Brothers in Arms Tour

The Brothers in Arms Tour was a concert tour by British rock band Dire Straits. The tour promoted and supported the group's fifth album, Brothers in Arms, which was released in May 1985.[1]

Brothers in Arms Tour

World tour by Dire Straits
Location	Europe Asia North America Europe Oceania
Associated album	Brothers in Arms
Start date	25 April 1985
End date	26 April 1986
Legs	5
No. of shows	248
Dire Straits concert chronology

The tour started on 25 April 1985 and ended on 26 April 1986 in Sydney, Australia. It included dates in the Balkans, Israel, Europe, North America, and Oceania. The tour included 248 concerts in 23 countries and 118 cities.[2] More than two and a half million people attended the tour.[3] With 900,000 tickets sold in Australia and New Zealand it was the biggest concert tour in Australasian music history, until it was overtaken in 2017–2018 by Ed Sheeran on his ÷ Tour.[4]

Description

The tour lineup included Mark Knopfler (guitar and vocals), John Illsley (bass), Alan Clark & Guy Fletcher (keyboards), Terry Williams (drums), Jack Sonni (guitar), and Chris White (saxophone).[1]

During the tour, Dire Straits performed "Money for Nothing" with Sting and "Sultans of Swing" at the Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium on 13 July 1985. Their performance was included on the DVD release of that event. The final concert on 26 April 1986 in Sydney, Australia was broadcast on television. TubeTV also filmed the show in London on 10 July 1985. Neither the Sydney nor the London shows were ever released as commercial videos and are available as bootlegs only. In addition, three soundboard recordings were made in San Antonio, Houston, and Cleveland, which have also circulated as bootlegs.[1]

The Brothers in Arms Tour consisted of four legs:

• Europe and Israel
• North America
• Europe
• Australia and New Zealand

Tour dates

Date[1]	City	Country	Venue
Europe
25 April 1985	Split	Yugoslavia	Gripe
Asia
30 April 1985	Jerusalem	Israel	Sultanpool
1 May 1985	Tel Aviv		City Park
2 May 1985
Europe
6 May 1985	Athens	Greece	Sportspalace
7 May 1985
8 May 1985	Montreux	Switzerland	Golden Rose Festival
9 May 1985
10 May 1985	Belgrade	Yugoslavia	Pioneer Hall
11 May 1985
12 May 1985	Zagreb		Dom Sportova
13 May 1985	Ljubljana		Tivoli Hall
14 May 1985	Graz	Austria	Eishalle
15 May 1985	Vienna		Stadthalle
16 May 1985	Brno	Czechoslovakia	Stadion Za Lužánkami
17 May 1985	Budapest	Hungary	Sportshall
18 May 1985
19 May 1985
20 May 1985
22 May 1985	Eindhoven	Netherlands	P.O.C.
23 May 1985	Arnhem		Rijnhal
24 May 1985	Amsterdam		Jaap Edenhal
25 May 1985	Rotterdam		Ahoy
26 May 1985	Genk	Belgium	Limburghal
27 May 1985	Brussels		Forêt Nationale
28 May 1985	Caen	France	Palais Des Sports
29 May 1985	Brest		Parc De Penfeld
30 May 1985	Nantes		La Beaujoire
31 May 1985	Bordeaux		Patinoire
1 June 1985	Bilbao	Spain	Plaza De Toros Vista Alegre
3 June 1985	Madrid		Estadio Román Valero
5 June 1985	Barcelona		Municipal Velodrome
6 June 1985
7 June 1985	Toulouse	France	Palais Des Sports
8 June 1985
10 June 1985	Monaco		Stade Louis II
11 June 1985	Orange	France	Theatre antique d'Orange
12 June 1985	Grenoble	France	Palais Des Sports
13 June 1985	Geneva	Switzerland	Patinoire
14 June 1985
15 June 1985
16 June 1985	Zürich		Hallenstadion
17 June 1985
18 June 1985	Basel		St. Jakob Sporthalle
19 June 1985
20 June 1985	Dijon	France	Palais Des Sports
21 June 1985	Luxembourg	Luxembourg	Patinoire De Kockelscheuer
22 June 1985	Deinze	Belgium	Brielpoort
23 June 1985	Paris	France	Palais Omnisports De Bercy
24 June 1985
25 June 1985
28 June 1985	Birmingham	England	National Exhibition Centre
29 June 1985
30 June 1985
1 July 1985
2 July 1985	Brighton		Conference Centre
3 July 1985
4 July 1985	London		Wembley Arena
5 July 1985
6 July 1985
7 July 1985
8 July 1985
9 July 1985
10 July 1985
11 July 1985
12 July 1985
13 July 1985			Wembley Stadium, Live Aid [6pm] Wembley Arena [evening]
14 July 1985			Wembley Arena
15 July 1985
16 July 1985
North America
23 July 1985	Montreal	Canada	Forum
24 July 1985	Ottawa		Civic Centre
25 July 1985
26 July 1985	Toronto		Varsity Arena
27 July 1985
28 July 1985
29 July 1985
1 August 1985	Saint Paul	United States	Roy Wilkins Auditorium
2 August 1985	Milwaukee		Auditorium
3 August 1985	Hoffman Estates		Poplar Creek
4 August 1985	Clarkston		Pine Knob
5 August 1985	Cuyahoga Falls		Blossom Music Center
6 August 1985	Pittsburgh		Syria Mosque
7 August 1985	Philadelphia		Mann Music Center
8 August 1985	Columbia		Merriweather Post Pavilion
10 August 1985	Atlanta		Fox Theatre
11 August 1985	Nashville		Tennessee Performing Arts Center
13 August 1985	Oklahoma City		Zoo Amphitheater
14 August 1985	Dallas		Reunion Arena
15 August 1985	Austin		Coliseum
16 August 1985	San Antonio		Municipal Auditorium
17 August 1985	Houston		Southern Star Amphitheatre
3 September 1985	Morrison		Red Rocks Amphitheatre
4 September 1985
6 September 1985	Tempe		Activity Centre
7 September 1985	San Diego		State University
8 September 1985	Costa Mesa		Pacific Amphitheatre
9 September 1985	Los Angeles		Greek Theatre
10 September 1985
11 September 1985
12 September 1985
13 September 1985	San Francisco		Concord Pavilion
14 September 1985
15 September 1985	Sacramento		Memorial Auditorium
17 September 1985	Portland		Civic Auditorium
18 September 1985
19 September 1985	Seattle		Arena
20 September 1985
21 September 1985	Vancouver	Canada	UBC Gym
22 September 1985	Victoria		Arena
23 September 1985	Vancouver		P.N.E.
24 September 1985	Edmonton		Northlands Coliseum
25 September 1985	Calgary		Olympic Saddledome
26 September 1985	Edmonton		Northlands Coliseum
27 September 1985	Calgary		Olympic Saddledome
1 October 1985	New York City	United States	Radio City Music Hall
2 October 1985
3 October 1985
4 October 1985	Providence		Civic Center
5 October 1985	Boston		Wang Theatre
6 October 1985
7 October 1985	Portland		Cumberland County Civic Center
8 October 1985	Boston		Boston Garden
9 October 1985	Hartford		Civic Center
10 October 1985
11 October 1985	Uniondale		Nassau Coliseum
12 October 1985	New York City		Madison Square Garden
13 October 1985	East Rutherford		Meadowlands Arena
Europe
22 October 1985	Drammen	Norway	Drammenshallen
23 October 1985
24 October 1985	Stockholm	Sweden	Café Opera
25 October 1985			Johanneshov
26 October 1985
28 October 1985	Helsinki	Finland	Ice Hall
29 October 1985
31 October 1985	Brøndbyvester	Denmark	Brøndbyhallen
1 November 1985
2 November 1985	Hamburg	West Germany	Alsterdorfer Sporthalle
3 November 1985	Groningen	Netherlands	Martinihal
4 November 1985	Hanover	West Germany	Eilenreidhalle
5 November 1985	Berlin		Deutschlandhalle
7 November 1985	Vienna	Austria	Stadthalle
8 November 1985	Munich	West Germany	Basketball-Halle
9 November 1985	Wels	Austria	Eishalle
10 November 1985	Graz		Eishalle
11 November 1985	Linz		Sporthalle
12 November 1985	Innsbruck		Olympic Hall
14 November 1985	Lyon	France	Parc Des Expositions
15 November 1985	Clermont-Ferrand		Maison Des Sports
18 November 1985	Nuremberg	West Germany	Frankenhalle
19 November 1985	Stuttgart		Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle
20 November 1985	Frankfurt		Festhalle
21 November 1985	Cologne		Sporthalle
22 November 1985	Essen		Grugahalle
23 November 1985	Leiden	Netherlands	Groenoordhal
24 November 1985
25 November 1985	Brussels	Belgium	Forêt Nationale
27 November 1985	Paris	France	Palais Omnisports De Bercy
28 November 1985
29 November 1985
30 November 1985
3 December 1985	Newcastle upon Tyne	England	City Hall
4 December 1985
5 December 1985
6 December 1985
7 December 1985	Manchester		Apollo
8 December 1985
9 December 1985
10 December 1985
11 December 1985	Deeside		Leisure Centre
12 December 1985
13 December 1985	Shepton Mallet		Showering Pavilion
14 December 1985
15 December 1985	Birmingham		National Exhibition Centre
16 December 1985
17 December 1985	London		Hammersmith Odeon
18 December 1985
19 December 1985
20 December 1985
21 December 1985
22 December 1985
23 December 1985
29 December 1985	Edinburgh	Scotland	Playhouse
30 December 1985
31 December 1985
Oceania
7 February 1986	Hobart	Australia	King George V Oval
8 February 1986
12 February 1986	Adelaide		Football Park
14 February 1986	Melbourne		Sports and Entertainment Centre
15 February 1986
16 February 1986
17 February 1986
18 February 1986
19 February 1986
20 February 1986
21 February 1986
22 February 1986
23 February 1986
24 February 1986			Myer Music Bowl
25 February 1986
26 February 1986			Olympic Park Oval No. 1
1 March 1986	Auckland	New Zealand	Mount Smart Stadium
2 March 1986			Western Springs
4 March 1986	Wellington		Athletic Park
7 March 1986	Christchurch		Lancaster Park[5]
10 March 1986	Sydney	Australia	Entertainment Centre
11 March 1986
12 March 1986
13 March 1986
14 March 1986
15 March 1986
16 March 1986
17 March 1986
18 March 1986
19 March 1986
20 March 1986
21 March 1986
22 March 1986
23 March 1986			The Cricket Ground
24 March 1986			Entertainment Centre
25 March 1986
27 March 1986	Brisbane		QE2 Stadium
29 March 1986	Rockhampton		Rugby Park
31 March 1986	Mackay		Showgrounds
2 April 1986	Townsville		Showgrounds
4 April 1986	Cairns		Showgrounds
8 April 1986	Darwin		Showgrounds
11 April 1986	Rock		Ayers
13 April 1986	Perth		Entertainment Centre
14 April 1986
15 April 1986
16 April 1986
17 April 1986
18 April 1986
19 April 1986
20 April 1986
23 April 1986	Sydney		Entertainment Centre
24 April 1986
25 April 1986
26 April 1986

Setlists

• 25 April 1985 (Split) - "Ride Across the River", "Expresso Love", "So Far Away", "Romeo and Juliet", "Private Investigations", "Sultans of Swing", "Walk of Life", "Why Worry", "Six Blade Knife", "The Man's Too Strong", "Two Young Lovers", "Money for Nothing", "Portobello Belle", "Wild West End", "Tunnel of Love", "Brothers in Arms", "Solid Rock"[6]
• 13 May 1985 (Ljubljana) - "Ride Across the River", "Expresso Love", "So Far Away", "Romeo and Juliet", "Private Investigations", "Sultans of Swing", "Why Worry", "Walk of Life", "Two Young Lovers", "The Man's Too Strong", "Money for Nothing", "Wild West End", "Tunnel of Love", "Solid Rock", "Going Home: Theme from Local Hero"[6]
• 16 May 1985 (Brno) - "Ride Across the River", "Expresso Love", "So Far Away", "Romeo and Juliet", "Private Investigations", "Sultans of Swing", "Why Worry", "Walk of Life", "Two Young Lovers", "The Man's Too Strong", "Money for Nothing", "Wild West End", "Tunnel of Love", "Brothers in Arms", "Solid Rock", "Going Home: Theme from Local Hero"[6]
• North American Leg - "Ride Across the River", "Expresso Love", "One World", "Romeo and Juliet", "Private Investigations", "Sultans of Swing", "Why Worry", "Walk of Life", "Two Young Lovers", "Money for Nothing", "Wild West End", "Tunnel of Love", "Brothers in Arms", "Solid Rock", "Going Home: Theme from Local Hero"
• 26 April 1986 (Sydney) - "Ride Across the River", "Expresso Love", "Industrial Disease", "So Far Away", "Romeo and Juliet", "Private Investigations", "Sultans of Swing", "Why Worry", "Your Latest Trick", "Walk of Life", "Two Young Lovers", "Money for Nothing", "Tunnel of Love", "Brothers in Arms", "Solid Rock", "Going Home: Theme from Local Hero"

References

1. "Live in 85/6". Mark Knopfler Info. Archived from the original on 20 December 2011. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
2. "An 80s experience to remember". Stuff.nz. 15 December 2017.
3. "SA gigs for Dire Straits frontman". News 24. 26 September 2014. Archived from the original on 16 December 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
4. "Ed Sheeran adds final Australian shows; breaking all records" (26 May 2017). News.com.au. 15 December 2017.
5. "Lancaster Park". Retrieved 15 January 2021.
6. "Dire Straits:Brothers in Arms Tour". Setlist.com. Retrieved 14 December 2015.