"De Tour," which was unlike any Bette Midler show before, hit the boards December 8th, 1982 in Portland, Oregon. Winning accolades from critics at practically all venues she played, the show became an ultimate success. After the disappointing letdowns of "Divine Madness" and "Jinxed," this was just the thing Bette needed to reinvent herself. The tour lasted over 7 months, broken into two legs, and made it's way all across the United States and parts of Canada. The act itself was full of new material, mostly songs from her upcoming album "No Frills," which she would release later that year. She introduced songs such as "Don't Look Down," "All I Need To Know," and a jaw-dropping version of the Rolling Stones', "Beast of Burden." Undoubtedly, she also brought back some of the fan favorites like "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," "The Rose," and her showstopper, "Stay With Me." Delores Delago, the toast from Chicago, also made a triumphant return. However, this time she was accompanied by her three sisters (the Delago Sisters) in their new extravaganza, "Disco Memories." Since Bette is always the first one to make fun of herself, there was even a segment devoted to the ill-fated film, "Jinxed." Although in this case, it was dubbed in Spanish and featured humorous subtitles. The show closed with a brightly constructed medley of the songs, "Favorite Waste Of Time," "Broken Bicycles," "Here Comes The Flood," and "Stay With Me." De Tour had a very artistic feeling to it, with lots of props, elaborate costumes and giant tits. It was also the first time that Bette - paraphrasing New York Times critic Stephen Holden - "successfully married rock and theatre into a cohesive whole." The show was pure exhilaration, and Bette and her voice were in top form! The tour came to a successful close in Minnesota, where the last two nights were filmed for the HBO special "Art Of Bust," which aired the following year.
