Triumph Tour

The Triumph Tour was a concert tour by the Jacksons, covering the United States and Canada from July 8 to September 26, 1981. The tour grossed a total of $5.5 million, setting a record breaking four sold out concerts in Los Angeles.[2]

Triumph Tour

Tour by the Jacksons
Associated album	Triumph (1980) Off the Wall (1979)
Start date	July 8, 1981
End date	September 26, 1981
No. of shows	44
Box office	US $5.5 million ($15.47 million in 2019 dollars)[1]
the Jacksons concert chronology

History

By 1981, the Jacksons had regained success as a platinum-selling recording group with two albums, Destiny (1978) and Triumph (1980). Additionally, lead singer Michael Jackson was in the final stages of promoting his 1979 multi-platinum album, Off the Wall. This tour allowed Michael to bring in new show production ideas more to his liking. Inspired by Earth, Wind & Fire's live shows, Michael created the costumes and designed the stage. He and his brothers also collaborated on an intro that signaled similarities to their "Can You Feel It" music video. As it had been for many years, the choreography was done by Michael, Jackie and Marlon Jackson. The shows included magical elements designed by Doug Henning—for example, Michael disappearing in smoke during "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough".[3][4][5]

Touring tenure

The Triumph Tour began in Memphis, Tennessee and ended with a sold-out week of shows in Los Angeles. Each show earned highly positive reviews, in part due to Michael's leadership and showmanship. His brothers also earned praise, particularly for Randy's and Tito's musicality, and Marlon's dance ability. The tour marked the last truly integrated group effort, as Michael's solo career would soon eclipse his success with his brothers. The tour was so well-received and popular that Epic had the brothers record a variety of shows, and compile them for an upcoming live release. It's rumored that the tracks were recorded during stops in Memphis, New York City, Buffalo and Providence. The live album, The Jacksons Live!, came out in the winter of 1981, and went gold in its initial run. Current sales are two million.

After the tour ended, Michael went back to record Thriller, his follow-up to Off the Wall (1979). It would be three years before the Jacksons would go back on the road again. Rolling Stone later named the Triumph Tour one of the best 25 tours between 1967 and 1987. To showcase the success of the Triumph Tour, Michael Jackson commented that it was their first show without any marginal material. After the Triumph tour, Michael patterned the Victory Tour (1984) and his Bad World Tour (1987–1989).

Stage

The stage was dark and had three groups of strobe lights, all of them containing different colors of lights, facing the stage diagonally. The stage also had a spotlight that followed the main performers. In addition to the lighting, the musicians played their instruments on fixtures (the horn section to the left of the stage, the drums to the center, and keyboards to the right; with the exception of the guitarists and Randy Jackson who played the piano, keyboards, and assorted percussion).

Opening act

• Stacy Lattisaw

Set list

Setlist[6][7]

1. "Can You Feel It"
2. "Things I Do for You"
3. "Off the Wall"
4. "Ben"
5. "Walk Right Now"
6. "This Place Hotel"
7. "She's Out of My Life"
8. The Jackson 5 Medley: "I Want You Back" / "ABC" / "The Love You Save"
9. "I'll Be There"
10. "Rock with You"
11. "Lovely One"
12. "Workin' Day and Night"
13. "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough"
14. "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)"

Notes

• The intro to "Can You Feel It" was inspired by the music video for the song.
• The song "Walk Right Now" was removed from the setlist around August, making it one of the rarest songs to track down.
• In early shows, "This Place Hotel" didn't have an explosion and was instead used in "Walk Right Now"

Tour dates

Date	City	Country	Venue	Revenue
North America[8][9][10]
July 8, 1981	Memphis	United States	Mid-South Coliseum	$118,528
July 10, 1981	Oklahoma City		MCC Arena	—
July 11, 1981	Dallas		Reunion Arena	$153,252
July 12, 1981	Houston		The Summit	—
July 15, 1981	San Antonio		HemisFair Arena	—
July 17, 1981	Baton Rouge		Riverside Centroplex Arena	—
July 18, 1981	Mobile		Mobile Municipal Auditorium	—
July 24, 1981	Greensboro		Greensboro Coliseum	—
July 25, 1981	Charlotte		Charlotte Coliseum	—
July 26, 1981	Hampton		Hampton Coliseum	—
July 28, 1981	Lakeland		Lakeland Civic Center	$107,000
July 31, 1981	Landover		Capital Centre	—
August 1, 1981
August 2, 1981	Buffalo		Buffalo Memorial Auditorium	$115,000
August 4, 1981	Montreal	Canada	Montreal Forum	—
August 5, 1981	Toronto		Maple Leaf Gardens	—
August 7, 1981	Uniondale	United States	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum	—
August 8, 1981	Cincinnati		Riverfront Coliseum	$166,038
August 9, 1981	Richfield Township		The Coliseum at Richfield	—
August 12, 1981	Atlanta		Omni Coliseum	$163,773
August 13, 1981	Pittsburgh		Civic Arena	—
August 14, 1981	Philadelphia		Spectrum	$224,881
August 15, 1981	Hartford		Hartford Civic Center	$121,490
August 16, 1981	Providence		Providence Civic Center	$146,000
August 18, 1981	New York City		Madison Square Garden	—
August 19, 1981
August 21, 1981	Detroit		Joe Louis Arena	—
August 22, 1981	Indianapolis		Market Square Arena	—
August 23, 1981	Dayton		UD Arena	—
August 26, 1981	Milwaukee		MECCA Arena	—
August 28, 1981	Chicago		Chicago Stadium	—
August 29, 1981	Lexington		Rupp Arena	—
September 1, 1981	Kansas City		Kemper Arena	—
September 2, 1981	St. Louis		Checkerdome	—
September 3, 1981	Denver		McNichols Sports Arena	—
September 6, 1981	Winchester		Las Vegas Convention Center	—
September 8, 1981	San Diego		San Diego Sports Arena	—
September 10, 1981	Daly City		Cow Palace	—
September 15, 1981	Tempe		ASU Activity Center	—
September 18, 1981	Inglewood		The Forum	—
September 19, 1981
September 22, 1981	Oakland		Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena	$149,633
September 25, 1981	Inglewood		The Forum	$633,029
September 26, 1981
TOTAL				$2,098,624

Postponements

• 07/19/81: Lakeland, United States, Lakeland Civic Center; Rescheduled to July 28, 1981
• 07/22/91: Atlanta, United States, Omni Coliseum; Rescheduled to August 12, 1981
• 08/08/81: Philadelphia, United States, The Spectrum; Rescheduled to August 14, 1981
• 09/05/81: Oakland, United States, Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena; Rescheduled to September 22, 1981

Personnel

The Jackson 5

• Michael Jackson – vocals
• Jackie Jackson – vocals, percussion
• Tito Jackson – guitar, vocals
• Marlon Jackson – vocals, percussion
• Randy Jackson – vocals, congas, piano, keyboards

With

• David Williams – guitar
• Bill Wolfer – synthesizer
• Mike McKinney – bass
• Jonathan Moffett – drums
• Wesley Phillips, Cloris Grimes, Alan (Funt) Prater, Roderick (Mac) McMorris – horns (East Coast Horns)

References

1. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved January 1, 2020.
2. "Triumph Tour (1981)". titojackson.com. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
3. Doug Henning Michael Jackson -wind Triumph
4. Michael Jackson - Off the Wall www.AllMichaelJackson.com
5. Michael Jackson biography: The Jacksons years www.Michael-Jackson-trader.com
6. Searl, Hanford (September 5, 1981). "Concert Review: Jackson Sellout". Billboard. p. 44.
7. Eder, Bruce (November 1981). "The Jacksons Live: All Music Review".
8. "It's a Jacksons' Summer! They're taking off again". Billboard. New York: Billboard Publications, Inc. 93: 28–29. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved September 26, 2016.
9. "The Jacksons - Triumph Tour (1981)". The Michael Jackson Fan Club. June 2013. Archived from the original on June 16, 2013. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
10. Ralston, Jeannie (July 29, 1981). "The Jacksons: All Eyes Were on Michael Last Night". Evening Independent. 74 (230). St. Petersburg, Florida: Times Publishing Company. p. 8B. Retrieved September 3, 2016.