New Jersey Syndicate Tour


The Jersey Syndicate Tour was the fourth concert tour by American band Bon Jovi, that ran from 1988 to 1990. The massive, highly successful world tour was put on in support of the band's fourth studio album New Jersey.

Background

Bon Jovi made history in becoming one of the first North American bands to play Russia, with two performances there at the Moscow Music Peace Festival on August 12–13, 1989.
The tour was very grueling and exhausting and led to the band's hiatus at the tour's conclusion. Bon Jovi had toured heavily since 1984 and the tour put pressures on the band's relationships with each other and their families, on their health, and their emotions. The tour was often noted for its extended musical performances of songs, which would often run twice the length of the album track as well as raw emotional vocal performances by Jon Bon Jovi. Jon had to enlist the help of a vocal coach to help sustain his voice and lead guitarist Richie Sambora would often help out more on the high notes. The band would also perform some of their songs in acoustic format, signaling a change in musical style and maturation of the band.
The concert performances on the tour featured vivid pyrotechnics, a catwalk elevated above the crowd, and an elevator in the middle of the stage that allowed Jon to seemingly materialize out of nowhere during a pyro blast. Prior to the band taking the stage Emerson Lake & Palmer's Karn Evil 9 First Impression Part Two was played at full volume over the PA. The concerts also required extensive security due to the band's iconic status as major rock stars of the time.
In addition, Bon Jovi shot the music videos for "Lay Your Hands on Me", "I'll Be There for You", and "Blood on Blood" during performances on the tour, and recorded footage for their video releases Access All Areas and New Jersey: The Videos on this tour.
This was the last tour by the band to feature a notable amount of material from their first two albums. After the band hit it big with the album Slippery When Wet, they began to phase their pre-stardom material out of their live sets because according to interviews it did not match the standards set by the material on their later releases. Even on this tour only "Runaway" and "Get Ready" from Bon Jovi and "Tokyo Road" from were performed except for one performance of "Silent Night" at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1990.
With the exception of "Runaway", which is still played regularly to this day, virtually nothing from those albums has been performed since the tour's conclusion.

Opening acts

  • Lita Ford
  • Dan Reed Network
  • Skid Row
  • Roxus
  • Scorpions
  • Cinderella
  • Billy Squier
  • Sam Kinison
  • Bad Company
  • BulletBoys
  • Winger
  • Icon
  • Johnny Diesel and the Injectors
  • Noiseworks
  • Knights Blade

    Setlist

The following setlist was obtained from the concert held on March 15, 1989, at the Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. It does not represent all concerts for the duration of the tour.
  1. "Lay Your Hands on Me"
  2. "I'd Die for You"
  3. "Wild in the Streets"
  4. "You Give Love a Bad Name"
  5. "Tokyo Road"
  6. "Born to Be My Baby"
  7. "Let It Rock"
  8. "I'll Be There for You"
  9. "Blood on Blood"
  10. "Runaway"
  11. "Livin' on a Prayer"
  12. "Living in Sin"
  13. "Travelin' Band"
  14. "Ride Cowboy Ride"
  15. "Wanted Dead or Alive"
  16. "Bad Medicine"
  17. "Shout"
  18. "Never Say Goodbye"

    Tour dates

;Festivals and other miscellaneous performances
;Cancellations and rescheduled shows