Cher in Concert

Take Me Home Tour

Residency / World tour by Cher
Poster for shows in Las Vegas
Associated album	Take Me Home
Start date	June 3, 1979 (1979-06-03)
End date	August 11, 1982 (1982-08-11)
No. of shows	302 in North America 5 in Europe 4 in South Africa 8 in Australia 319 total
Cher concert chronology
Two the Hard Way Tour (1977) Take Me Home Tour (1979–82) Heart of Stone Tour (1989–90)

The Take Me Home Tour ^[a] was the first solo concert tour by American singer-actress Cher. It premiered in June 1979 at the Sahara Reno Opera House Theatre in Reno, Nevada, featuring an elaborate production and cast assembled by Joe Layton. The tour, which concluded in August 1982, marked Cher's solo debut on the nightclub circuit.

Background

Running from June 1979 to August 1982, most performances of the Take Me Home Tour took place at the Circus Maximus Showroom at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Cher performed two shows nightly, at 9 p.m. and 12:30 a.m., seven days a week, ^[7] earning $300,000 weekly. ^[8] Although Cher took the show to other North American cities, as well as Europe, South Africa and Australia, the media often labeled it a Vegas residency, with shows in other cities marketed as Cher taking her "Vegas act" on the road. ^[9]

This residency phase shaped both public perception and Cher's own view of her career. Despite its financial success, she found the experience unfulfilling, describing a Vegas residency as an "elephant's graveyard" for fading stars. ^[10] She later commented, "I was making a fortune ... but I was dying inside. Everyone kept saying, 'Cher, there are people who would give anything to have standing room only at Caesars Palace. It would be the pinnacle of their careers.' And I kept thinking, 'Yes, I should be satisfied' ... But I wasn't." ^[11]

Cher during a Take Me Home Tour concert in 1981

The Press of Atlantic City called the show "the biggest cabaret act ever seen on any stage". ^[12] The tour spawned two television specials: Standing Room Only: Cher in Concert (1981) ^[13] and Cher... A Celebration at Caesars (1983), ^[14] with the latter earning her a CableACE Award for Best Actress in a Variety Program. ^[15] A concert from Monte Carlo was also taped and aired as the premiere episode of The Monte Carlo Show in September 1980.

Cher described the show as "a bit Sonny & Cher-ish", blending cabaret, disco and rock and roll. ^[16] With twelve costume changes, she never wore any outfit for more than eight minutes. Inspired by her television shows Cher , Cher... Special and Cher... and Other Fantasies , the concert featured three backing singers, six dancers and elaborate props, including a mechanical bull named El Toro and a giant high-heeled shoe.

The concert also included three drag performers impersonating Bette Midler, Cher and Diana Ross. During Cher's costume changes, Kenny Sacha (as Midler) performed "In the Mood", and J.C. Gaynor (as Ross) performed "I'm Coming Out". Audiences were often unaware they were impersonators until the end of the show, when Cher introduced them out of drag. She recalled, "We got Diana and Bette to record their voices in the intro but I didn't think it would fool them. I was never afraid to take risks like that." ^[17] After their performances, Cher regularly joined them for a rendition of "Friends". Russell Elliott opened the show as Cher. Maclean's journalist Elio Iannacci recognized Cher as "one of the first to bring drag to the masses". ^[17]

During 1980, Cher balanced her solo performances with her role as the lead vocalist of the rock band Black Rose, managing both commitments until the band parted ways after releasing their self-titled album.

Set list

June 1979 to February 1981

1. "Ain't Nobody's Business"
2. "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours"
3. "Fire" ^[18]
4. "Easy To Be Hard"
5. "The Way of Love"
6. "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (performed by J.C. Gaynor and Cher)
7. "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" (performed by Kenny Sacha)
8. "Friends" (performed by Sacha, Gaynor, and Cher)
9. "Jailhouse Rock" / "Dream Lover" / "Great Balls Of Fire"
10. "Rockin' Robin"
11. "Johnny B. Goode"
12. "Dedicated to the One I Love"
13. "Hand Jive" / "Honky Tonk Women" / "Old Time Rock and Roll"
14. "Take It to the Limit"
15. "Take Me Home"
16. "Takin' It to the Streets"
17. "Ain't Got No Money"

May 1981 to August 1982

1. "Could I Be Dreaming"
2. "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours"
3. "You Make My Dreams"
4. "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?"
5. "Those Shoes"
6. "Out Here On My Own"
7. "Take It to the Limit"
8. "I'm Coming Out" (performed by J.C. Gaynor)
9. "In the Mood" (performed by Kenny Sacha)
10. "Friends" (performed by Sacha, Gaynor and Cher)
11. "Lookin' for Love" (contains elements of "Devil Went Down to Georgia")
12. "When Will I Be Loved"
13. "More Than You Know"
14. "Fame"

Notes

• "Git Down (Guitar Groupie)" was performed at O'Keefe Centre on July 23, 1979.
• "My Song (Too Far Gone)" was performed at O'Keefe Centre from July 23 to 29, 1979.
• "Still The One" and "My Song (Too Far Gone)" were performed at the Universal Amphitheatre from July 31 to August 2, 1979. ^[19]
• "Whip It" and "Turning Japanese" were performed on select dates in 1981. ^{[20] [21] [22]}

Tour dates

1979

The 1979 leg of Cher's Take Me Home Tour had 83 dates.

Date [23]	City	Country	Venue	Opening acts	Ref.
June 3, 1979	Reno	United States	Sahara Reno Opera House Theatre	—	[24]
June 4, 1979
June 5, 1979
June 6, 1979
June 7, 1979
June 8, 1979
June 9, 1979
June 10, 1979
June 11, 1979
June 12, 1979
June 13, 1979
June 14, 1979
June 15, 1979
June 16, 1979
June 17, 1979
June 18, 1979
June 19, 1979
June 29, 1979	Las Vegas		Circus Maximus
July 9, 1979	Atlantic City		Resorts International Grand Ballroom
July 10, 1979
July 11, 1979
July 12, 1979
July 13, 1979
July 14, 1979
July 16, 1979	Washington, D.C.		Kennedy Center Opera House
July 17, 1979
July 18, 1979	Los Angeles		Universal Amphitheatre
July 19, 1979
July 21, 1979	Washington, D.C.		Kennedy Center Opera House
July 22, 1979
July 23, 1979	Toronto	Canada	O'Keefe Centre
July 24, 1979
July 25, 1979
July 26, 1979
July 27, 1979
July 28, 1979
July 29, 1979
July 31, 1979	Los Angeles	United States	Universal Amphitheatre	Sister Sledge	[19]
August 1, 1979
August 2, 1979
August 16, 1979	Las Vegas		Circus Maximus	—
August 17, 1979
August 18, 1979
August 19, 1979
August 20, 1979
August 21, 1979
August 22, 1979
August 23, 1979
August 24, 1979
August 25, 1979
August 26, 1979
August 27, 1979
August 28, 1979
August 29, 1979
August 31, 1979
October 29, 1979	Stateline		Sahara Tahoe
October 30, 1979
October 31, 1979
November 1, 1979
November 2, 1979
November 3, 1979
November 4, 1979
November 5, 1979
November 6, 1979
November 7, 1979
November 8, 1979
November 9, 1979
November 10, 1979
November 11, 1979
November 15, 1979	Las Vegas		Circus Maximus
November 16, 1979
November 17, 1979
November 18, 1979
November 19, 1979
November 20, 1979
November 21, 1979
November 22, 1979
November 23, 1979
November 24, 1979
November 25, 1979
November 26, 1979
November 27, 1979

1980

The tour's 1980 leg had 95 dates.

Date [25]	City	Country	Venue	Opening acts	Ref.
January 10, 1980	Las Vegas	United States	Circus Maximus	—
January 11, 1980
January 12, 1980
January 13, 1980
January 14, 1980
January 15, 1980
January 16, 1980
January 25, 1980	Stateline		Sahara Tahoe
January 26, 1980
January 27, 1980
February 1, 1980
February 2, 1980
February 3, 1980
April 3, 1980	Atlantic City		Resorts International
April 4, 1980
April 5, 1980
April 6, 1980	Las Vegas		Circus Maximus
April 7, 1980
April 8, 1980
April 9, 1980
April 10, 1980
April 11, 1980
April 12, 1980
April 13, 1980
April 14, 1980
April 15, 1980
April 16, 1980
May 10, 1980	Monte Carlo	Monaco	Salle des Étoiles
May 12, 1980	Paris	France	L'Olympia
May 14, 1980	London	England	Hammersmith Odeon
May 22, 1980	Las Vegas	United States	Circus Maximus
May 23, 1980
May 24, 1980
May 25, 1980
May 26, 1980
May 27, 1980
May 28, 1980
June 5, 1980
June 6, 1980
June 7, 1980
June 8, 1980
June 10, 1980
June 11, 1980
June 14, 1980	Atlantic City		Resorts International
June 15, 1980
June 16, 1980
June 17, 1980
June 18, 1980
June 19, 1980
July 3, 1980	Las Vegas		Circus Maximus
July 4, 1980
July 5, 1980
July 6, 1980
July 8, 1980
July 9, 1980
July 14, 1980	Atlantic City		Resorts International
July 15, 1980
July 16, 1980
July 17, 1980
July 18, 1980
July 19, 1980
July 20, 1980
August 28, 1980	Las Vegas		Circus Maximus
August 29, 1980
August 30, 1980
August 31, 1980
September 2, 1980	Stateline		Caesars Tahoe
September 3, 1980
September 11, 1980	Las Vegas		Circus Maximus
September 12, 1980
September 13, 1980
September 14, 1980
September 16, 1980
September 17, 1980
September 18, 1980
September 19, 1980
September 20, 1980
September 21, 1980
September 22, 1980
September 23, 1980
September 24, 1980
September 25, 1980	Stateline		Caesars Tahoe	[26]
September 26, 1980
September 27, 1980
September 28, 1980
September 29, 1980
September 30, 1980
October 1, 1980
October 2, 1980
November 6, 1980	Las Vegas		Circus Maximus
November 7, 1980
November 8, 1980
November 9, 1980
November 11, 1980
November 12, 1980

1981

The tour's 1981 leg had 100 dates.

Date [27]	City	Country	Venue	Opening acts	Ref.
January 22, 1981	Las Vegas	United States	Circus Maximus	—
January 23, 1981
January 24, 1981
January 25, 1981
January 27, 1981
January 28, 1981
February 5, 1981
February 6, 1981
February 7, 1981
February 8, 1981
February 9, 1981
February 10, 1981
February 11, 1981
May 28, 1981
May 29, 1981
May 30, 1981
May 31, 1981
June 1, 1981
June 2, 1981
June 3, 1981
June 5, 1981	Los Angeles		Greek Theatre	Martin Mull	[20]
June 6, 1981
June 7, 1981
June 8, 1981
June 18, 1981	Las Vegas		Circus Maximus	—	[28]
June 19, 1981
June 20, 1981
June 21, 1981
June 22, 1981
June 23, 1981
June 24, 1981
June 25, 1981
June 26, 1981
June 27, 1981
June 28, 1981
June 29, 1981
June 30, 1981
July 1, 1981
July 8, 1981
July 9, 1981
July 10, 1981
July 11, 1981
July 12, 1981
July 13, 1981
July 14, 1981
July 16, 1981	Stateline		Caesars Tahoe
July 17, 1981
July 18, 1981
July 19, 1981
July 20, 1981
July 21, 1981
July 22, 1981
July 31, 1981	Monte Carlo	Monaco	Salle des Étoiles
August 1, 1981
August 6, 1981	North West	South Africa	Sun City Hotel
August 7, 1981
August 8, 1981
August 9, 1981
August 17, 1981	Atlantic City	United States	Resorts International	Freddie Roman	[29] [30]
August 18, 1981
August 19, 1981
August 20, 1981
August 21, 1981
August 22, 1981
August 27, 1981	Las Vegas		Circus Maximus	—
August 28, 1981
August 29, 1981
August 30, 1981
August 31, 1981
September 1, 1981
September 2, 1981
September 10, 1981
September 11, 1981
September 12, 1981
September 13, 1981
September 14, 1981
September 15, 1981
September 16, 1981
October 22, 1981
October 23, 1981
October 24, 1981
October 25, 1981
October 26, 1981
October 27, 1981
October 28, 1981
November 12, 1981
November 13, 1981
November 14, 1981
November 15, 1981
November 16, 1981
November 17, 1981
November 18, 1981
November 25, 1981	Sydney	Australia	Capitol Theatre	Digger Revell and the Denvermen	[21]
November 26, 1981
November 27, 1981
November 28, 1981
November 30, 1981
December 4, 1981	Melbourne		Palais Theatre	—
December 5, 1981
December 6, 1981

1982

The tour's 1982 leg had 41 dates.

Date [31]	City	Country	Venue	Opening acts	Ref.
March 11, 1982	Las Vegas	United States	Circus Maximus	—
March 12, 1982
March 13, 1982
March 14, 1982
March 15, 1982
March 16, 1982
March 17, 1982
June 19, 1982
June 20, 1982
June 21, 1982
June 22, 1982
June 24, 1982
June 25, 1982
July 1, 1982
July 2, 1982
July 3, 1982
July 4, 1982
July 5, 1982
July 6, 1982
July 7, 1982
July 8, 1982
July 9, 1982
July 10, 1982
July 11, 1982
July 12, 1982
July 13, 1982
July 14, 1982
July 29, 1982
July 30, 1982
July 31, 1982
August 1, 1982
August 2, 1982
August 3, 1982
August 4, 1982
August 5, 1982
August 6, 1982
August 7, 1982
August 8, 1982
August 9, 1982
August 10, 1982
August 11, 1982

Cancelled shows

Date	City	Country	Venue	Reason	Ref.
July 1981	Montreal	Canada	Place des Arts	—
July 13, 1981	Hoffman Estates	United States	Poplar Creek Music Theater
July 14, 1981
September 4, 1981	Los Angeles		Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre
September 5, 1981

Broadcasts and recordings

• The Monte Carlo Show: Cher (20th Century Fox Television; aired September 14, 1980) ^{[32] [33] [34]}
• Standing Room Only: Cher in Concert (HBO; aired February 8, 1981) ^{[35] [36]}
• Cher... A Celebration at Caesars (Paramount / Showtime; aired April 21, 1983) ^[37]

Personnel

• Lead vocals: Cher
• Background vocals: Michelle Aller
• Background vocals: Warren Ham
• Background vocals: Petsye Powell
• Produced and Staged: Joe Layton
• Musical Director: Gary Scott
• Dancer: Wayne Bascomb
• Dancer: Damita Jo Freeman
• Dancer: Warren Lucas
• Dancer: Mykal Perea
• Dancer: Randy Wander

Impersonators

• Kenny Sacha as Bette Midler
• Russel Elliot as Cher (in the interlude)
• J.C. Gaynor as Diana Ross

Costumes

• Costumes Designed: Bob Mackie
• Wardrobe: Alan Trugman
• Wardrobe: Debbie Paull
• Wigs: Renata

Band

• Saxophone: Warren Ham
• Drums: Gary Ferguson
• Guitarist: Ron "Rocket" Ritchotte
• Ken Rarick
• Bob Parr

Notes

1. Cher's 1979–1982 concert series had no official name and was promoted under various titles, including "Cher", ^[1] "Cher in Concert", ^[2] "The Cher Show" ^[3] and "The Cher Tour". ^[4] Over time, it became known as the "Take Me Home Tour", a name adopted by Cher ^[5] and biographers. ^[6]

References

Citations

1. "June 16-22: Cher — Caesars Tahoe". Oakland Tribune . July 12, 1981. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
2. "Calendar". Republican Herald . June 30, 1979. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
3. Schall, Ted (August 21, 1981). "Center Stage". The Press of Atlantic City . Retrieved January 25, 2025.
4. "The Cher Tour has been cancelled indefinitely". The Plain Dealer . February 17, 1980. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
5. Cher 2024, p. 396.
6. Howard 2014, pp. 230–231.
7. Egan, Elisabeth (November 17, 2024). "Cher Can, and Does, Turn Back Time". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 17, 2024.
8. Berman 2001, p. 47.
9. Kreiswirth, Sandra (June 9, 1981). "Cher brings Las Vegas to L.A." Daily Breeze . Retrieved January 25, 2025.
10. Garcia, Thania (April 2, 2024). "Meryl Streep Praises Cher's 'Open, Battered, Giant Heart,' Beyoncé Talks 'Cowboy Carter' at iHeartRadio Music Awards". Variety . Archived from the original on April 9, 2024. Retrieved December 20, 2024.
11. Wheway, Daniel (June 15, 2018). "The Cher Bible, Vol. 1: Essentials 2018 Edition".
12. Spatz, David J. (August 7, 1981). "Cher May Give Her Regards ... to Broadway". The Press of Atlantic City . Retrieved January 25, 2025.
13. "TimeOut: Specials". North Adams Transcript . February 6, 1981. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
14. "Picks and Pans Review: Cher... A Celebration at Caesars". People . April 4, 1983. Archived from the original on December 26, 2016.
15. "Sinatra, Cher win cable-TV awards". Democrat and Chronicle . United Press International. December 13, 1983. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
16. "Cher brings her act to town". The Age. 1981-11-24.
17. Iannacci, Elio (September 8, 2013). "Cher on the art of the comeback". Maclean's . Archived from the original on June 20, 2020.
18. Cher singing "Fire" in her 1980 concert in Monte-Carto: Video on YouTube
19. "Billboard Newspaper, August 18, 1979" (PDF). Retrieved 2023-01-28.
20. Kreiswirth, Sandra (June 9, 1981). "Cher brings Las Vegas to L.A." Daily Breeze . Retrieved January 25, 2025.
21. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sydney-morning-herald-where-were-yo/163926508/
22. https://www.newspapers.com/article/sunday-news-costumes-dont-make-the-wom/163928174/
23. "Search for setlists: Cher". Setlist.fm.
24. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-union-hey-whats-going-on-cher/163909679/
25. "Search for setlists: Cher". Setlist.fm.
26. https://www.newspapers.com/article/reno-gazette-journal-caesars-tahoe-ente/163917107/
27. "Search for setlists: Cher". Setlist.fm.
28. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-las-vegas-show-sch/163929533/
29. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-morning-news-frenzied-show-is-just/163927856/
30. "Cher : Center Stage". Pressofatlanticcity.newsbank.com. Retrieved 2023-05-21.
31. "Search for setlists: Cher". Setlist.fm.
32. "Cher.com: The Official Community : 1977 - 1979". Tapatalk.com. Retrieved 2023-05-21.
33. "The Monte Carlo Show 1980". Archived from the original on 2011-10-01. Retrieved 2011-01-03.
34. ""The titillating tigress of talent, Cher, will take the spotlight of the first episode of The Monte Carlo Show. Hosted by Patrick Wayne, the new star-studded variety series debuts over syndicate television the week of September 14."". Gettyimages.com.br. Retrieved 2023-05-21.
35. "STANDING ROOM ONLY CHER IN CONERT, Cher, aired February 8, 1981, HBO courtesy Everett Collection HBO Cou". Imago-images.com. January 1980.
36. "The Minneapolis Star from Minneapolis, Minnesota on February 12, 1981". Startribune.newspapers.com. p. 113.
37. "Picks and Pans Review: Cher ... a Celebration at Caesars". People. April 4, 1983. Archived from the original on December 26, 2016. Retrieved March 9, 2016.

Literary sources

• Berman, Connie (2001). Cher. Infobase Publishing. ISBN   978-0-7910-5907-4.
• Cher (2024). Cher: The Memoir, Part One . HarperCollins. ISBN   9780062863102.
• Howard, Josiah (2014). Cher: Strong Enough. Plexus Publishing. ISBN   978-0-85965-897-3.