The Heartbreak Tour was a concert tour by American boy band New Edition. The tour supported their fifth studio album, Heart Break (1988).
Background On their previous tour, New Edition had to perform as a four-piece act after Bobby Brown's departure, but in the spring of 1987, Johnny Gill was added to the group. The five-member group went back to the studio to record what is now considered their most influential album: Heart Break, released June 20, 1988. By the beginning of fall, the album had reached platinum statusGold & Platinum: Searchable Database . Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Retrieved on 2009-10-18. and New Edition were ready to hit the stage again. Bobby Brown, who had released Don't Be Cruel on the same day as Heart Break, and Al B Sure!, who had found success with his first album In Effect Mode, both joined as opening acts.
The Heartbreak Tour was the 16th most popular tour of 1988 with the first leg grossing $14.1 million in ticket sales, according to Pollstar. Arenas in cities like Inglewood, Chicago and Detroit were sold out two or thee times. They even achieved sell-outs in certain Southern cities that had not sold out in over a decade. The five members were awarded a gold ticket by Madison Square Garden for sales of over 100,000 tickets.
The group was involved in a school dropout prevention campaign. They sponsored "What School Means to Me", a nationwide essay contest at elementary schools. The winner of the competition was invited to attend a New Edition concert and meet the group backstage.
Incidents New Edition extended their schedule by headlining "Kiss Concert" in Mansfield, Massachusetts, and then performed a few shows for Budweiser Superfest. Their engagement with Budweiser was cut short when, on July 8 in Greensboro, as Guy was ending its act, members of New Edition came on stage, upset that Guy might have played too long. A member of Guy was reported to have kicked or pushed a piece of New Edition's equipment off stage. New Edition confronted Guy, a fight occurred, the groups' bodyguards joined in the scuffle as band members threw microphones and kicked music equipment, before officers and Coliseum security guards stepped in. New Edition band members later returned to the stage to play. Before they started, one of them apologized to the crowd of 13,755 people and tried to explain the fight, saying Guy staff members were "messing with their instruments", which almost caused them to not be able to perform. New Edition members said that Karyn White loaned them equipment to perform with, because theirs had been damaged in the scuffle. After the concert, the members of Guy allegedly threatened New Edition saying they were going to "get them". According to a witness, members of New Edition flew several men from New York to Pittsburgh to provide the band with "muscle, to do whatever they had to do". While the three members of Guy were preparing to leave the Coliseum in a limousine, an unidentified person began shouting insults and threats at the band. The three members left the vehicle and followed the unidentified person back to the Coliseum floor behind the stage, but police moved in to restrain band members. Police in Greensboro said that no arrests were made, and Coliseum officials declined to comment on the fighting.
The next day in Pittsburgh, while stagehands of New Edition and Guy were setting up equipment for the concert, two Guy "roadies" attacked a crew member of New Edition near the Civic Arena stage. One man pounded another man with a baseball bat, and other crew members pulled out guns and knives. New Edition's production manager, 30-year-old Ronald Byrd, chased Guy's security manager Anthony Bee, 32, out of the arena and across the street into the Hyatt Hotel at about 4:30 p.m. and shot him twice outside the hotel. Bee died at the Mercy Hospital. Ronald Byrd was charged with criminal homicide. Four members of Guy's crew were jailed on assault charges in the beating of New Edition crew member Michael Clark. It has been said that the crew members had been feuding over stage arrangements and other matters for weeks, according to stagehands.
Following this incident, Tom Pagano (spokesman for Anheuser-Busch) announced that Anheuser-Busch had dropped New Edition and Guy from the tour roster.
Opening acts Bobby Brown (September 1988-February 1989) Al B Sure! (September 1988-February 1989) The Gyrlz (in Saginaw, January 17, 1989) Setlist "That's the Way We're Livin'" "Count Me Out" "Cool It Now" "Crucial" (Jealous Girl Interlude) "Is This the End" "Lost in Love" "You're Not My Kind of Girl" "Boys to Men" "Can You Stand the Rain" (DJ Spinbad Interlude) "N.E. Heartbreak" "If It Isn't Love"
Notes
"Mr. Telephone Man" was performed in the 1989 shows, Bobby Brown joined the group on stage to sing lead. "I'm Coming Home" was often performed.
Tour dates DateCityCountryVenue1988September 21GreenvilleUnited StatesGreenville Memorial AuditoriumSeptember 22AugustaAugusta Civic CenterSeptember 23TampaUSF DomeSeptember 24AtlantaThe OmniSeptember 25GreensboroGreensboro ColiseumSeptember 28AlbanyAlbany Civic CenterSeptember 29SavannahSavannah Civic CenterSeptember 30BirminghamBirmingham-Jefferson Civic Center ColiseumOctober 1JacksonvilleMemorial ColiseumOctober 2MiamiMiami ArenaOctober 5LouisvilleLouisville GardensOctober 6MilwaukeeMECCA ArenaOctober 7ChicagoUIC PavilionOctober 8October 9MemphisMid-South ColiseumOctober 12Oklahoma CityMyriad Convention CenterOctober 13Kansas City Kemper ArenaOctober 16IndianapolisMarket Square ArenaOctober 17DetroitJoe Louis ArenaOctober 18October 19PensacolaPensacola Civic CenterOctober 21New Orleans Louisiana SuperdomeOctober 23Dallas Reunion ArenaOctober 24Austin Travis County Expo CenterOctober 27 New YorkMadison Square GardenOctober 28PhiladelphiaSpectrum October 29BuffaloBuffalo Memorial AuditoriumOctober 30 BosotonBoston GardenOctober 31November 2PhiladelphiaSpectrumNovember 4Hartford Hartford Civic CenterNovember 6LandoverCapital CenterNovember 9Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Civic ArenaNovember 11HamptonHampton ColiseumNovember 12RichmondRichmond ColiseumNovember 13 CincinnatiRiverfront ColiseumNovember 16DenverMcNichols Sports ArenaNovember 20Inglewood The ForumNovember 23November 24November 25Sacramento ARCO ArenaNovember 26 San BernardinoOrange PavilionNovember 27FresnoSelland ArenaNovember 29Portland Memorial ColiseumNovember 30SeattleSeattle Center ColiseumDecember 2Oakland Oakland Coliseum ArenaDecember 3December 4December 6TucsonTucson Convention CenterDecember 7ShreveportHirsch Memorial ColiseumDecember 11Columbia Carolina Coliseum December 13Cleveland Public HallDecember 14Chicago IL UIC PavilionDecember 17HamptonHampton ColiseumDecember 18New York CityMadison Square Garden1989January 16LouisvilleUnited StatesLouisville GardensJanuary 17SaginawWendler ArenaJanuary 18ColumbusCeleste CenterJanuary 20Charlotte Charlotte ColiseumJanuary 21RichmondRichmond ColiseumJanuary 26Greenville Greenville Memorial AuditoriumJanuary 27RoanokeCivic CenterJanuary 28ChattanoogaUTC ArenaJanuary 29MaconMacon ColiseumJanuary 31Philadelphia SpectrumFebruary 1RochesterWar Memorial February 3ProvidenceProvidence Civic CenterFebruary 4New York CityMadison Square GardenFebruary 7Pittsburgh Civic ArenaFebruary 9Dayton Hara Arena February 10Montgomery Garrett ColiseumFebruary 11DetroitJoe Louis ArenaFebruary 13Orlando Orlando Centroplex ArenaFebruary 14AtlantaThe OmniFebruary 16Kalamazoo Wings StadiumFebruary 17BloomingtonMet CenterFebruary 19MemphisMid-South ColiseumFebruary 21WorcesterWorcester CentrumFebruary 24Las crucesPan American CenterFebruary 25Gary Genesis Convention CenterFebruary 26Daly CityCow PalaceFebruary 27InglewoodThe Forum
Summer 1989 DateCityCountryVenue1989May 24West AllisUnited StatesWisconsin State Fair GrandstandJune 2AustinFrank Erwin CenterJune 3MansfieldGreat Woods Center For The Performong ArtsJune 17Washington DCRFK StadiumJune 18CharlotteCarowinds PaladiumJune 23Little Rock Barton ColiseumJune 24HoustonThe SummitJune 25DallasReunion ArenaJune 27HonoluluBlaisdell ArenaJuly 1Los AngelesLos Angeles Memorial ColiseumJuly 4Portland Veterans Memorial ColiseumJuly 8GreensboroGreensboro ColiseumAugust 27Santa ClaraUniversal Amphitheater
References