Initially, Wakeman wanted to perform the album on the Spanish island of Tenerife, as close to Mount Teide as possible, with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife, but the difficulties in performing around such an ecological area led to the idea being scrapped. Material from Return to the Centre of the Earth was performed live for the first time as part of Wakeman's 25-date Half a Century Tour, playing a selection of material across his career in churches and cathedrals across the United Kingdom from May 1999. A tour of the album, complete with a stage set designed by Dean, was shelved.