The Runaways Live

The second North American tour was organized to promote the recently released Queens Of Noise album. During this tour, the band's stage presentation evolved with the introduction of new stage outfits, while the set lists shifted their focus toward material from the new album.

Concerts typically opened with Queens Of Noise, followed by California Paradise. The encore varied from night to night, but songs such as C'mon, I Love Playin' With Fire, and Cherry Bomb were regular choices. Unlike the previous tour, Johnny Guitar was sung by Cherie Currie instead of Lita Ford, as Cherie no longer needed time to change outfits before the encore. Dead End Justice was dropped from the set list during this tour.

Guest appearances

From April 20th to April 23rd, Joan Jett made guest appearances at the Whisky A Go Go in Los Angeles, performing alongside Blondie, Deaf School, Rodney Bingenheimer, and Tony and Hunt Sales, who were then members of Iggy Pop's backing band. She played guitar on Anarchy In The U.K. and I Wanna Be Your Dog.

The Japan tour became the most famous tour of The Runaways' career. Although only six concerts were scheduled, every show sold out quickly. At the time, The Runaways were the fourth most popular international act in Japan, behind ABBA, Kiss, and Led Zeppelin, resulting in an extensive promotional campaign throughout the country.

Toward the end of the tour, Jackie Fox decided to leave the band following the incident in which her bass guitar was broken. Cherie Currie left shortly after the band's return to the United States. As a result, these concerts marked the final performances by the band's classic five-member lineup.

Barbi Benton was originally scheduled to appear as the opening act for most of the tour, but her visit to Japan was cancelled shortly before the first concert. Consequently, she did not perform with The Runaways at any of the shows, despite being advertised on concert tickets and promotional flyers.

Live In Japan

Several concerts were professionally recorded for the live album Live In Japan. More information about the individual recordings and the songs selected for the album can be found in the Live In Japan analysis.

Supporting Alice Cooper

Shortly after returning from Japan, The Runaways were scheduled to support Alice Cooper at three concerts during the Canadian leg of his King Of The Silver Screen tour. However, the band's appearances were cancelled after Lita Ford suffered an injury following the final performance at The 6th Tokyo Music Festival. She fell down a flight of stairs at Nippon Budokan and had to be hospitalized.

July 1977 brought significant changes to The Runaways. Joan Jett took over lead vocals following Cherie Currie's departure, while Vicki Blue joined the band as the new bassist. After spending four weeks rehearsing and preparing new material, the band embarked on a short tour of California. Although Waitin' For The Night had already been recorded, the album had not yet been released. Nevertheless, several of its songs were already being performed live.

Despite featuring concerts exclusively in California, the tour was officially promoted as a “World Tour” - a title that was even used during the band's onstage introduction before each show. Concerts typically opened with Queens Of Noise, followed by either California Paradise or Take It Or Leave It. Only two or three songs from Waitin' For The Night were included in the set list, while the remainder came from the band's first two studio albums. Encore performances usually featured songs from the debut album, along with C'mon.

On October 1st, 1977, Waitin' For The Night was officially released in the United States.

Following the U.S. release of Waitin' For The Night, The Runaways embarked on an extensive European tour named after their successful European single. Although the album had not yet been released in Europe, the band had remained highly popular there since their first European tour in 1976, and fans eagerly awaited the opportunity to see The Runaways perform live once again with their new lineup.

Unlike the U.S. shows, the European set lists were significantly revised to feature more material from Waitin' For The Night. Concerts typically opened with Wasted, Take It Or Leave It, and Blackmail. The encores remained largely unchanged from the U.S. tour, usually featuring songs from the band's debut album, such as Cherry Bomb and American Nights, along with C’mon.

In December 1977, The Runaways performed a series of concerts in Los Angeles before embarking on their next North American tour, which was scheduled to begin in January 1978. These performances took place at several well-known local clubs and served to promote the band's latest studio album, Waitin' For The Night.