Bridges to Babylon Tour

The Bridges to Babylon Tour was a worldwide concert tour by The Rolling Stones. Staged in support of their album Bridges to Babylon, the tour visited stadiums from 1997 to 1998. It grossed over $274 million, becoming the second-highest-grossing tour at that time, behind their own Voodoo Lounge Tour of 1994–1995.[2] The Bridges to Babylon Tour was followed by 1999's No Security Tour.

Bridges to Babylon Tour
Tour by The Rolling Stones
Associated albumBridges to Babylon
Start date23 September 1997 (1997-09-23)
End date19 September 1998 (1998-09-19)
Legs5
No. of shows
  • 47 in North America
  • 37 in Europe
  • 7 in South America
  • 6 in Asia
  • 97 total
Box office$274 million ($429.8 in 2019 dollars)[1]
The Rolling Stones concert chronology

History

The tour was announced in a press conference held beneath the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City.

The tour began on 9 September 1997 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and comprised fifty-six shows in North America, nine shows in South America, six shows in Japan and thirty-seven shows in Europe. It concluded on 19 September 1998 in Istanbul, Turkey. Five shows were cancelled (in Marseilles, Paris, Lyon, Bilbao and Gijón) and five were postponed (in Italy, Ireland and Great Britain).

The production was designed by Mark Fisher, Charlie Watts, Mick Jagger and Patrick Woodroffe.[3] The show opened with a circular central screen exploding with fireworks, from which guitarist Keith Richards emerged playing the classic riff to "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction". The stage design included a 46 m (150 ft) long telescoping cantilever bridge that extended from the main stage to a 'B' stage in the center of the field.

One of the innovations was a "web vote" – fans who purchased a ticket could vote for a song they wanted to hear. If a song was picked by the web vote 4 shows in a row it became a permanent part of the set list ("Gimme Shelter" was added early on in the tour and "Under My Thumb" came one shy of 4 on 6 occasions, but never was requested for 4 consecutive shows). A few shows had no web vote (for example, in Brazil, where the band performed with Bob Dylan on "Like a Rolling Stone").

This was the first tour where a B-stage was featured at most shows (they had used one on the Voodoo Lounge Tour, but only at one show). The band normally played three numbers on the B-stage, with the exception of the final show where only two were played there.

The Bridges to Babylon Tour was the second-highest-grossing tour at the time, behind their own record-breaking 1994–1995 Voodoo Lounge Tour. It was believed 4.577 million people attended the tour over the 108 shows – 2.02 million in Europe, 2.009 million in North America, 348,000 in Argentina and Brazil, and 200,000 in Japan. The tour reached 25 countries and is the second–largest North American tour of all time – second to the Rolling Stones' 2005–2007 A Bigger Bang Tour.

The tour is documented by the live album No Security and a DVD release of the St. Louis, Missouri show. In 1999 the band commenced another tour called the No Security Tour, which played smaller venues and fewer destinations.

Among the opening acts was, in October 1997, Sheryl Crow. "They invited me to go on their private plane…" she recalled. "Three weeks before I went on the tour, my band and I watched the Stones film Cocksucker Blues. It's a riot – it's complete debauchery and there are several scenes where they're practically having orgies on their private 747 back in the early '70s. So I got on their plane and I thought, 'Wow, what a difference! We definitely have changed our tune here, haven't we?'"[4]

"Bridges to Bremen", a double CD / Blu-ray / DVD live album, was released in June 2019.

"Bridges to Buenos Aires", a double CD / Blu-ray / DVD live album, was released in November 2019.

Set list
  1. "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"
  2. "Let's Spend the Night Together"
  3. "Flip the Switch"
  4. "Gimme Shelter"
  5. "Anybody Seen My Baby?"
  6. "Saint of Me"
  7. "Out of Control"
  8. "Miss You"
  9. "All About You"
  10. "Wanna Hold You"
  11. "Sympathy for the Devil"
  12. "Tumbling Dice"
  13. "Honky Tonk Women"
  14. "Start Me Up"
  15. "Jumpin' Jack Flash"
  16. "You Can't Always Get What You Want"
  17. "Brown Sugar"

Shows
List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, opening act, tickets sold, amount of available tickets and gross revenue
Date City Country Venue Opening act Attendance Revenue
North America[5]
23 September 1997 Chicago United States Soldier Field Blues Traveler 107,186 / 107,186 $6,260,000
25 September 1997
27 September 1997 Columbus Ohio Stadium 60,621 / 60,621 $3,553,069
30 September 1997 Winnipeg Canada Winnipeg Stadium 34,685 / 40,000 $1,575,160
2 October 1997 Edmonton Commonwealth Stadium 44,036 / 44,036 $2,033,971
6 October 1997 Madison United States Camp Randall Stadium 27,087 / 35,000 $1,460,425
8 October 1997 Orchard Park Rich Stadium 30,404 / 35,000 $1,655,588
10 October 1997 Charlotte Ericsson Stadium 54,436 / 54,436 $3,126,945
12 October 1997 Philadelphia Veterans Stadium 56,651 / 56,651 $3,275,572
16 October 1997 East Rutherford Giants Stadium Foo Fighters 118,610 / 118,610 $6,823,242
17 October 1997
20 October 1997 Foxborough Foxboro Stadium Sheryl Crow 84,696 / 84,696 $4,839,760
21 October 1997
23 October 1997 Landover Jack Kent Cooke Stadium 55,654 / 55,654 $3,195,710
26 October 1997 Nashville Vanderbilt Stadium 45,193 / 45,193 $2,551,578
28 October 1997 Norman Owen Field 53,327 / 53,327 $3,076,378
30 October 1997 Albuquerque University Stadium 34,362 / 34,362 $2,075,326
1 November 1997 Fort Worth Texas Motor Speedway Smashing Pumpkins
Dave Matthews Band
Matchbox 20		 43,496 / 50,000 $3,030,330
7 November 1997 Tempe Sun Devil Stadium Third Eye Blind 47,056 / 47,056 $2,699,842
9 November 1997 Los Angeles Dodger Stadium The Wallflowers 90,519 / 90,519 $5,338,429
10 November 1997
14 November 1997 Oakland Oakland Alameda County Coliseum Pearl Jam 186,220 / 186,220 $10,955,527
15 November 1997
18 November 1997
19 November 1997
22 November 1997 Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden Arena Jamiroquai 12,750 / 12,750 $2,925,800
25 November 1997 Minneapolis Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Third Eye Blind 46,265 / 46,265 $2,674,383
28 November 1997 Seattle Kingdome 42,258 / 42,258 $2,411,261
2 December 1997 Pontiac Pontiac Silverdome 51,466 / 51,466 $2,801,714
5 December 1997 Miami Orange Bowl Smashing Pumpkins
Dave Matthews Band
Third Eye Blind		 53,547 / 55,000 $3,680,635
7 December 1997 Orlando Citrus Bowl Santana 32,723 / 35,000 $1,817,499
9 December 1997 Atlanta Georgia Dome Third Eye Blind 52,232 / 52,232 $3,008,665
12 December 1997 St. Louis TWA Dome Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Dave Matthews
Taj Mahal
Joshua Redman		 46,474 / 46,474 $2,538,881
5 January 1998 Quebec City Canada Colisée de Quebec Our Lady Peace 11,993 / 11,993 $415,705
14 January 1998 New York City United States Madison Square Garden Fiona Apple 53,626 / 53,626 $6,395,815
16 January 1998
17 January 1998
23 January 1998 Honolulu Aloha Stadium Jonny Lang 54,006 / 60,000 $3,317,190
24 January 1998
28 January 1998 Vancouver Canada BC Place Stadium 37,058 / 40,000 $1,472,119
30 January 1998 Portland United States Rose Garden Jonny Lang 35,059 / 35,059 $2,975,914
31 January 1998
3 February 1998 San Diego Qualcomm Stadium 55,507 / 55,507 $3,220,069
7 February 1998 Mexico City Mexico Foro Sol El Tri 88,700 / 88,700 $3,902,244
9 February 1998
12 February 1998 Houston United States The Summit Jonny Lang 23,612 / 23,612 $2,244,058
13 February 1998
Asia[6]
12 March 1998 Tokyo Japan Tokyo Dome N/A 130,020 / 130,020 $10,025,470
14 March 1998
16 March 1998
17 March 1998
20 March 1998 Osaka Osaka Dome 69,427 / 69,427 $5,317,800
21 March 1998
South America[7]
29 March 1998 Buenos Aires Argentina River Plate Stadium Viejas Locas
Meredith Brooks		 271,766 / 271,766 $14,819,850
30 March 1998 Las Pelotas
Meredith Brooks
2 April 1998 N/A
4 April 1998 Las Pelotas
Bob Dylan
5 April 1998
11 April 1998 Rio de Janeiro Brazil Praça da Apoteose Bob Dylan 27,984 / 27,984 $1,253,277
13 April 1998 São Paulo Estádio Ícaro de Castro Mello 48,606 / 48,606 $2,591,148
North America[7]
17 April 1998 Syracuse United States Carrier Dome Our Lady Peace 26,047 / 28,000 $1,231,694
19 April 1998 Montreal Canada Molson Centre N/A 32,097 / 32,097 $1,339,778
20 April 1998
23 April 1998 Chicago United States United Center Buddy Guy 18,672 / 18,672 $2,234,920
26 April 1998 Toronto Canada SkyDome Wide Mouth Mason 54,986 / 54,986 $2,222,969
Europe[8]
13 June 1998 Nuremberg Germany Zeppelinfeld Jonny Lang 91,590 / 91,590 $4,366,698
20 June 1998 Werchter Belgium Rock Werchter Simple Minds 95,104 / 95,104 $4,095,315
21 June 1998
24 June 1998 Düsseldorf Germany Rheinstadion Dave Matthews Band 59,022 / 59,022 $3,958,940
26 June 1998 Hanover Expo Gelaende 89,963 / 89,963 $4,253,451
29 June 1998 Amsterdam Netherlands Amsterdam ArenA 261,277 / 261,277 $11,094,308
1 July 1998
2 July 1998
5 July 1998
6 July 1998
9 July 1998 Frauenfeld Switzerland Pferderennbahn 59,768 / 59,768 $2,641,315
11 July 1998 Wiener Neustadt Austria Flugfeld N/A 57,216 / 57,216 $2,497,966
13 July 1998 Munich Germany Olympiastadion Hothouse Flowers 74,588 / 74,588 $4,303,476
16 July 1998 Málaga Spain Puerto de Málaga 34,450 / 40,000 $1,477,476
18 July 1998 Vigo Estadio Balaídos Seahorses 33,116 / 35,000 $1,527,642
20 July 1998 Barcelona Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys Hothouse Flowers 52,375 / 52,375 $2,464,319
25 July 1998 Paris France Stade de France Jean-Louis Aubert 76,716 / 76,716 $4,406,313
27 July 1998 Gelsenkirchen Germany Parkstadion Hothouse Flowers 34,610 / 40,000 $2,139,815
29 July 1998 Copenhagen Denmark Idraetsparken Seahorses 47,726 / 47,726 $2,832,622
31 July 1998 Gothenburg Sweden Nya Ullevi 56,683 / 56,683 $2,630,783
2 August 1998 Oslo Norway Valle Hovin 30,447 / 35,000 $1,522,378
5 August 1998 Helsinki Finland Olympic Stadium 45,236 / 45,236 $2,282,011
8 August 1998 Tallinn Estonia Song Festival Grounds Big Country 28,152 / 40,000 $1,134,161
11 August 1998 Moscow Russia Luzhniki Stadium Splean 45,304 / 45,304 $1,513,838
14 August 1998 Chorzów Poland Stadion Śląski Dżem 44,598 / 44,598 $1,440,020
20 August 1998 Zagreb Croatia Zagreb Hippodrome Big Country 76,755 / 76,755 $2,313,386
22 August 1998 Prague Czech Republic Sportovní Hala (Sparta) The Corrs 16,000 / 16,000 N/A
26 August 1998 Berlin Germany Olympiastadion Big Country 70,900 / 70,900 $4,194,917
28 August 1998 Leipzig Festwiese 74,348 / 74,348 $3,510,436
30 August 1998 Hamburg Trabrennbahn Bahrenfeld 90,000 / 90,000 $4,235,411
2 September 1998 Bremen Weserstadion 32,288 / 40,000 $2,149,934
5 September 1998 The Hague Netherlands Malieveld N/A 86,000 / 86,000 $3,699,393
8 September 1998 Stockholm Sweden Stockholm Globe Arena Soundtrack of our Lives 15,580 / 15,580 $932,377
10 September 1998 Berlin Germany Waldbühne The Corrs 16,403 / 16,403 $1,560,032
12 September 1998 Mannheim Maimarkt 85,913 / 85,913 $4,448,942
16 September 1998 Athens Greece Olympic Stadium Xylina Spathia 79,446 / 79,446 $3,859,407
19 September 1998 Istanbul Turkey Ali Sami Yen Stadium N/A 14,873 / 20,000 $642,999
Total 4,437,567 / 4,518,578 $248,495,791

Personnel

The Rolling Stones

Additional musicians
  • Darryl Jones – bass, backing vocals
  • Chuck Leavell – keyboards, backing vocals
  • Bobby Keys – saxophone
  • Andy Snitzer – saxophone, keyboards
  • Michael Davis – trombone
  • Kent Smith – trumpet
  • Lisa Fischer – backing vocals
  • Bernard Fowler – backing vocals, percussion
  • Blondie Chaplin – backing vocals, percussion, guitar, keyboards
  • Pierre de Beauport – keyboards on "Thief in the Night"

See also

References
  1. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  2. Murry R. Nelson (2010). "The Rolling Stones – A Musical Biography". p. 141. ABC-CLIO,
  3. Stufish – The Mark Fisher Studio Archived 2 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Doyle, Tom (February 1998). "Their year – Sheryl Crow". Q #137. p. 100.
  5. North America box score:
  6. "Billboard Boxscore — Concert Grosses". Billboard. 110 (16): 12. 18 April 1998. ISSN 0006-2510.
  7. "Billboard Boxscore — Concert Grosses". Billboard. 110 (19): 14. 9 May 1998. ISSN 0006-2510.
  8. European box score:
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