Pacific Rim Tour

• Released: no live album released officially
• Date of concerts: May 1997
• Countries: Japan, Thailand, Australia, Taiwan, Hawaii

   

• Set list (Osaka):

  . i'm every woman
  . so emotional
  . i wanna dance with somebody
  . all at once
  . saving all my love
  . greatest love
  . queen of the night
  . all the man that i need
  . -----
  . a song for you (bobby)
  . -----
  . exhale (shoop shoop)
  . i love the lord
  . i go to the rock
  . i will always love you
  . -----
  encores:
  . step by step
  . i'm every woman

  The setlist was basically the same everywhere with a few changes

  The Tokyo stop included the following:

  . count on me, with CeCe Winans
  . in return

  Taipei, Bangkok, Hawaii:

  final song,Something In Common,
  duet with Bobby brown

  opening act in Hawaii, Bobby Brown

   

  Audio samples:

  • I Go To The Rock
  • My Prerogative/Superstitious

   

  The Band:

  . Musical Director: Rickey Minor

  . Bass guitar/Bass synthesizer: Rickey Minor
  . Keyboards: Bette Sussman
  . Keyboards: Wayne Linsey
  . Drums: Michael Baker
  . Percussion: Bashiri Johnson
  . Guitars: Paul Jackson Jr
  . Saxophone/EWI: Gary Bias
  . Trumpet: Raymond Brown
  . Trombone: Reginald Young
  

  . Background Vocals:

  Pattie Howard

  Sharlotte Gibson

  Valerie Pinkston-Mayo
  

  . Dancers:

  Carolyn Brown

  Merlyn Mitchell

  Shane Johnson

  Saleema Mubaarak

   

  Dates for the Pacific Rim Tour in 1997

  JAPAN, THAILAND,
  AUSTRALIA, TAIWAN, HAWAII,
  TOUR DATES:

  MAY
  05: Jo Hall, Osaka
  07: Jo Hall, Osaka
  08: Jo Hall, Osaka
  13: Dome, Tokyo
  14: Dome, Tokyo

  ??: Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre, Bangkok
  21: Palladium, Melbourne
  22: Palladium, Melbourne <--- cnl
  25: Municipal Stadium, Taipei
  28: Aloha Stadium, Honolulu (Hawaii)
  

   

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  fanasylum official website info
  (May 1997):

  Whitney in Osaka, Japan

  submitted by: David B.

  Never before in the history of man have Japan's borders been breeched by a foreign force, until now. Armed with soul, rhythm and lots of love, Whitney Houston and crew arrived and conquered the entire nation in one week of concerts that will be remembered forever.

  The curtain rose on the first show at Osaka's Jo Hall to a sold-out, standing-room-only house on Monday May 5th. While the band started into the customized opening piece "Nippy Nine-Seven," the crowd, in typical Japanese fashion, sat in polite and subdued applause. That didn't last long.

  As the band segued into "I'm Every Women," Whitney's voice filled the hall as she rose gloriously and suddenly appeared at the very top of the stage. Instantly, the crowd was on its feet dancing, clapping and singing along - certainly not acting very Japanese but then Whitney has that effect on people.

  Whitney ripped through the first three numbers non-stop with "So Emotional" and "Dance With Somebody" following the opener. At this point, the building could have lost all power and the lights would have stayed on there was so much energy flowing through the house. In Whitney's own words, "There's going to be a lot of love coming from this stage. I want you to mix it with your love and throw it back to us. Can you do that Osaka?" Yes they could.

  Whitney and company, nine strong band members, four dancers and four back-up singers led by music director Rickey Minor, then continued the celebration with "All At Once," "Savin' All My Love," "The Greatest Love Of All." During "Savin' All My Love," Whitney strolled off stage right to give husband Bobby Brown a kiss. She then opened "The Greatest Love Of All" with this message to the audience, "Don't believe everything you read in the press."

  These were followed by "Queen Of The Night," "My Name Is Not Susan" and the song she dedicated to Bobby, "All The Man I Need." Whitney then asked the audience if they would mind if Bobby sang them a song. To the cries of "Bobby" from the crowd, Whitney exited the way she arrived and Bobby jumped into the Elton John classic, "A Song For You."

  Whitney took the stage back with "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" and proceeded to teach the audience how to Shoop! I believe it was the section behind stage right that won the competition, but suffice it to say that there are 160,000 Japanese that could now be back-up singers for Whitney on this song now.

  Proclaiming her love for the Lord, Whitney eased into "I Love The Lord" and "I Go To The Rock." These were followed by the closer "I Will Always Love You." Of course there was no escaping this easily as the jumping, cheering and applauding audience brought Whitney and the band back for encores of "Step By Step" and the revised version of "I'm Every Woman."

  So does that sound like a good, no, GREAT show? As the old saying goes, "You ain't heard nothing yet!"

  

  Whitney in Tokyo...

  Opening night at the Tokyo Dome on Tuesday May 13th had so many highlights that it is hard to know where to begin, but with a sold out crowd of 41,000 you could guess that The Egg would be jumping.

  The set list was basically the same as Osaka, but the first change came when Bobby suddenly came on stage to dance with Whitney during "Dance With Somebody." Then two thirds of the way through the night and after she finished singing "Exhale," Whitney told the crowd, "My shoop partner is here tonight." With that, CeCe Winans walked on stage and the two hugged each other with tears of joy. Whitney and CeCe then broke into "Count On Me" and performed a duet that words cannot begin to describe. It was heavenly.

  At the finish of the song CeCe edged towards the side of the stage only to be halted by Whitney calling out to the audience, " I would love to hear CeCe sing one more song. How about you too Tokyo?" The house went crazy with applause. Whitney then stepped off stage and let CeCe take over with a song written by her brother Marvin, "In Return." Whitney joined CeCe for yet another powerful duet to close "In Return" and they embraced one last time before CeCe exited.

  With the mood properly set, Whitney closed out the show with "I Love The Lord," "I Go To The Rock" and just when you could not imagine a show getting any better Whitney eased into "I Will Always Love You" to the enthusiastic appreciation of the crowd. With every note of the song Whitney took us to greater heights. Even Whitney's crew and staff stood in awe of her performance and the power and pure beauty of her voice during this song. Whitney ended with, "Tokyo, I Will Always Love You."

  And Whitney, Japan will always love you.

   

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  whitney-fan.com info
  May 22, 1997

  Whitney Down Under in Australia

  submitted by: Kim Leow
  

  Whitney's first concert on the 21st was very well received. Here's what The (Melbourne) Age reviewer had to say:

  " Always happy to deviate from the traditional arrangements, Houston opened on an uptempo note, pumping out I'm Every Woman, So Emotional and a funky version of her '80s ballad (!) I Wanna Dance With Somebody. Many of the songs gave Houston a chance to show off with some vocal gymnastics, her voice dipping and soaring with ease. Backed by a 12-piece band, Houston was confident and full of energy, whether pouring out gospel songs from her recent movie The Preacher's Wife, older hits such as All At Once and The Greatest Love of All, or her highest selling single, I Will Always Love You. That last song was a bravura performance, the highlight of a quality show that had few weak points."

  Bobby Brown performed with Whitney and Dionne Warwick "joined in with some harmonies". Dionne Warwick performed at the Melbourne Concert Hall on Tuesday, the 20th of May.

  Kim Leow, Melbourne, AUSTRALIA

   

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  Interesting tidbits

  May 20, Bangkok: when speaking and singing the high notes, she sounded like she had a cold. but she still kept on singing. Very professional, she said "tonight my voice is deep". there was a member of the royal family in the audience (princess) and whitney showed her great respect.

  May 22, Melbourne: That night, Fans arrived at the Palladium, Crown Entertainment Complex for Whitney's second concert in Melbourne only to be told she had cancelled. Guests were told that Whitney had a "severe throat infection" and was "advised by her throat specialist not to perform".

  May 25, Taipei: 45,000 people, anf a few surprises: whitney did "Freeway of Love" (Aretha Franklin song). she decided to let Bobby Brown sing his #1 hit "My Perogative", and they had an alternative duet version, with a mixture of Stevie Wonder's classic "Superstitious" in it.

  May 28, Hawaii: 31,000 fans - Bobby Brown opened up the last show singing his old tunes. Whitney was in disguise singing background vocals for Bobby. Then she came out and the crowd went wild. She sang very well even though she had a cold. She closed the show with 'Step By Step'.

 

info compiled by JL for allwhitney.com
thanks whitney's official fan club, whitney-fan.com, classicwhitney.com

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