George Harrison live: Oakland Arena, Oakland

The fifth date of George Harrison and Ravi Shankar’s 1974 North American tour took place at the Oakland Arena in Oakland, California, USA, on 8 November 1974.

There were two shows on this date, in the afternoon and evening.

The 30-date tour was to promote Harrison’s Dark Horse album and Dark Horse Records label, and took in 45 concerts in 26 cities. It was the first North American tour by a former Beatle, and Harrison’s first live performance since the Concert for Bangladesh in August 1971.

Harrison’s 6pm Oakland show was a bona fide high but not quite a knockout. The star’s voice was noticeably raspy, the band was superb. The most admirable trait of the show was its pacing, with energy constantly being built and relaxed. Harrison’s band opened with a zingy and classically melodic instrumental, ‘Hari’s On Tour’, that was a touchstone of the Harrison style. The Shankar segment of the show was a genuine bauble of musical curiosity. Preston did in fact steal the show when he did ‘Nothing From Nothing’, but it was an ego-less steal and it is to Harrison’s credit that he gave him his head so totally… There are potential troubles that could plague this tour. Harrison’s presence is not so strong as might be anticipated, given that it is an ex-Beatle up there.

Harrison’s band included Billy Preston on vocals, keyboards, organ, and clavinet; Robben Ford on guitars and vocals; Tom Scott and Jim Horn on saxophone and flute; Chuck Findley on trumpet and flute; Willie Weeks on bass guitar; Andy Newmark on drums; Emil Richards on marimba and percussion; and Kumar Shankar on percussion and vocals. Jim Keltner joined the tour midway through on 27 November.

Ravi Shankar’s orchestra featured Shankar on sitar; Lakshmi Shankar on vocals and swarmandal; Alla Rakha on tabla; TV Gopalkrishnan on vocals, mridangam, and khanjira; Hariprasad Chaurasia on bansuri; Shivkumar Sharma on santoor and vocals; Kartick Kumar on sitar; Sultan Khan on sarangi; Gopal Krishan on vichitra veena and vocals; L Subramaniam on South Indian violin; Satyadev Pawar on North Indian violin; Rijram Desad on pakavaj, dholki, nagada, huduk, and duff; Kamalesh Maitra on tabla tarang, duggi tarang, and madal tarang; Harihar Rao on kartal, manjira, dholak, gubgubbi, and vocals; and Viji Shankar on tambura and vocals.

Concert setlist

• ‘Hari’s On Tour (Express)’
• ‘Something’
• ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’
• ‘Will It Go Round In Circles’ (Billy Preston)
• ‘Sue Me, Sue You Blues’
• ‘Zoom Zoom Zoom’ (Ravi Shankar)
• ‘Jai Sri Kalij’ (Ravi Shankar)
• ‘Na Na Dahni’ (Ravi Shankar)
• ‘Cheparte’ (Ravi Shankar)
• ‘Anurag’ (Ravi Shankar)
• ‘I Am Missing You’ (Ravi Shankar)
• ‘For You Blue’
• ‘Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)’
• ‘Sound Stage Of Mind’
• ‘In My Life’
• ‘Tom Cat’ (Tom Scott and LA Express)
• ‘Māya Love’
• ‘Nothing From Nothing’ (Billy Preston)
• ‘Dark Horse’
• ‘Outa-Space’ (Billy Preston)
• ‘What Is Life’
• ‘My Sweet Lord’

Dark Horse Tour dates

• 2 November 1974: Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver, Canada
• 4 November 1974: Seattle Center Coliseum, Seattle
• 6 November 1974: Cow Palace, Daly City
• 7 November 1974: Cow Palace, Daly City
• 8 November 1974: County Coliseum Arena, Oakland
• 10 November 1974: Long Beach Arena, Long Beach
• 11 November 1974: The Forum, Inglewood
• 12 November 1974: The Forum, Inglewood
• 14 November 1974: Tucson Community Center, Tucson
• 16 November 1974: Salt Palace, Salt Lake City
• 18 November 1974: Denver Coliseum, Denver
• 20 November 1974: St Louis Arena, St Louis
• 21 November 1974: Tulsa Assembly Center, Tulsa
• 22 November 1974: Convention Center, Fort Worth
• 24 November 1974: Hofheinz Pavilion, Houston
• 26 November 1974: LSU Assembly Center, Baton Rouge
• 27 November 1974: Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis
• 28 November 1974: Omni Coliseum, Atlanta
• 30 November 1974: Chicago Stadium, Chicago
• 4 December 1974: Olympia Stadium, Detroit
• 6 December 1974: Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto
• 8 December 1974: Forum, Montreal
• 10 December 1974: Boston Garden, Boston
• 11 December 1974: Providence Civic Center, Providence
• 13 December 1974: Capital Centre, Landover
• 15 December 1974: Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale
• 16 December 1974: Spectrum, Philadelphia
• 17 December 1974: Spectrum, Philadelphia
• 19 December 1974: Madison Square Garden, New York City
• 20 December 1974: Madison Square Garden, New York City