The Storm Front Tour was a 1989–1991 concert tour by singer-songwriter Billy Joel. This tour was the first tour by Joel in two years.
Background The recording of the album, which commenced in 1988, coincided with major changes in Joel's career and inaugurated a period of serious upheaval in his business affairs. In August 1989, just before the Storm Front album was released, Joel dismissed his manager (and former brother-in-law) Frank Weber after an audit revealed major discrepancies in Weber's accounting. Joel subsequently sued Weber for US$90 million, claiming fraud and breach of fiduciary duty. Because of this, Joel was in a huge financial gap, and to make the money back Joel toured extensively for a year and a half.
The album's producer Mick Jones gave Joel the idea of using different musicians on the album. Because of this, this tour marked a lot of changes with the band. Gone were Doug Stegmeyer on bass guitar, Russell Javors on rhythm guitar, David Lebolt on keyboards, and Peter Hewlett and George Simms on backing vocals. They were replaced by Schuyler Deale on bass guitar, Mindy Jostyn on violin and guitar (who was replaced with Tommy Byrnes on rhythm guitar partway through the tour), Jeff Jacobs on keyboards and Crystal Taliefero on percussion, saxophone, and guitar.
Following a rehearsal gig at the Suffolk County Police Academy in Westhampton, New York on December 2, 1989, the tour kicked off in Worcester, Massachusetts on December 6, 1989, and ended in Mexico City, Mexico on March 24, 1991.
The two concerts at Yankee Stadium on June 22 and 23, 1990 were professionally filmed for the video special Billy Joel: Live at Yankee Stadium, which was aired on television followed by a release on VHS in late 1990 and given a limited theatrical re-release in October 2022.
Tour dates
DateCityCountryVenueNorth America December 2, 1989 Westhampton United States Suffolk County Police AcademyDecember 6, 1989 Worcester The CentrumDecember 8, 1989December 9, 1989December 12, 1989December 13, 1989December 17, 1989 Philadelphia The SpectrumDecember 18, 1989December 21, 1989 Uniondale Nassau Veterans Memorial ColiseumDecember 22, 1989December 27, 1989December 29, 1989December 31, 1989January 2, 1990 Hartford Hartford Civic CenterJanuary 4, 1990January 5, 1990January 8, 1990January 10, 1990 Landover Capital CentreJanuary 11, 1990January 14, 1990 Philadelphia The SpectrumJanuary 15, 1990January 29, 1990January 30, 1990February 2, 1990 Syracuse Carrier DomeFebruary 3, 1990February 6, 1990 Toronto Canada Maple Leaf GardensFebruary 8, 1990Auburn Hills United States The Palace of Auburn HillsFebruary 9, 1990February 12, 1990 Rosemont Rosemont HorizonFebruary 13, 1990February 16, 1990 Lexington Rupp ArenaFebruary 18, 1990 Indianapolis Market Square ArenaFebruary 19, 1990February 22, 1990Auburn Hills The Palace of Auburn HillsFebruary 23, 1990February 26, 1990 Richfield Richfield ColiseumMarch 2, 1990 Charlotte Charlotte ColiseumMarch 3, 1990 Landover Capital CentreMarch 6, 1990 St. Petersburg Florida Suncoast DomeMarch 8, 1990 Miami Miami ArenaMarch 9, 1990March 12, 1990March 13, 1990March 16, 1990March 17, 1990March 31, 1990 Los Angeles Los Angeles Memorial Sports ArenaApril 2, 1990April 3, 1990April 6, 1990April 8, 1990April 9, 1990 Oakland Oakland–Alameda County ColiseumApril 13, 1990April 15, 1990 Tacoma Tacoma DomeApril 17, 1990 Oakland Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum ArenaApril 21, 1990 Denver McNichols Sports ArenaApril 23, 1990 Rosemont Rosemont HorizonApril 24, 1990EuropeMay 5, 1990 Cologne Germany SporthalleMay 7, 1990 Frankfurt FesthalleMay 9, 1990 Munich OlympiahalleMay 11, 1990 Milan Italy PalaTrussardiMay 15, 1990 Hamburg Germany Alsterdorfer SporthalleMay 17, 1990 Rotterdam Netherlands AhoyMay 19, 1990 Copenhagen Denmark Valby-HallenMay 21, 1990 London England Wembley ArenaMay 22, 1990May 25, 1990May 26, 1990May 29, 1990May 30, 1990June 2, 1990 Dublin Ireland RDS ArenaNorth AmericaJune 17, 1990 Burgettstown United States Coca-Cola Star Lake AmphitheaterJune 18, 1990June 19, 1990 East Rutherford Giants StadiumJune 22, 1990 The Bronx Yankee StadiumJune 23, 1990June 27, 1990 Providence Providence Civic CenterJune 29, 1990June 30, 1990July 3, 1990 Atlanta Omni ColiseumJuly 5, 1990July 7, 1990 Orlando Orlando ArenaJuly 8, 1990July 11, 1990 Greensboro Greensboro ColiseumJuly 13, 1990 Landover Capital CentreJuly 15, 1990July 17, 1990 Richfield Richfield ColiseumJuly 21, 1990 Cincinnati Riverfront ColiseumJuly 23, 1990 St. Louis St. Louis ArenaJuly 24, 1990August 2, 1990 Calgary Canada Olympic SaddledomeAugust 5, 1990 Vancouver Pacific ColiseumAugust 6, 1990 Portland United States Portland Memorial ColiseumAugust 9, 1990 Winnipeg Canada Winnipeg ArenaAugust 11, 1990 East Troy United States Alpine Valley Music TheatreAugust 12, 1990 Cincinnati Riverfront ColiseumAugust 15, 1990 Hershey Hersheypark StadiumAugust 18, 1990 East Rutherford Giants Stadium August 19, 1990August 22, 1990 Montreal Canada Montreal ForumAugust 23, 1990 Hamilton Copps ColiseumAugust 29, 1990 Wantagh United States Jones Beach TheaterSeptember 4, 1990September 5, 1990EuropeSeptember 28, 1990 Dortmund Germany WestfalenhallenSeptember 29, 1990 Berlin WaldbühneOctober 4, 1990 Hanover Messehalle October 5, 1990 Stuttgart Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-HalleOctober 8, 1990 Brussels Belgium Forest NationalOctober 10, 1990 Birmingham England NEC ArenaOctober 11, 1990October 13, 1990 Rotterdam Netherlands AhoyOctober 16, 1990 Frankfurt Germany Festhalle October 17, 1990 Zürich Switzerland HallenstadionOctober 20, 1990 Linz Austria Sporthalle October 25, 1990 Rome Italy Palazzo dello SportNorth AmericaNovember 7, 1990 San Diego United States San Diego Sports ArenaNovember 9, 1990 Phoenix Desert Sky PavilionNovember 11, 1990 Salt Lake City Salt PalaceNovember 13, 1990 Minneapolis Target CenterNovember 15, 1990November 16, 1990November 19, 1990November 21, 1990 Kansas City Kemper ArenaNovember 23, 1990 Houston The SummitNovember 25, 1990 Dallas Reunion ArenaNovember 27, 1990 Austin Frank Erwin CenterNovember 28, 1990 Houston The Summit December 1, 1990 Ames Hilton ColiseumDecember 2, 1990December 6, 1990 Indianapolis Market Square ArenaDecember 8, 1990 Buffalo Buffalo Memorial AuditoriumDecember 9, 1990 Albany Knickerbocker ArenaDecember 12, 1990 Pittsburgh Civic ArenaDecember 13, 1990 Buffalo Buffalo Memorial AuditoriumDecember 16, 1990 Albany Knickerbocker ArenaDecember 17, 1990December 18, 1990AsiaJanuary 2, 1991 Tokyo Japan Tokyo DomeJanuary 3, 1991January 6, 1991 Osaka Osaka-jō HallJanuary 7, 1991January 10, 1991 Yokohama Yokohama Arena January 12, 1991 Nagoya Rainbow Hall January 13, 1991 Osaka Osaka-jō HallJanuary 15, 1991 Zambales Philippines Naval Base Subic BayJanuary 16, 1991 Luzon Clark Air BaseOceaniaJanuary 22, 1991 Sydney Australia Sydney Entertainment CentreJanuary 23, 1991January 26, 1991January 27, 1991January 30, 1991February 1, 1991February 2, 1991February 6, 1991 Brisbane Brisbane Entertainment CentreFebruary 8, 1991February 9, 1991February 12, 1991 Adelaide Memorial Drive ParkFebruary 16, 1991 Perth Subiaco OvalFebruary 20, 1991 Melbourne National Tennis CentreFebruary 21, 1991February 24, 1991February 25, 1991February 28, 1991March 2, 1991 Sydney Sydney Entertainment CentreMarch 4, 1991March 5, 1991March 10, 1991North AmericaMarch 19, 1991 Mexico City Mexico Palacio de los DeportesMarch 20, 1991March 23, 1991March 24, 1991Post-tour showsAugust 8, 1991 Montauk United States Deep Hallow RanchAugust 9, 1991October 21, 1991 New York City Madison Square GardenOctober 22, 1991
Setlist This setlist is from the June 22, 1990 show at Yankee Stadium. It does not represent all the dates throughout the tour.
"Storm Front" "Allentown" "Prelude/Angry Young Man" "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" "The Downeaster "Alexa"" "Goodnight Saigon" "I Go to Extremes" "Pressure" "My Life" "An Innocent Man" "Shameless" "We Didn't Start the Fire" "Shout" "Uptown Girl" "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" "You May Be Right" "Only the Good Die Young" "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)" "A Matter of Trust" "Big Shot" "New York State of Mind" "Piano Man"
Personnel
Billy Joel – lead vocals, piano, keyboards, harmonica, rhythm guitar Mark Rivera – saxophone, flute, clarinet, vocals, percussion, keyboards, rhythm guitar Schuyler Deale – bass guitar, vocals David Brown – lead guitar, vocals Mindy Jostyn – violin, guitar (December 2, 1989 – March 17, 1990) Tommy Byrnes – rhythm guitar (March 31, 1990 – March 24, 1991) Jeff Jacobs – keyboards Crystal Taliefero – percussion, saxophone, guitar. Liberty DeVitto – drums, percussion
Notes
References