Rock band Bon Jovi announced plans on Thursday for a new world tour that will kick off at the new home of the New York Giants and Jets.

The two-year tour begins on May 26 at New Jersey's new US$1.6-billion Meadowlands football stadium, which is nearing completion and will replace Giants Stadium. It will feature 135 shows in 30 countries.

"It's a big world," lead singer Jon Bon Jovi said when asked about the length of the tour. "And we still make house calls."

Bon Jovi and lead guitarist Richie Sambora are New Jersey natives. They said being selected for the first concert at the new stadium holds special meaning for them because they've played Giants Stadium more than eight times and consider it home.

jersey to the core

"Jon Bon Jovi is a New Jersey guy," Giants CEO John Mara said.

"He's a legend in New Jersey," Jets owner Robert 'Woody' Johnson said.

Bon Jovi said going to a football game at Giants Stadium was a special event for him before the band, which formed in 1983, made it big. The Grammy winner grew up in Sayreville and is a Giants season ticketholder.

"I can't wait until there's a ball game," Bon Jovi said.

The band announced the tour on Thursday at an invitation-only performance for 5,000 fan club contest winners and construction workers in the parking lot of the new stadium.

A group of police officers watched the show from a highway overpass as the band worked through a set that included songs from its new album The Circle and hits like You Give Love a Bad Name.