Van Halen 2007–2008 North American Tour
Van Halen 2007-2008 North American Tour |
Tour by Van Halen |
Start date |
September 27, 2007 |
End date |
July 3, 2008 |
Legs |
4 |
Shows |
76 played, 25 postponed, all rescheduled |
Van Halen tour chronology |
|
Van Halen 2007-2008 Tour was a North American concert tour occurring in the fall of 2007 and winter and spring of 2008 for hard rock band Van Halen. It was Van Halen's first tour since 2004 (which itself was the band's only tour since 1998), and the first one with original singer David Lee Roth since he left the band in 1985. Roth was with the band from 1974–1985, when the band rose to prominence.
The tour was originally going to be a fifty date summer tour in 2007. When re-scheduled, it was announced as a twenty-five date tour in Winter 2007. Gradually, dates were added, bringing it up to forty dates. In November 2007, the band announced an extension of the tour into 2008, eventually adding thirty-four new dates to the tour, bringing the total up to seventy-four, ending in April [1]. Ultimately, the tour was then re-branded as the "Van Halen 2007-2008 North American Tour". A number of dates were postponed in early March, due to a reported illness Eddie Van Halen appeared to be suffering from.[1]
History
A Van Halen tour with Roth was rumoured for months beforehand, and there had been discussions about a reunion with him for years (in part fueled by Roth's first public attempt at a reunion with Van Halen going wrong) but there had never been success before. Three times in 2000-2001, Roth entered the 5150 studio (Eddie Van Halen's personal recording studio) with the Van Halen brothers to jam.
An angle to the tour was that Eddie Van Halen's 16-year-old son Wolfgang Van Halen was the band's new bassist, the first time any slot other than the vocalist one has changed since 1974. This offended many fans because original bassist Michael Anthony was not asked to be a part of this reunion. Wolfgang was a mere 17 years old at the time. However the tour sold well, selling out several dates. Initially 25 dates across the USA/Canada were announced, but 50 more have been added due to this demand.[2]
The tour started on September 27, 2007 and finished on July 3, 2008 with a total of 76 dates. The band's last tour, with Sammy Hagar in 2004 (against which this tour will be compared directly), was originally set to be 50 dates and was extended to 80. Though most shows were successful, at the Greensboro, NC concert a technical problem saw the keyboard backing-track played faster than expected during the song "Jump", leaving Eddie and Wolfgang playing considerably out of tune (by approximately 1.5 semitones). Despite this, the crowd reaction in Greensboro was positive. [2]
Ky-Mani Marley, son of reggae artist Bob Marley, supported the band as the opening act for each show but the final two during the first three legs of the tour.[3] R&B singer Ryan Shaw announced that, beginning on February 22, he would be the band's opening act for the remainder of the tour.[4] Shaw began to tour with the band starting with the Las Vegas show on April 19.
The tour was officially named the "Van Halen Fall 2007 Tour" during early announcements, and indeed, the "Merry Christmas" message on the Van Halen website referred to the "2007 tour", with no new title yet given for the 2008 tour. The website merely stated "As Van Halen readies for a much needed holiday break, it's back on the road in 2008 to continue the tour". Extra dates have been added repeatedly, and all postponed dates were made up for at later stages too, with no information on if the "2007 tour" actually had a scheduled ending.
Ultimately, the tour grossed over $93 million, the band's most profitable to date.[4]
Set list
- You Really Got Me
- I'm the One
- Runnin' With the Devil
- Romeo Delight
- Somebody Get Me A Doctor
- Beautiful Girls
- Dance the Night Away
- Atomic Punk
- Everybody Wants Some!!
- So This Is Love?
- Mean Street
- Oh, Pretty Woman
- Alex Van Halen Drum solo
- Unchained
- I'll Wait
- And The Cradle Will Rock...
- Hot for Teacher
- Little Dreamer
- Little Guitars
- Jamie's Cryin'
- Ice Cream Man
- Panama
- Eddie Van Halen Guitar solo
- Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love
- 1984
- Jump
Several of the songs, notably "Romeo Delight" and "Somebody Get Me A Doctor" almost always included the band doing various covers, such as The Who's "Magic Bus" and Cream songs such as "Crossroads" during the slower parts of those songs. The ending of "And The Cradle Will Rock..." contained the riff from Smoke on the Water. Also, David Lee Roth would spend several minutes telling stories to the crowd before starting "Ice Cream Man".
With the exception of the covers played during "Romeo Delight" and "Somebody Get Me A Doctor", which changed several times, the set list remained the same for nearly the entire tour. The only major change was "Little Guitars", which was dropped during the Fourth Leg by the start of May.
Eddie Van Halen's solo also changed several times, with only "Eruption" and "Cathedral" being part of his solo during every night. In fact, during the Fourth Leg, his solos were considerably shorter and consisted only of those two songs.
Personnel
Tour dates
[5]
Date |
City |
Country |
Venue |
First North American Leg - "Van Halen Fall 2007 Tour" |
September 27, 2007 |
Charlotte, North Carolina |
United States |
Charlotte Bobcats Arena |
September 29, 2007 |
Greensboro, North Carolina |
Greensboro Coliseum |
October 1, 2007 |
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Wachovia Center |
October 3, 2007 |
October 5, 2007 |
Uncasville, Connecticut |
Mohegan Sun Arena |
October 7, 2007 |
Toronto, Ontario |
Canada |
Air Canada Centre |
October 10, 2007 |
Cleveland, Ohio |
United States |
Quicken Loans Arena |
October 12, 2007 |
Toronto, Ontario |
Canada |
Air Canada Centre |
October 14, 2007 |
Indianapolis, Indiana |
United States |
Conseco Fieldhouse |
October 16, 2007 |
Rosemont, Illinois |
Allstate Arena |
October 18, 2007 |
Chicago, Illinois |
United Center |
October 20, 2007 |
Detroit, Michigan |
Joe Louis Arena |
October 22, 2007 |
Auburn Hills, Michigan |
The Palace of Auburn Hills |
October 24, 2007 |
Minneapolis, Minnesota |
Target Center |
October 26, 2007 |
Kansas City, Missouri |
Sprint Center |
October 30, 2007 |
Boston, Massachusetts |
TD Banknorth Garden |
November 1, 2007 |
Washington, D.C. |
Verizon Center |
November 3, 2007 |
East Rutherford, New Jersey |
Izod Center |
November 6, 2007 |
Worcester, Massachusetts |
DCU Center |
November 8, 2007 |
Uniondale, New York |
Nassau Coliseum |
November 10, 2007 |
Montreal, Quebec |
Canada |
Bell Centre |
November 13, 2007 |
New York City, New York |
United States |
Madison Square Garden |
Second North American Leg - "Van Halen Fall 2007 Tour" |
November 20, 2007 |
Los Angeles, California |
United States |
Staples Center |
November 23, 2007 |
Glendale, Arizona |
Jobing.com Arena |
November 25, 2007 |
San Diego, California |
Cox Arena |
November 27, 2007 |
Sacramento, California |
Arco Arena |
November 29, 2007 |
Fresno, California |
Save Mart Center |
December 1, 2007 |
Portland, Oregon |
Rose Garden Arena |
December 3, 2007 |
Seattle, Washington |
KeyArena |
December 5, 2007 |
Vancouver, British Columbia |
Canada |
General Motors Place |
December 7, 2007 |
Calgary, Alberta |
Pengrowth Saddledome |
December 9, 2007 |
Edmonton, Alberta |
Rexall Place |
December 14, 2007 |
Los Angeles, California |
United States |
Staples Center |
December 16, 2007 |
San Jose, California |
HP Pavilion at San Jose |
December 18, 2007 |
Anaheim, California |
Honda Center |
December 20, 2007 |
December 22, 2007 |
Oakland, California |
Oracle Arena |
December 28, 2007 |
Las Vegas, Nevada |
MGM Grand Garden Arena |
December 30, 2007 |
Third North American Leg |
January 22, 2008 |
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
United States |
Ford Center |
January 24, 2008 |
San Antonio, Texas |
AT&T Center |
January 26, 2008 |
Dallas, Texas |
American Airlines Center |
January 28, 2008 |
Houston, Texas |
Toyota Center |
January 30, 2008 |
North Little Rock, Arkansas |
Alltel Arena |
February 1, 2008 |
Denver, Colorado |
Pepsi Center |
February 4, 2008 |
Omaha, Nebraska |
Qwest Events Center |
February 6, 2008 |
Des Moines, Iowa |
Wells Fargo Arena |
February 8, 2008 |
New Orleans, Louisiana |
New Orleans Arena |
February 10, 2008 |
Atlanta, Georgia |
Philips Arena |
February 12, 2008 |
Sunrise, Florida |
BankAtlantic Center |
February 14, 2008 |
Orlando, Florida |
Amway Arena |
February 16, 2008 |
Jacksonville, Florida |
Veterans Memorial Arena |
February 18, 2008 |
Tampa, Florida |
St. Pete Times Forum |
February 20, 2008 |
Sunrise, Florida |
BankAtlantic Center[6] |
Fourth North American Leg |
April 17, 2008 |
Reno, Nevada |
United States |
Reno Events Center |
April 19, 2008 |
Paradise, Nevada |
Mandalay Bay Events Center |
April 22, 2008 |
Cincinnati, Ohio |
U.S. Bank Arena |
April 24, 2008 |
Dallas, Texas |
American Airlines Center |
April 26, 2008 |
St. Louis, Missouri |
Scottrade Center |
April 28, 2008 |
Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
Bradley Center |
April 30, 2008 |
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
Mellon Arena |
May 2, 2008 |
Charlottesville, Virginia |
John Paul Jones Arena |
May 5, 2008 |
Raleigh, North Carolina |
RBC Center |
May 7, 2008 |
Columbus, Ohio |
Value City Arena |
May 9, 2008 |
Atlantic City, New Jersey |
Boardwalk Hall |
May 11, 2008 |
Duluth, Georgia |
Gwinnett Arena |
May 13, 2008 |
East Rutherford, New Jersey |
Izod Center |
May 15, 2008 |
Baltimore, Maryland |
1st Mariner Arena |
May 18, 2008 |
Hershey, Pennsylvania |
Giant Center |
May 20, 2008 |
Uncasville, Connecticut |
Mohegan Sun Arena |
May 23, 2008 |
New York City, New York |
Madison Square Garden |
May 25, 2008 |
Providence, Rhode Island |
Dunkin' Donuts Center |
May 28, 2008 |
Manchester, New Hampshire |
Verizon Wireless Arena |
May 30, 2008 |
Rosemont, Illinois |
Allstate Arena |
June 2, 2008 |
Grand Rapids, Michigan |
Van Andel Arena |
July 3, 2008 |
Quebec City, Quebec |
Canada |
Plains of Abraham |
References
External links