security Chief
• Rowan Brade – Security
• Bob Bender – Security
• Joe Seabrook – Security
• William Horgan – Security
• Linn Tanzmann^[16] – Band Press Representative^[4]
• Neil Friedman – Assistant Tour Publicist
• Bennett Kleinberg – Advance Tour Publicist^[17]
• Dimo Safari – Tour Photographer
• Beth Kittrell – Administrative Assistant
• Caroline Clements – Makeup
• Robern Pickering – Wardrobe
• Fiona Williams – Stylist
• LaVelle Smith – Choreographer
• Torje Eike – Physiotherapist^[18]
• Joseph Sakowicz – Band/Entourage Luggage
• Shelley Lazar – Ticket/Credentials Coordinator^[19]
• Miranda Guinness – Asst. to Mick Jagger
• Tony Russell – Asst. to Keith Richards
• Jo Howard – Asst. to Ron Wood
• Tony King – Mick Jagger Press Liaison^[20]
• Patricia Aleck – Travel Advance
• Cliff Burnstein – Creative Consultant
• Peter Mensch – Creative Consultant

Production

• Michael Ahern – Production Manager
• Chuch Magee – Backline Crew Chief
• Roy Lamb – Stage Manager
• Mark Fisher – Set Designer
• Patrick Woodroffe – Lighting Designer
• Benji Lefevre – FOH Sound Engineer
• Chris Wade-Evans – Monitor Sound Engineer
• Gary Epstein - Universal System Engineer
• Pierre De Beauport – Guitar Technician
• Andy Topeka – Keyboard Technician
• Steve Thomas – Production Advance
• Steve Howard – Promoter Production Rep
• Bruce Haynes – Electrician
• Shane Hendrick – Electrician
• David Sinclair – Electrician
• Henry Wetzel – Electrician

Tour dates

List of 1989 concerts

Date	City	Country	Venue	Tickets sold / available	Revenue	Opening act(s)
12 August 1989[nb 1]	New Haven	United States	Toad's Place[nb 2]	700 / 700	$2,107	Sons of Bob
31 August 1989	Philadelphia		Veterans Stadium	110,556 / 110,556	$3,181,143	Living Colour
1 September 1989
3 September 1989	Toronto	Canada	CNE Stadium	121,897 / 121,897	$3,368,752
4 September 1989
6 September 1989	Pittsburgh	United States	Three Rivers Stadium	62,939 / 62,939	$1,790,526
8 September 1989	East Troy		Alpine Valley	105,995 / 105,995	$2,941,882
9 September 1989
11 September 1989
14 September 1989	Cincinnati		Riverfront Stadium	53,555 / 53,555	$1,522,536
16 September 1989	Raleigh		Carter–Finley Stadium	52,881 / 52,881	$1,506,393
17 September 1989	St. Louis		Busch Stadium	53,705 / 53,705	$1,528,397
19 September 1989	Louisville		Cardinal Stadium	39,301 / 39,301	$1,120,075
21 September 1989	Syracuse		Carrier Dome	73,828 / 73,828	$2,082,325
22 September 1989
24 September 1989	Washington, D.C.		Robert F. Kennedy Stadium	105,267 / 105,267	$2,988,142
25 September 1989
27 September 1989	Cleveland		Municipal Stadium	61,527 / 61,527	$1,753,520
29 September 1989	Foxborough		Sullivan Stadium	163,308 / 163,308	$4,648,338
1 October 1989
3 October 1989
5 October 1989	Birmingham		Legion Field	63,523 / 63,523	$1,804,348
7 October 1989	Ames		Cyclone Field	55,857 / 55,857	$1,589,273
8 October 1989	Kansas City		Arrowhead Stadium	55,306 / 55,306	$1,576,075
10 October 1989	New York City		Shea Stadium	124,524 / 124,524	$3,735,610
11 October 1989
18 October 1989	Los Angeles		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	360,069 / 360,069	$9,166,937	Guns N' Roses Living Colour
19 October 1989
21 October 1989
22 October 1989
25 October 1989	New York City		Shea Stadium	263,213 / 263,213	$7,871,842	Living Colour
26 October 1989
28 October 1989
29 October 1989
1 November 1989	Vancouver	Canada	BC Place Stadium	110,591 / 110,591	$3,065,058
2 November 1989
4 November 1989	Oakland	United States	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	117,603 / 117,603	$3,347,518
5 November 1989
8 November 1989	Houston		Astrodome	52,278 / 52,278	$1,486,623
10 November 1989	Dallas		Cotton Bowl	119,856 / 119,856	$3,410,856
11 November 1989
13 November 1989	New Orleans		Louisiana Superdome	59,339 / 59,339	$1,682,220
15 November 1989	Miami		Orange Bowl	107,175 / 110,000	$3,054,488
16 November 1989
18 November 1989	Tampa		Tampa Stadium	63,415 / 63,415	$1,802,884
21 November 1989	Atlanta		Grant Field	49,311 / 49,311	$1,401,082
25 November 1989	Jacksonville		Gator Bowl	62,637 / 62,637	$1,779,205
26 November 1989	Clemson		Memorial Stadium	63,784 / 63,784	$1,817,844
29 November 1989	Minneapolis		Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	104,780 / 104,780	$2,976,592
30 November 1989
3 December 1989	Toronto	Canada	SkyDome	117,446 / 117,446	$3,282,757
4 December 1989
6 December 1989	Indianapolis	United States	Hoosier Dome	89,078 / 89,078	$2,533,955
7 December 1989
9 December 1989	Pontiac		Silverdome	100,234 / 100,234	$2,956,834
10 December 1989
13 December 1989	Montreal	Canada	Olympic Stadium	123,962 / 123,962	$3,490,126
14 December 1989
17 December 1989	Atlantic City	United States	Convention Center	—	—	—
19 December 1989
20 December 1989

List of 1990 concerts

Date	City	Country	Venue	Tickets sold / available	Revenue	Opening act(s)
14 February 1990	Tokyo	Japan	Tokyo Dome	—	—	—
16 February 1990
17 February 1990
19 February 1990
20 February 1990
21 February 1990
23 February 1990
24 February 1990
26 February 1990
27 February 1990
18 May 1990	Rotterdam	Netherlands	De Kuip			Gun
19 May 1990
21 May 1990
23 May 1990	Hanover	West Germany	Niedersachsenstadion
24 May 1990
26 May 1990	Frankfurt		Waldstadion
27 May 1990
30 May 1990	Cologne		Müngersdorfer Stadion			Die Toten Hosen
31 May 1990
2 June 1990	Munich		Olympiastadion			Gun
3 June 1990
6 June 1990	West Berlin		Olympiastadion
10 June 1990	Lisbon	Portugal	Estádio José Alvalade
13 June 1990	Barcelona	Spain	Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc
14 June 1990
16 June 1990	Madrid		Estadio Vicente Calderón
17 June 1990
20 June 1990	Marseille	France	Stade Vélodrome
22 June 1990	Paris		Parc des Princes
23 June 1990
25 June 1990
27 June 1990	Basel	Switzerland	St. Jakob Stadium
4 July 1990	London	England	Wembley Stadium
6 July 1990
7 July 1990
9 July 1990	Glasgow	Scotland	Hampden Park
16 July 1990	Cardiff	Wales	Cardiff Arms Park			Dan Reed Network
18 July 1990	Newcastle	England	St James' Park
20 July 1990	Manchester		Maine Road
21 July 1990
25 July 1990	Rome	Italy	Stadio Flaminio
26 July 1990
28 July 1990	Turin		Stadio delle Alpi
31 July 1990	Vienna	Austria	Praterstadion
3 August 1990	Gothenburg	Sweden	Eriksberg
4 August 1990
6 August 1990	Oslo	Norway	Valle Hovin
7 August 1990
9 August 1990	Copenhagen	Denmark	Københavns Idrætspark
13 August 1990	East Berlin	East Germany	Radrennbahn Weissensee			Living Colour
14 August 1990
16 August 1990	Gelsenkirchen	West Germany	Parkstadion			—
18 August 1990	Prague	Czechoslovakia	Strahov Stadium			Dan Reed Network Vladimír Mišík Etc...
24 August 1990	London	England	Wembley Stadium			—
25 August 1990

See also

• List of highest grossing concert tours
• List of most-attended concert tours

Notes

1. Intimate small club show. This show would spark an ongoing Rolling Stones tradition of playing a small club show before the larger tour venues.^[21]
2. 700 capacity venue.^[21]