The naming of a Tour is of paramount importance. It sets the whole tone for all that follows, for the themes that the Tour Book will explore, for whatever is on my mind of late. For one’s Final Tour, it becomes even more significant. This is how things will be remembered. The Final Chapter. The Last Hurrah. The Grand Finale.
The list of previous tours is evidence that the name is critical in conveying what will be examined and celebrated. Sometimes they are simple and straightforward, other times they are multi-layered and imbued with deeper symbolism and double-implications. All of them have meant something intensely personal to me, and hopefully to some of you:
- Chameleon in Motion: The Friendship Tour – 1995
- The Magical Mystery Tour: Master of Manipulation – 1996
- The Royal Rainbow World Tour: Alan Is King! – 1997 (and oh how I regret that last part, with an exclamation point no less)
- The Talented Trickster Tour: Reflections of a Floating World – 2003
- The Divine Diva Tour: A Fairy’s Tale – 2005/2006
- A 21st Century Renaissance: The Resurrection Tour – 2010
This time around, with the albatross of history languidly chugging alongside the desire for an unbound future, I wanted to do something that acknowledged the big reveal of this tour. It deconstructs all that came before, while simultaneously playing up the very notion it sets out to destroy.
In the end it could only come down to this:
The Delusional Grandeur Tour: Last Stand of a Rock Star
Make of it what you will…
And get ready to rock…
One Last Time.
I don’t want to be alone, that’s all in the past.
This world’s waited long enough, I’ve come home at last.
~ Norma Desmond
