The Ice on Fire Tour was a worldwide concert tour held by English musician and composer Elton John, in support of his 19th studio album Ice on Fire. The tour included three legs (in the UK, Europe and North America) and a total of 122 shows.

Background John had decided he wanted to hit the road with his new band, made up of some of the musicians who had worked with him on the Ice on Fire album in January, as well as a new set of backing singers: Alan Carvell, Helena Springs and Shirley Lewis – making it the largest band John had ever taken on tour.

On 14 November 1985, the tour began in Dublin and continued across the British Isles, including nine nights in a row at Wembley Arena, before concluding on 11 January 1986, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. As usual, John would select a handful of songs from his most recent album for inclusion in the set; in this instance, "Shoot Down the Moon", "This Town" and the singles "Nikita" and "Wrap Her Up" — all from Ice on Fire. The tour would continue in three months' time, but with a different percussionist.

Percussionist Jody Linscott replaced Ray Cooper on this second leg of the 1985–1986 World Tour, which began at the Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad de Madrid on 1 March and continued through Europe before concluding on 26 April at the Vorst Nationaal in Brussels, Belgium.

After a four-month a break, during which John and the band recorded the Leather Jackets album, the North American leg of the world tour began at the Pine Knob Music Theatre in Clarkston, Michigan on 17 August and ended on 15 October with eight nights at Los Angeles' Universal Amphitheatre. One unique aspect to this tour was that John played acoustic guitar on stage (on Lesley Duncan's "Love Song"), something he had not done since 1976.

This part of the tour proved especially difficult for John, who unknowingly had developed potentially cancerous nodules on his vocal cords, and by the time he played his four-night run in New York City in mid-September, he was having a great deal of difficulty singing. John was ordered by his doctor not to speak while off-stage, and there was serious doubt as to whether or not he could finish this segment of the tour, let alone pull off the upcoming symphonic tour of Australia.

Setlists 1985

1986

Tour dates DateCityCountryVenueEurope Songkick.com, Retrieved 29 August 2011 Songkick.com, Retrieved 29 August 2011 sheffieldhistory.co.uk, Retrieved 29 August 2011 olympiapark.de, Retrieved 29 August 2011 eltonjohnfan.de, Retrieved 29 August 201114 November 1985DublinIrelandRoyal Dublin Society15 November 198516 November 198517 November 198520 November 1985NewportWalesNewport Centre21 November 198523 November 1985CornwallEnglandSt Austell Coliseum24 November 198526 November 1985SheffieldSheffield City Hall27 November 198528 November 1985EdinburghScotlandEdinburgh Playhouse29 November 19851 December 1985ManchesterEnglandManchester Apollo2 December 19853 December 19854 December 1985NottinghamNottingham Royal Concert Hall5 December 19857 December 1985BrightonThe Brighton Centre11 December 1985LondonWembley Arena12 December 198513 December 198514 December 198515 December 198516 December 198517 December 198518 December 198519 December 198521 December 1985BirminghamNational Exhibition Centre22 December 198523 December 198530 December 1985BournemouthBournemouth International Centre31 December 19853 January 1986GlasgowScotlandGlasgow Centre4 January 19865 January 1986NewcastleEnglandNewcastle City Hall6 January 19867 January 19869 January 1986BelfastNorthern IrelandKing's Hall10 January 198611 January 19861 March 1986MadridSpainPalacio de Deportes2 March 1986San SebastianVelódromo de Anoeta4 March 1986BarcelonaPalau dels Esports de Barcelona6 March 1986BordeauxFrancePatinoire de Mériadeck7 March 1986ToulousePalais des Sports de Toulouse8 March 198610 March 1986LyonPalais des Sports de Gerland11 March 1986MarseilleParc des Expositions12 March 1986MontpellierZénith Sud14 March 1986NantesPalais des Sports de Beaulieu15 March 1986BrestParc de Penfeld17 March 1986LillePalais des Sports Saint-Sauveur18 March 1986ParisPalais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy19 March 198620 March 198621 March 198622 March 198623 March 1986LausanneSwitzerlandPalais de Beaulieu25 March 1986BaselSt. Jakobshalle26 March 1986ZürichHallenstadion27 March 198629 March 1986MunichWest GermanyOlympiahalle30 March 19861 April 1986West BerlinDeutschlandhalle2 April 1986HanoverEilenriedehalle3 April 1986FrankfurtFesthalle Frankfurt4 April 19865 April 1986DortmundWestfalenhallen6 April 1986CologneKoln Sporthalle8 April 1986LudwigshafenFriedrich-Ebert-Halle9 April 198610 April 1986StuttgartHanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle12 April 1986HamburgAlsterdorfer Sporthalle13 April 198614 April 198616 April 1986BremenStadthalle19 April 1986 (Postponed due to a bomb scare)ViennaAustriaWiener Stadthalle20 April 1986 (Afternoon & Evening)23 April 1986RotterdamNetherlandsRotterdam Ahoy Sportpaleis24 April 198626 April 1986BrusselsBelgiumForest NationalNorth America toledotalk.com, Retrieved 29 August 2011 Songkick.com, Retrieved 29 August 2011 seeing-stars.com, Retrieved 29 August 201117 August 1986ClarkstonUnited StatesPine Knob Music Theatre18 August 198619 August 1986Cuyahoga FallsBlossom Music Center21 August 1986Bonner SpringsSandstone Amphitheater22 August 1986BloomingtonMet Center23 August 1986Hoffman EstatesPoplar Creek Music Theater25 August 1986ClarkstonPine Knob Music Theatre26 August 1986TorontoCanadaCNE Grandstand27 August 1986MontréalStade Parc Jarry29 August 1986HartfordUnited StatesHartford Civic Center30 August 1986Saratoga SpringsSaratoga Performing Arts Center31 August 1986ColumbiaMerriweather Post Pavilion2 September 1986PhiladelphiaThe Spectrum3 September 1986WorcesterThe Centrum5 September 19866 September 19867 September 1986ProvidenceProvidence Civic Center8 September 1986PhiladelphiaThe Spectrum11 September 1986New York CityMadison Square Garden12 September 198613 September 198614 September 198616 September 1986AtlantaOmni Coliseum19 September 1986Pembroke PinesHollywood Sportatorium20 September 1986TallahasseeLeon County Civic Center21 September 1986TampaUSF Sun Dome23 September 1986AntiochStarwood Amphitheatre24 September 1986MemphisMid-South Coliseum26 September 1986HoustonThe Summit27 September 1986DallasReunion Arena30 September 1986DenverMcNichols Sports Arena1 October 1986Salt Lake CitySalt Palace3 October 1986OaklandOakland Coliseum Arena4 October 1986Costa MesaPacific Amphitheatre7 October 1986Los AngelesUniversal Amphitheatre8 October 198610 October 198611 October 198612 October 198613 October 198614 October 198615 October 1986

Box office score data VenueCityTickets sold / available Gross revenue (1986)Pine Knob Music CenterClarkston, Michigan48,000 / 48,000 (100%)$674,520Poplar Creek Music TheaterHoffman Estates24,161 / 24,161 (100%)$326,000National Exhibition GrandstandToronto24,298 / 24,298 (100%)$448,275The SpectrumPhiladelphia34,222 / 34,222 (100%)$562,367Civic CenterProvidence13,120 / 13,120 (100%)$229,600CentrumWorcester36,831 / 36,831 (100%)$613,368The OmniAtlanta14,449 / 14,449 (100%)$252,858Leon County Civic CenterTallahassee10,768 / 10,768 (100%)$175,395Sun DomeTampa10,492 / 10,800 (97%)$173,188Mid-South ColiseumMemphis9,625 / 12,000 (80%)$149,188The SummitHouston13,740 / 13,740 (100%)$240,450Reunion ArenaDallas14,753 / 14,753 (100%)$258,178McNichols Sports ArenaDenver13,845 / 18,365 (75%)$237,334Alameda County ColiseumOakland13,745 / 13,745 (100%)$240,538Pacific AmphitheaterCosta Mesa17,872 / 18,764 (95%)$273,489TOTAL299,921 / 308,016 (97%)$4,854,748

Personnel Elton John – lead vocals, piano, acoustic guitar on "Love Song" Davey Johnstone – lead guitar, backing vocals David Paton – bass guitar Fred Mandel – keyboards, rhythm guitar Charlie Morgan – drums Ray Cooper – percussion (UK leg) Jody Linscott – percussion, drums (Europe and North American legs) Alan Carvell – backing vocals Gordon Neville - backing vocals (Europe and North American legs) Helena Springs – backing vocals (UK leg) Shirley Lewis – backing vocals Onward International Horn Section

References

External links

Information Site with Tour Dates