The October Tour was the second concert tour by the Irish rock band U2 that took place in 1981 and 1982 to support the band's second studio album, October, which was released in October 1981.
Itinerary The tour followed a similar pattern to the previous tour and consisted of five legs, three in Europe and two in North America. The first leg began in Ireland in the August 1981 and ended in Berlin at the start of November, in total, 33 concerts were held. Soon after the first European leg, U2 travelled to North America to play 23 shows over the course of a month. Another European leg was held between December 1981 and February 1982 before heading back to the USA to fulfill the longest leg of the tour. The fourth leg ran from February through to April and was made up of 32 shows, considerably less than the European and American legs of the Boy tour. After a short break, the tour finished with a final 9 shows in Europe.
Setlist The setlist varied each night throughout the tour, with eight songs from October and ten from Boy being played. Songs such as "Rejoice", "Another Time, Another Place", "With a Shout (Jerusalem)", and "Fire" were dropped from the setlist towards the end of the tour. "Gloria" was used as the opener at almost every show, whilst "The Ocean" (used as the opener for the previous tour) was played predominantly as the closing song.
Tour dates Date City Country Venue Leg 1: Europe 16 August 1981 County Meath Ireland Slane Castle23 August 1981LondonEnglandParis Theater29 August 1981GatesheadGateshead International Stadium30 August 1981OdellOdell Castle31 August 1981EdinburghScotlandCoasters2 September 1981StockholmSwedenUnderground 1 October 1981NorwichEnglandUniversity of East Anglia 2 October 1981 Nottingham Rock City 3 October 1981 Salford Salford University4 October 1981GlasgowScotlandTiffany's 6 October 1981 CoventryEnglandWarwick University 7 October 1981LeicesterLeicester Polytechnic Arena 8 October 1981 Sheffield Lyceum 9 October 1981 Newcastle Mayfair Ballroom 10 October 1981 Liverpool Royal Court Theatre 12 October 1981 Brighton Top Rank 13 October 1981 Portsmouth Mecca Locarno 14 October 1981 Cardiff Wales Top Rank 16 October 1981 Stoke-on-TrentEngland Kings Hall 17 October 1981 Bracknell Bracknell Sports Centre 18 October 1981 Bristol Locarno 19 October 1981 Birmingham Locarno20 October 1981LeedsTiffany's 21 October 1981 Hemel HempsteadHemel Hempstead Pavilion 23 October 1981 BrusselsBelgiumAncienne Belgique 24 October 1981Deinze Brielpoort 25 October 1981 Herenthout Zaal Lux 26 October 1981 Paris France Élysée Montmartre 28 October 1981 LeidenNetherlands Stadsgehoorzaal 29 October 1981 Tilburg De Harmonie 30 October 1981 Amsterdam Paradiso 31 October 1981 Arnhem Stokvishal 1 November 1981 Rotterdam De Lantaarn 3 November 1981 HamburgWest Germany Fabrik 4 November 1981 West Berlin Metropol Leg 2: North America and Europe13 November 1981AlbanyUnited StatesJ.B. Scott's 14 November 1981BostonOrpheum Theatre15 November 1981New HavenToad's Place 17 November 1981 Providence Center Stage18 November 1981PhiladelphiaRipley's Music Hall 20 November 1981New York CityThe Ritz Club 21 November 1981 22 November 1981 24 November 1981 Passaic Hitsville North Nightclub 25 November 1981 Asbury Park Hitsville South Nightclub 28 November 1981 Los Angeles Hollywood Palladium 29 November 1981 San Francisco The Warfield Theatre 1 December 1981 Atlanta The Agora 2 December 1981 Nashville Underwood Auditorium 4 December 1981 Royal Oak Royal Oak Music Theatre 5 December 1981 Grand Rapids Fountain Street Church 6 December 1981 Chicago Park West7 December 1981LansingDooley's 8 December 1981 Cleveland Agora Theatre10 December 1981BuffaloUncle Sam's 11 December 1981 Washington, D.C. Ontario Theater 12 December 1981 Hartford Stage West 13 December 1981 Lido Beach Malibu Dance Club 20 December 1981LondonEnglandLyceum Ballroom 21 December 1981 23 January 1982 GalwayIreland Leisureland 24 January 1982 Cork Cork City Hall 26 January 1982 Dublin RDS Main HallLeg 3: North America 11 February 1982 New OrleansUnited States SS President Riverboat 13 February 1982 Austin The Opry House14 February 1982San AntonioCardi's15 February 1982HoustonCardi's16 February 1982DallasCardi's17 February 1982Oklahoma CityJammy's 19 February 1982 St. Louis Night Moves 21 February 1982 Minneapolis First Avenue 22 February 1982 Madison Headliners 23 February 1982 Champaign University of Illinois 25 February 1982 Kansas City Uptown Theater 27 February 1982 Denver Rainbow Music Hall 28 February 1982 Lincoln Colorado State University 3 March 1982 Fort Myers Lee County Civic Center 4 March 1982 West Palm Beach Civic Auditorium 5 March 1982 Tampa Curtis Hixon Hall 6 March 1982 Tallahassee Leon County Arena7 March 1982JacksonvilleJacksonville University 10 March 1982 Knoxville University of Tennessee 11 March 1982 Atlanta Atlanta Civic Center 12 March 1982 Memphis North Hall Auditorium 14 March 1982 Indianapolis Indiana Convention Center 16 March 1982 Amherst Bowker Auditorium 17 March 1982New York CityThe Ritz Club 18 March 1982 19 March 1982 Garden City Nassau County Community College Ballroom 20 March 1982 Providence Alumnae Hall 21 March 1982 Phoenix Nightclub 25 March 1982Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 26 March 1982 San Diego San Diego Sports Arena 27 March 1982 Los Angeles Los Angeles Sports Arena 29 March 1982San FranciscoSan Francisco Civic Auditorium 30 March 1982
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