Chronology of all North American (USA, MEX, and CAN) tour dates

[Bosco]

@rynostar

haha, awesome!

 sacred ground!

[Stefan]

Haha, that's great

[LLG]

I just bought a flyer with a date that seems to be missing from this list. 1997 October 28 - Mercer Arena, Seattle, WA {With Death in Vegas and DJ James Holroyd}. Link: https://www.ebay.com/itm/325915018316.

I also attached 2 pictures of a flyer I have from the 3rd ever known show performing as The Chemical Brothers.

[Bosco]

Thanks @LLG  I love how you got the super rare flyer in bulletproof glass! 

Updated! And fixed some things.

Researching your flyer, I stumbled across this from an archived MTV(dot)com article:

https://www.mtv.com/news/mcfgjg/tour-de-force-chemical-brothers-mark-eitzel

Chemical Brothers: Still touring in support of Dig Your Own Hole, the Brothers Chemical bring their block rockin' beats back to the States for a fall tour with Death In Vegas in the opening slot.

Chemical Brothers Tour Dates:
Oct. 28; Seattle, Wash., Mercer Arena

Oct. 31; Los Angeles, Calif., Palladium

Nov. 1; San Francisco, Calif., Kaiser Pavilion

Nov. 2; Los Angeles, Calif., Palladium

Nov. 5; Dallas, Texas, Bronco Bowl

Nov. 7; Detroit, Mich., State Theatre

Nov. 8; Chicago, Ill., Riviera

Nov. 10; Washington, D.C., Patriot Center

Nov. 11; Boston, Mass., Wallace Civic Center

Nov. 14; New York, N.Y., Hammerstein Ballroom

Nov. 15; New York, N.Y., Hammerstein Ballroom

The ones I bolded in RED are all new dates that have been added to my list.

I'm shocked we never heard detail about a Halloween show in 1997 to this point. That would've been kind of a big deal, I'd imagine. Furthermore, I have nothing (yet) to cross-reference a lot of these dates so there is a chance a few of them got canceled (See Salt Lake City, UT, May 1st of 1997).

Would be awesome to hear from anyone who attended some of these old gigs!

[Bosco]

In a related note to this thread, the MTV News archive has been pulled offline by Paramount. Thus, many of the links I have attached to posts in this thread are now dead. The MTV News archives was a major source of procuring old dates and articles for this thread.

[ThePumisher]

OFF WITH THEIR HEAD!

[shakermaker]

can you find them in the Internet archive?

[Bosco]

can you find them in the Internet archive?

Haven't checked yet. 

For the record, when the MTV News/Archive was still LIVE, I didn't seek out the website for results. My searches were conducted with a "key word" search via Google, which then linked to me to MTV News/Archive articles. 

That being said, I'm fairly confident I obtained most, if not all, the content regarding dates in North America. It would still be nice to recover the full text articles for posterity.

[shakermaker]

Haven't checked yet. 

Spot checking one, I was able to retrieve it, no problem.

e.g. http://www.mtv.com/news/500521/chemical-brothers-to-play-first-us-dj-tour/ from post #4 no longer works. the most recent archive from last year and earliest archive from 2014 are both reachable.

I see your point though, that this only allows us to retrieve what we already knew existed. it limits our ability to discover material we hadn't found yet. 

[shakermaker]

and now, this:

MTV News Repository of 460,000 Articles Launched by Internet Archive After Paramount Content Purge

https://variety.com/2024/digital/news/mtv-news-articles-internet-archive-wayback-machine-1236058997/amp/

[Explud]

https://web.archive.org/web/20220630190751/https://www.mtv.com/news/151131/chemical-brothers/

[Bosco]

https://web.archive.org/web/20220630190751/https://www.mtv.com/news/151131/chemical-brothers/

this interview was, without a doubt in my mind, conducted on AOL Instant Messenger. 

[Bosco]

Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, Orb Set For Organic Fest

03.26.1997

March 26 [7:55 EST] -- British techno dance band The Prodigy will hit the road this summer as the headliner on the Organic festival tour. The event, being dubbed a techno-Lollapalooza, will also feature the Chemical Brothers (Live QuickTime, 500k), Orbital, and The Orb. This extravaganza of electronica aims to hit 20 major U.S. cities from July to September, playing both indoor and outdoor venues. Just last week, The Prodigy postponed a tour that was to launch next month, so it could finish work on "Fat Of The Land," its first album under its new multi-million dollar deal with Madonna's Maverick Records label. When dates for the Organic tour are finalized, we'll pass them along.

Chemical Brothers Debut Songs On The Net

03.31.1997

March 31 [12:00 EST] -- Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands, better known as the much-ballyhooed electronic dance combo The Chemical Brothers (QuickTime Live, 500k), will leak selections from their upcoming album, "Dig Your Own Hole," to the Internet this week. The duo, who many see at the forefront of the British techno invasion, will debut one new song a day on SonicNet (at sonicnet.com) from April 1 through April 4, and then will unveil the whole album on Monday, April 7. The album will hit stores the following day. The fellows stirred up a bit of interest with the single and video "Setting Sun," which boasted a vocal track by Oasis' Noel Gallagher. The duo hopes to keep their momentum going in the States with a full tour itinerary that will see the Brothers set out on their own in April, and then join up with The Prodigy and Orbital in July for the Organic festival tour. If you want to check out The Chemical Brothers doing their thing, here's where they'll be: 4/24 - Dallas, TX @ The Bomb Factory 4/26 - Chicago, IL @ Aragon Ballroom 4/27 - Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue 4/29 - Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre 5/2 - Las Vegas, NV @ The Joint 5/4 - San Francisco, CA @ The Concourse 5/7 - Seattle, WA @ Union Station 5/10 - Los Angeles, CA @ Shrine Expo 5/12 - Boston, MA @ Avalon 5/13 - Toronto, ONT @ The Warehouse 5/16 - Philadelphia, PA @ The Electric Factory 5/17 - New York, NY @ Manhattan Center

The Prodigy

Prodigy Reschedules Tour Dates

04.01.1997

April 1 [7:55 EST] -- "Billboard" magazine reports that the postponed Prodigy tour is back on track, and set to kick off ("Firestarter" live, QuickTime, 800k) on May 26 in Seattle. The industry publication's website reports that the techno outfit will hit major metropolitan areas during its brief swing through the States. The Prodigy had postponed the dates to devote more time to finishing up its Maverick Records debut, "Fat Of The Land," due this summer. The tour will serve as a warm up to the group's stint on this summer's Organic Festival tour, which will also feature The Chemical Brothers, Orbital, and The Orb. The festival tour, being touted as an electronic dance version of Lollapalooza, is expected to hit 20 U.S. cities during July and August. But before the Organic Festival swings into gear, The Prodigy will reportedly play the following dates: 5/27 - San Francisco @ The Fillmore 5/28 - Los Angeles @ The Mayan Theater 5/30 - Chicago @ The Metro 5/31 - Washington, D.C. @ RFK Stadium 5/2 - Boston @ Avalon 6/3 - New York @ Irving Plaza 6/4 - Atlanta @ The Masquerade

As you can see in the quoted articles above, I did stumble across details about a 'Organic Festival Tour'. It took place in the United States during the summer of 1997. It was described like an "electronic dance version of Lollapalooza", which at that time, was essentially a traveling rock/alternative festival that would hit major cities across America.

Here is a story from LA TIMES covering the date at National Orange Showgrounds in San Bernardino:

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-sep-22-ca-34901-story.html

Even with the withdrawal of proposed headliners Prodigy and the Chemical Brothers and the advent of two competing tours, this promised to be a strong follow-up to last year's Organic debut, which drew more than 5,000 to the Snow Valley ski facility in the San Bernardino Mountains.

I'm getting the impression Southern California saw the only date for 'Organic Festival Tour' in 1997, I see no other details about a full tour schedule.

[shakermaker]

I'm getting the impression Southern California saw the only date for 'Organic Festival Tour' in 1997, I see no other details about a full tour schedule.

Organic was 96. Could the 'Organic Festival Tour' have been a planned follow-up that never happened?

[Bosco]

I really don't have enough info to answer. All I can say is that LA Times article I have linked above leads me to believe that a 1997 iteration of Organic took place.

@It's The Lifestyle We're Living , any comment on "Organic Tour" 1997?

Edit: I guess I can't properly format Errol K's handle to notify him about this query.

[shakermaker]

I should have read the article before responding. 

it does describe it as a "remnant of what was planned to be a national tour". 

seems there's audience recordings of a few sets from that show at san bernadino.

[Bosco]

I should have read the article before responding. 

it does describe it as a "remnant of what was planned to be a national tour".

seems there's audience recordings of a few sets from that show at san bernadino.

Ah, I overread that part!

Well, it's interesting to see there was an attempt to do an electronic festival tour here in the United States. From the names mentioned it looked like it was pretty stacked.

According to LA TIMES:

• Aphex Twin
• Sneaker Pimps
• David Holmes
• Crystal Method
• Faithless
• Luke Vibert
• Justin Robertson
• *The Chemical Brothers
• *The Prodigy
• #The Orb
• #Orbital

* = Withdrew from Festival
# = Mentioned in MTV article, but unknown if they played


I would guess The Chemical Brothers 1997 headlining Fall Tour must of been a result of the canceling/withdrawal from this unfulfilled "Organic Tour". If it wasn't, that means they were scheduled for a 6+ month tour in North America...  Damn!

[shakermaker]

I mean that's a RIDICULOUS lineup for the USA. especially in 97 - electronic music was very much not understood here at that time, outside of an underground scene. (a sentiment captured by that LA times article.) Chemical Bros, Prodigy, Orbital. fucking APHEX TWIN. even the remnants of those that didn't cancel, for one show, was better than a lot of lineups here for decades after.