Start date October 31, 1988 | End date February 17, 1990 | |
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The New Jersey Syndicate Tour, Jersey Syndicate Tour, New Jersey Syndicate Brotherhood Tour, or New Jersey Tour, was a concert tour by American hard rock band Bon Jovi that ran from 1988 to 1990. The massive, highly successful world tour was put on in support of the band's 1988 album New Jersey.
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Bon jovi bad medicine shout live at the spectrum philadelphia 1989 new jersey syndicate tour
Background
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 Jersey Syndicate Tour featured vivid pyrotechnics, a catwalk elevated above the crowd (which was for Cameramen filming MN Northstars Hockey at the Met Center in Bloomington,MN where the current Mall of America now stands), and Jon entering the stage through a hole in the stage. 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.
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 7800° Fahrenheit were performed except for three performances of “Silent Night”. With the exception of “Runaway”, which is still played regularly to this day, virtually nothing from those albums has been performed since the New Jersey Syndicate Tour’s conclusion.
Setlist
Tour footage used in music videos
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.
The band also headlined the Moscow Music Peace Festival during this time.