River of Dreams Tour

The River of Dreams Tour was a 1993–1995 concert tour by singer-songwriter Billy Joel. This tour was the first tour by Joel in two and a half years.

River of Dreams Tour

Tour by Billy Joel
Location	North America • Europe • Oceania • Asia
Associated album	River of Dreams
Start date	September 10, 1993
End date	January 24, 1995
Legs	5
No. of shows	135
Billy Joel concert chronology

Background

After spending a year and a half on tour following the release of Storm Front, Joel took a year off before recording the follow-up album River of Dreams.

Shortly before the tour started, Joel and his wife Christie Brinkley separated, and eventually filed for divorce, which was finalized in August 1994.^[1]

After performing on the Late Show with David Letterman (Joel was the first musical guest on the show),^[2] the tour kicked off in Portland, Maine, on September 10, 1993, and ended in Tokyo, Japan, on January 24, 1995.

During July and August 1994, Joel teamed up with fellow piano player Elton John on the first ever Face to Face tour in which Joel and John played 21 shows (all in stadiums) across the United States. In March and April 1995, after the River of Dreams Tour's conclusion, Joel joined John for 12 more shows across the United States, including one in Canada.

Tour dates

Date	City	Country	Venue
North America
September 10, 1993	Portland	United States	Cumberland County Civic Center
September 14, 1993	Boston		Boston Garden
September 17, 1993
September 20, 1993
September 23, 1993	Philadelphia		The Spectrum
September 25, 1993
September 27, 1993
September 28, 1993
October 2, 1993	New York City		Madison Square Garden
October 4, 1993
October 6, 1993
October 8, 1993
October 9, 1993
October 12, 1993
October 14, 1993	Philadelphia		The Spectrum
October 15, 1993
October 18, 1993	Landover		USAir Arena
October 19, 1993
October 22, 1993	Hartford		Hartford Civic Center
November 2, 1993
November 4, 1993	Landover		Capital Centre
November 6, 1993	Worcester		The Centrum
November 7, 1993
November 12, 1993	Syracuse		Carrier Dome
November 13, 1993
November 16, 1993	Rosemont		Rosemont Horizon
November 18, 1993	Cincinnati		Riverfront Coliseum
November 19, 1993	Rosemont		Rosemont Horizon
November 29, 1993	Portland		Portland Memorial Coliseum
December 1, 1993	Seattle		Seattle Center Coliseum
December 3, 1993	Vancouver	Canada	Pacific Coliseum
December 5, 1993	Oakland	United States	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena
December 7, 1993	Sacramento		ARCO Arena
December 9, 1993	San Diego		San Diego Sports Arena
December 11, 1993	Phoenix		American West Arena
December 13, 1993	Los Angeles		Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
December 15, 1993	Salt Lake City		Delta Center
December 17, 1993	Las Vegas		Thomas & Mack Center
December 18, 1993	Anaheim		Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim
December 29, 1993	Uniondale		Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
December 31, 1993
January 2, 1994
January 4, 1994
January 6, 1994
January 8, 1994
January 9, 1994	Hartford		Hartford Civic Center
January 12, 1994	Pittsburgh		Civic Arena
January 14, 1994	Auburn Hills		The Palace of Auburn Hills
January 15, 1994
January 18, 1994	Albany		Knickerbocker Arena
January 20, 1994
January 22, 1994	Toronto	Canada	Maple Leaf Gardens
January 25, 1994	Richfield	United States	Richfield Coliseum
January 28, 1994	Atlanta		Omni Coliseum
January 29, 1994	Charlotte		Charlotte Coliseum
February 4, 1994	Memphis		Pyramid Arena
February 6, 1994	Birmingham		Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Coliseum
February 8, 1994	Miami		Miami Arena
February 10, 1994	St. Petersburg		ThunderDome
February 12, 1994	Orlando		Orlando Arena
February 14, 1994	Miami		Miami Arena
February 18, 1994
February 19, 1994
March 6, 1994	Uniondale		Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
March 10, 1994	Minneapolis		Target Center
March 12, 1994
March 15, 1994	Milwaukee		Bradley Center
March 17, 1994	Richfield		Richfield Coliseum
March 21, 1994	Auburn Hills		The Palace of Auburn Hills
March 24, 1994	Buffalo		Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
March 27, 1994	Indianapolis		Market Square Arena
March 29, 1994	Louisville		Freedom Hall
March 31, 1994	Ames		Hilton Coliseum
April 4, 1994	Dallas		Reunion Arena
April 6, 1994	Houston		The Summit
April 8, 1994	New Orleans		Louisiana Superdome
April 10, 1994	North Charleston		North Charleston Coliseum
April 12, 1994	Chapel Hill		Dean Smith Center
April 15, 1994	Miami		Miami Arena
April 16, 1994
Europe
May 7, 1994	London	England	Earls Court Exhibition Centre
May 9, 1994
May 11, 1994
May 13, 1994	Glasgow	Scotland	Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre
May 15, 1994	Birmingham	England	NEC Arena
May 17, 1994	Rotterdam	Netherlands	Ahoy
May 18, 1994	Ghent	Belgium	Flanders Expo
May 24, 1994	Milan	Italy	Forum di Assago
May 26, 1994	Vienna	Austria	Wiener Stadthalle
May 31, 1994	Berlin	Germany	Waldbühne
June 2, 1994	Munich		Olympiahalle
June 4, 1994	Salzburg	Austria	Residenzplatz
June 6, 1994	Dortmund	Germany	Westfalenhallen
June 8, 1994	Paris	France	Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy
June 10, 1994	Zürich	Switzerland	Hallenstadion
June 12, 1994	Nuremberg	Germany	Zeppelinfeld
June 14, 1994	Stuttgart		Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle
June 18, 1994	Frankfurt		Festhalle
North America
October 8, 1994	Phoenix	United States	Blockbuster Desert Sky Pavilion
October 11, 1994	Denver		McNichols Sports Arena
October 13, 1994	Kansas City		Kemper Arena
October 15, 1994	St. Louis		Kiel Center
October 17, 1994	Cleveland		Gund Arena
October 19, 1994	Chicago		United Center
October 22, 1994	Antioch		Starwood Amphitheatre
October 23, 1994	Knoxville		Thompson–Boling Arena
October 26, 1994	Moline		The MARK of the Quad Cities
October 28, 1994	Champaign		Assembly Hall
October 30, 1994	Fargo		Fargodome
Oceania
November 13, 1994	Melbourne	Australia	National Tennis Centre
November 15, 1994
November 17, 1994
November 19, 1994
November 22, 1994	Brisbane		Brisbane Entertainment Centre
November 24, 1994
November 26, 1994
November 28, 1994	Sydney		Sydney Entertainment Centre
November 30, 1994
December 2, 1994
December 4, 1994
December 5, 1994
December 8, 1994	Adelaide		Adelaide Entertainment Centre
December 10, 1994
December 13, 1994	Perth		Perth Entertainment Centre
December 14, 1994
December 17, 1994	Auckland	New Zealand	Western Springs Stadium
Asia
January 9, 1995	Tokyo	Japan	Nippon Budokan
January 11, 1995
January 12, 1995
January 15, 1995	Fukuoka		Fukuoka Dome
January 18, 1995	Osaka		Osaka-jō Hall
January 19, 1995
January 21, 1995	Yokohama		Yokohama Arena
January 23, 1995	Tokyo		Nippon Budokan
January 24, 1995

Setlist

This setlist is from the September 17, 1993 show at Boston Garden. It does not represent all the dates throughout the tour.^[3]

1. "A Matter of Trust"
2. "No Man's Land"
3. "Pressure"
4. "Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)"
5. "The River of Dreams"
6. "Prelude/Angry Young Man"
7. "Allentown"
8. "All About Soul"
9. "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant"
10. "My Life"
11. "I Go to Extremes"
12. "An Innocent Man"
13. "The Downeaster "Alexa""
14. "Shameless"
15. "Shades of Grey"
16. "Goodnight Saigon"
17. "We Didn't Start the Fire"
18. "You May Be Right"
19. "Only the Good Die Young"
20. "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)"
21. "Big Shot"
22. "Piano Man"

Personnel

• Billy Joel – lead vocals, piano, keyboards, harmonica
• Mark Rivera – saxophone, flute, clarinet, vocals, percussion, keyboards, rhythm guitar
• Tommy Byrnes – lead guitar, vocals
• Tom "T-Bone" Wolk – bass guitar, accordion, vocals
• David Rosenthal – keyboards
• Crystal Taliefero – percussion, saxophone, guitar.
• Liberty DeVitto – drums, percussion

References

1. Clarke, Eileen (April 20, 2001). "A Matter Of Trust". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
2. "Billy Joel Was The First Musical Guest On The Late Show With David Letterman". Billy Joel. August 30, 2020. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
3. "Billy Joel Setlist at Boston Garden, Boston". setlist.fm. Retrieved January 11, 2024.