The Bridge Tour Explained

Concert Tour Name:	The Bridge Tour
Album:	The Bridge
Artist:	Billy Joel
Location:	North America • Europe • Oceania • Asia
Start Date:	September 29, 1986
End Date:	November 28, 1987
Number Of Legs:	5
Number Of Shows:	151
Last Tour:	An Innocent Man Tour (1984)
This Tour:	The Bridge Tour (1986–87)
Next Tour:	Storm Front Tour (1989–91)

The Bridge Tour was a 1986–1987 concert tour by singer-songwriter Billy Joel. This tour was the first tour by Joel in over two years, during which he married Christie Brinkley, had his daughter Alexa Ray Joel, and written and recorded The Bridge album.

Background

Following a performance on Late Night with David Letterman,^[1] the tour began on September 29, 1986, in Glens Falls, New York^[2] and ended on August 5, 1987, with the last of six shows across the Soviet Union in Leningrad.^[3]

The tour continued on October 17 under a new name ("The Encore Australasian Tour")^[4] and returned across Australia and in New Zealand. The tour officially ended on November 28, 1987, in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Tour dates

Date	City	Country	Venue
North America Leg
September 29, 1986		United States	Glens Falls Civic Center
October 2, 1986			Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
October 4, 1986			Providence Civic Center
October 7, 1986			The Spectrum
October 8, 1986
October 10, 1986			Capital Centre
October 13, 1986	Philadelphia		The Spectrum
October 15, 1986			Madison Square Garden
October 17, 1986
October 18, 1986
October 21, 1986	Worcester		The Centrum
October 22, 1986
October 24, 1986			New Haven Coliseum
October 25, 1986
October 26, 1986			Richfield Coliseum
October 27, 1986			Civic Arena
October 29, 1986	Richfield		Richfield Coliseum
October 31, 1986			Rosemont Horizon
November 1, 1986
November 3, 1986
November 5, 1986			Omaha Civic Auditorium
November 7, 1986	Detroit		Joe Louis Arena
November 8, 1986
November 14, 1986			Marriott Center
November 15, 1986			McNichols Sports Arena
November 18, 1986			Tucson Convention Center
November 19, 1986			ASU Activity Center
November 21, 1986			San Diego Sports Arena
November 22, 1986			The Forum
November 24, 1986			Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena
November 26, 1986			Sacramento Sports Arena
November 28, 1986		Canada	Pacific Coliseum
December 1, 1986		United States	Portland Memorial Coliseum
December 2, 1986			Tacoma Dome
December 5, 1986		Canada	Northlands Coliseum
December 6, 1986			Olympic Saddledome
December 8, 1986			Winnipeg Arena
December 11, 1986			Maple Leaf Gardens
December 13, 1986			Ottawa Civic Centre
December 14, 1986			Montreal Forum
December 18, 1986		United States	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
December 19, 1986
December 21, 1986
December 22, 1986
January 7, 1987	Philadelphia		The Spectrum
January 8, 1987
January 11, 1987	Richfield		Richfield Coliseum
January 12, 1987
January 15, 1987	Pittsburgh		Civic Arena
January 16, 1987	Buffalo		Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
January 19, 1987	Worcester		The Centrum
January 20, 1987
January 24, 1987	Philadelphia		The Spectrum
January 26, 1987	Landover		Capital Centre
January 30, 1987	Portland		Cumberland County Civic Center
February 1, 1987	Providence		Providence Civic Center
February 2, 1987	Hartford		Hartford Civic Center
February 5, 1987	Ann Arbor		Crisler Arena
February 6, 1987			Freedom Hall
February 8, 1987			Market Square Arena
February 10, 1987			Riverfront Coliseum
February 12, 1987			St. Louis Arena
February 13, 1987			Kemper Arena
February 15, 1987			Hilton Coliseum
February 23, 1987			Hollywood Sportatorium
February 24, 1987
February 27, 1987			USF Sun Dome
February 28, 1987
March 2, 1987
March 4, 1987	Pembroke Pines		Hollywood Sportatorium
March 7, 1987			Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Coliseum
March 11, 1987			Mid-South Coliseum
March 13, 1987			UTC Arena
March 15, 1987			Murphy Center
March 16, 1987			Carolina Coliseum
March 19, 1987			Hampton Coliseum
March 20, 1987			Omni Coliseum
March 21, 1987
March 22, 1987
March 24, 1987			Jacksonville Coliseum
March 26, 1987			Charlotte Coliseum
March 27, 1987			Dean Smith Center
March 30, 1987	Hartford		Hartford Civic Center
April 2, 1987	Indianapolis		Market Square Arena
April 9, 1987			Lawlor Events Center
April 11, 1987			Thomas & Mack Center
April 13, 1987			Long Beach Arena
April 16, 1987			The Summit
April 17, 1987			Reunion Arena
April 18, 1987			Cajundome
April 22, 1987			Frank Erwin Center
April 24, 1987	St. Louis		St. Louis Arena
April 25, 1987			Carver–Hawkeye Arena
April 27, 1987			Centennial Hall
May 1, 1987	East Rutherford		Brendan Byrne Arena
May 2, 1987
May 4, 1987
May 6, 1987
May 8, 1987
May 9, 1987
Oceania
May 18, 1987	Brisbane	Australia	Brisbane Entertainment Centre
May 21, 1987	Sydney		Sydney Entertainment Centre
May 22, 1987
May 25, 1987
May 26, 1987
May 29, 1987
May 30, 1987
June 1, 1987	Melbourne		Sports and Entertainment Centre
June 2, 1987
Asia
June 8, 1987	Tokyo	Japan	Yoyogi National Gymnasium
June 10, 1987
June 12, 1987	Osaka		Osaka-jō Hall
June 13, 1987
June 16, 1987	Tokyo		Yoyogi National Gymnasium
June 18, 1987
June 19, 1987
Europe
July 5, 1987	Birmingham	England	National Exhibition Centre
July 6, 1987
July 9, 1987	London		Wembley Arena
July 11, 1987
July 12, 1987
July 15, 1987
July 16, 1987
July 26, 1987	Moscow	Russia	Olimpiyskiy
July 27, 1987
July 29, 1987
August 2, 1987	Leningrad		SKK Arena
August 3, 1987
August 5, 1987
"The Encore Australasian Tour"
October 12, 1987		United States	Aloha Stadium
October 17, 1987	Adelaide	Australia	Thebarton Oval
October 19, 1987	Sydney		Sydney Entertainment Centre
October 21, 1987
October 22, 1987
October 25, 1987
October 26, 1987
October 28, 1987
October 30, 1987	Melbourne		Kooyong Stadium
October 31, 1987
November 3, 1987	Perth		Perth Entertainment Centre
November 4, 1987
November 6, 1987
November 9, 1987	Melbourne		Kooyong Stadium
November 10, 1987
November 12, 1987
November 13, 1987
November 16, 1987	Brisbane		Brisbane Entertainment Centre
November 17, 1987
November 22, 1987	Auckland	New Zealand	Mount Smart Stadium
November 25, 1987			Athletic Park
November 28, 1987			Lancaster Park

Personnel

• Billy Joel – lead vocals, piano, keyboards, harmonica, rhythm guitar (only on "A Matter of Trust")
• Mark Rivera – saxophone, flute, clarinet, vocals, percussion, keyboards, rhythm guitar
• Doug Stegmeyer – bass guitar, vocals
• David Brown – lead guitar, vocals (North American leg only)
• Kevin Dukes – lead guitar, vocals (both Oceanian legs and European leg)
• Russell Javors – rhythm guitar, vocals
• David Lebolt – keyboards
• Liberty DeVitto – drums, percussion
• Peter Hewlett – percussion, backing vocals
• George Simms – percussion, backing vocals

Notes and References

1. Web site: Billy Joel on David Letterman 1986 . en . October 24, 2023. YouTube.
2. Web site: Billy Joel: Live in Glen Falls, NY (September 29, 1986) . en . October 24, 2023. YouTube.
3. Web site: Graff . Gary . 26 July 2022 . 35 Years Ago: Billy Joel Makes History With Soviet Union Shows . 27 January 2024 . Ultimate Classic Rock . en.
4. https://www.setlist.fm/search?artist=7bd6be40&query=tour:%28The+Encore+Australasian+Tour+1987%29