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A Conspiracy of Hope Tour was a short series of six benefit concerts in behalf of Amnesty International that took place in the United States during June 1986. Held not to raise funds but to increase awareness of Amnesty on its 25th anniversary of working for human rights, the shows were headlined by The Police and U2, and also featured Bryan Adams, Peter Gabriel, Lou Reed, Joan Baez, and The Neville Brothers.
Background
The tour was conceived by the Executive Director of Amnesty International's U.S. section, Jack Healey, and producer Martin Lewis, who had first recruited musicians to work with Amnesty several years before for The Secret Policeman's Balls series. The tour was run by famed rock promotor Bill Graham.
Tickets were sold by mail-order lottery, a method popular in the 1970s for high-demand shows but here used for pretty much the last time, with computerized services such as Ticketron rapidly taking over. The concert in Denver was the worst attended show, even with all of the top names on the bill. The local promoter blamed the title of the concert for radio stations believing there truly was a conspiracy, hence the concert was virtually empty.
Performances
- June 4, Cow Palace, San Francisco
- June 6, The Forum, Los Angeles
- June 8, McNichols Sports Arena, Denver
- June 11, The Omni, Atlanta
- June 13, Rosemont Horizon, Rosemont, Illinois (outside Chicago)
- June 15, Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey (outside New York)
The final, sold-out Giants Stadium show was an all-day affair, running from noon until 11 p.m., broadcast on MTV, and at an outdoor stadium rather than the indoor arenas used for the first five stops. As such, these additional artists played there: John Eddie with Max Weinberg, Third World, The Hooters, Peter Paul & Mary, Little Steven with Bob Geldof, Stanley Jordan, Joan Armatrading, Jackson Browne, Rubén Blades with Fela and Carlos Santana, Yoko Ono, Howard Jones, Miles Davis, and Joni Mitchell. Spoken introductions were made by Bill Graham, Bill Bradley, Darryl Hannah, and Muhammed Ali.
Jackson Browne had also played at the San Francisco and Los Angeles shows.
Musical themes
The tour artists generally arranged their sets around themes of politics, freedom, and courage. Multiple performers joined U2 for Little Steven's "Sun City", while the assembled multitude sang Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released" at the end. Bono sometimes joined The Police for the Troubles-flavored "Invisible Sun", while Fela and Santana joined the Neville Brothers as well. Some of the less rock-oriented acts lost crowd attention during the long Giants Stadium event (notably Joni Mitchell, who admonished the audience from the stage for their rowdy behavior during her set), although Baez was well received with a diverse set that included Fela and the Nevilles assisting on Tears for Fears' "Shout". (Curt Smith of Tears for Fears was in the audience at the Cow Palace show, and joined Baez and the Nevilles on that show's performance of this song.)
The tour benefited the careers of both Peter Gabriel and U2, who were on upswings of popularity and whose "Shock the Monkey" and "Bad" respectively showed percussive, hypnotic power in large settings. Sting was originally slated for the tour with his solo act, but he reconvened The Police for the final three concerts in order to receive top billing with U2. These were the last public Police performances until their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2003.
As with all such concerts, there was the question of how many attendees were hearing the message versus how many were just waiting for the next set to begin. A Philadelphia rock radio station sent an interviewer into the Giants Stadium concessions line, who seemed shocked to encounter an audience member who not only knew what Amnesty was but had already been a member.
"A Conspiracy of Hope Tour"