Van Halen Tour

Van Halen spent most of their first world tour as an opening act for Journey, Montrose and later Black Sabbath. The tour was initially supposed to last only three weeks. Due to their enormous success, the band ended up touring roughly eight months. Jack Boyle, of Cellar Door Productions, advised the band to play smaller venues rather than the full-scale coliseums that Warner Brothers wanted them to tackle. The reasoning behind this approach was that Van Halen could sell out each performance and learn how to work the crowd to hone their overall stage presence.

Eddie relied heavily on his white and black striped Charvel "Franky" for this tour, and all of his guitars were strung with Fender strings. His rig consisted of 16 Marshall heads (six were for backup) running through 10 Marshall cabinets, outfitted with a combination of Marshall and JBL speakers. Guitar tech Rudy Leiren was kept busy replacing blown transformers at an average of two per week. Eddie's Marshall arsenal was made up primarily of Mach II's and also included his now legendary 100-watt Super Lead, which was temporarily lost by an airline when the band was returning to the states from Japan to play the first ever Texxas Jam. His effects setup included a Univox echo unit, two Echoplexes, an MXR Phaser and an MXR flanger. All were duct-taped to a piece of unfinished plywood. He also used an echoplex that he housed inside an old World War II practice bomb, an idea originally conceived during the latter part of the band's club days.

While in Madison, WI, the band destroyed the entire 7th floor of the Sheraton Inn. Alex and David removed the screen from Eddie's window and threw his table and chairs outside to the ground below. Eddie retaliated by going to the front desk and telling the clerk he was David Lee Roth and had lost his room keys. He then slipped into Roth's room and took Roth's table and chairs and put them in his own room. The police were confused, as Eddie's screen was missing but he had a table and chairs, while Roth had a screen but was missing his furniture. This incident was just one of many such tales of pillage and destruction over the years. By 1980, Van Halen was racking up damages on almost every stop, ranging from the seemingly harmless act of smashing a hotel lamp to punching holes into the walls of hotel room after hotel room.

Upon completion of the tour, the band took a five day break vacationing off the Caribbean coast on the island of Balise before heading back into the studio to record Van Halen II.

A typical setlist consisted of:

• On Fire
• I'm the One
• Bass Solo
• Runnin' with the Devil
• Feel Your Love Tonight
• Atomic Punk
• Drum Solo
• Little Dreamer
• Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love
• Ice Cream Man
• Guitar Solo
• You Really Got Me
• D.O.A.
• Bottoms Up!

03/03/78: Aargon Ballroom, Chicago, IL

03/04/78: Nelson Center, Springfield, IL

03/05/78: Indianapolis Convention Center, Indianapolis, IN

03/07/88: Shuffle Inn, Madison, WI

03/08/78: The Orpheum, Madison, WI

03/09/78: Riverside Theater, Milwaukee, WI. Attendance: 2,106

03/10/78: Masonic Auditorium, Detroit, MI

03/11/78: Hara Arena, Dayton, OH. Attendance: 6,060

03/12/78: Leona Theater, Pittsburgh, PA

03/14/78: Massey Hall, Toronto, ON

03/15/78: Cleveland Convention Center, Cleveland, OH

03/16/78: Fairgrounds Coliseum, Columbus, OH

03/17/78: Commonwealth Convention Center, Louisville, KY

03/18/78: Evansville Coliseum, Evansville, IN

03/19/78: Morris Civic Center, South Bend, IN

03/21/78: Memorial Coliseum, Utica, NY

03/22/78: Palace Theater, Albany, NY

03/23/78: Century Theater, Buffalo, NY

03/24/78: Tower Theater, Philadelphia, PA. Audio recording exists.

03/25/78: The Palladium, New York, NY. Audio recording exists.

03/26/78: Calderone Theater, Hampstead, NY

03/28/78: The Palladium, New York, NY

03/29/78: Duluth Auditorium, Duluth, MN

03/30/78: St. Paul Civic Center, St. Paul, MN

03/31/78: Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, MO

04/01/78: Kiel Opera House, St. Louis, MO. Attendance: 3,557

04/02/78: Omaha Music Hall, Omaha, NE. Attendance: 2,572

04/06/78: IMA Auditorium, Flint, MI

04/07/78: War Memorial, Nashville, TN

04/08/78: Murray State University, Murray, KY

04/09/78: Boutwell Auditorium, Birmingham, AL

04/11/78: Corpus Christi Memorial Coliseum, Corpus Christi, TX

04/12/78: Austin Municipal Auditorium, Austin, TX

04/13/78: Shreveport Municipal Auditorium, Shreveport, LA

04/14/78: Will Rogers Theater, Ft. Worth, TX

04/15/78: Houston Music Hall, Houston, TX

04/16/78: The Warehouse, New Orleans, LA

04/18/78: Ellis Auditorium, Memphis, TN

04/20/78: Ruby Diamond Auditorium, Tallahassee, FL

04/21/78: Sportatorium, Hollywood, FL

04/22/78: Curtis Hickson Hall, Tampa, FL

04/23/78: Fox Theater, Atlanta, GA

04/25/78: Rogues, Virginia Beach, VA

04/26/78: Rogues, Virginia Beach, VA

04/28/78: The Palladium, New York, NY. Audio recording exists.

05/04/78: Poperinge, Belgium

05/05/78: Stads Opelen, Delft, Holland

05/06/78: The Paradiso, Amsterdam, NL. Summertime Blues was added to set list for this show. Audio recording exists.

05/08/78: Hamburg, GE

05/09/78: Hamburg, GE

05/10/78: Le Theater Mogador, Paris, France. Voodoo Queen and Summertime Blues were added to set list for this show. Audio recording exists.

05/16/78: Sheffield City Hall, Sheffield, UK. Opened for: Black Sabbath

05/17/78: Liverpool Empire, Liverpool, UK. Opened for: Black Sabbath

05/18/78: Apollo Theatre, Glasgow, Scotland. Opened for: Black Sabbath. Audio recording exists.

05/19/78: Abderdeen Capitol, Abderdeen, Scotland. Opened for: Black Sabbath. The band is told their album, Van Halen, has gone gold. In celebration, the band destroys their hotel rooms. A pillow goes missing, taken by a crew member. In retailiation for the stolen pillow, the band is told to leave Scotland by the authorities.

05/21/78: Newcastle City Hall, New Castle, UK. Opened for: Black Sabbath. Audio recording exists.

05/22/78: Manchester Apollo, Manchester, UK. Opened for: Black Sabbath.

05/23/78: Victoria Hall, Hanley, England. Opened for: Black Sabbath.

05/25/78: Guild Hall, Portsmouth, UK. Opened for: Black Sabbath.

05/26/78: Bristol Hippoorome, Bristol, UK. Opened for: Black Sabbath.

05/27/78: Lewisham Odeon, Lewisham, UK. Opened for: Black Sabbath. Audio recording exists.

05/28/78: Ipswich Gaumont, Ipswich, UK. Opened for: Black Sabbath.

05/30/78: Coventry Theatre, Coventry, UK. Opened for: Black Sabbath.

05/31/78: Leicester De Montfort Hall, Leicester, UK. Opened for: Black Sabbath.

06/01/78: Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK. Opened for: Black Sabbath. Audio recording exists.

06/02/78: Oxford New Theatre, Oxford, UK. Opened for: Black Sabbath.

06/03/78: Southampton Gaumont, Southampton, UK. Opened for: Black Sabbath.

06/05/78: Birmingham Odeon, Birmingham, UK. Opened for: Black Sabbath.

06/06/78: Birmingham Odeon, Birmingham, UK. Opened for: Black Sabbath.

06/07/78: St. George Hall, Bradford, UK. Opened for: Black Sabbath.

06/08/78: Preston Guild Hall, Preston, UK. Opened for: Black Sabbath.

06/10/78: Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK. Opened for: Black Sabbath.

06/11/78: Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK. Opened for: Black Sabbath.

06/12/78: Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK. Opened for: Black Sabbath.

06/14/78: Manchester Apollo, Manchester, UK. Opened for: Black Sabbath.

06/15/78: Manchester Apollo, Manchester, UK. Opened for: Black Sabbath.

06/16/78: Bridlington Spa, Bridlington, UK. Opened for: Black Sabbath.

06/17/78: The Sun Palace, Tokyo, Japan. Down in Flames, Somebody Get Me a Doctor and Last Night were added to the set list for this show. Down in Flames continued to be played throughout the Japanese tour. Audio recording exists.

06/19/78: The Sun Palace, Tokyo, Japan. Audio recording exists.

06/22/78: The Sun Palace, Tokyo, Japan. Somebody Get Me a Doctor was added to set list. Audio recording exists.

06/24/78: Nagoya-Shi Kokaido, Nagoya, Japan. Somebody Get Me a Doctor and Summertime Blues were added to set list. Audio recording exists.

06/25/78: Festival Hall, Osaka, Japan. Audio recording exists.

06/26/78: Kyoto Kaikan Hall, Kyoto, Japan. Audio recording exists.

06/27/78: Kosei Nenkin Hall, Osaka, Japan. Somebody Get Me a Doctor added to set list. Audio recording exists.

07/01/78: The Cotton Bowl, Dallas, TX. The Bill for this show included Walter Egan, Van Halen, Eddie Money, Mahogany Rush, Heart, Ted Nugent, Cheech and Chong, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Head East, and Aerosmith. 80,000 fans paid $12.50 per ticket to cram themselves into the Cotton Bowl for a weekend-long gathering of some of the world's top rock and roll acts at the first annual Texxas Jam Day in Dallas Texas on the weekend of 07/01/78. Van Halen was one of the first acts to hit the stage, just after Walter Egan. Having just returned from Japan and playing on rented equipment, Van Halen ripped through a spirited, high-voltage set. It was reportedly so hot at the Texxas Jam, that the stage crewmembers repeatedly sprayed down the crowd with water from a fire hose. Movies like The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour, The Who's Tommy, and Monterey Pop were being screened continually. By promoters' standards, the first annual Texxas Jam Day was a success. It ended with no births, no deaths and very few injuries.

07/03/78: Armadillo World Headquarters, (AWHQ) Austin, TX. Opening act: Bugs Henderson Group.

07/09/78: Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, CA. Attendance: 8,614. Audio recording exists.

07/13/78: Superdome, New Orleans, LA. Opened for: The Doobie Brothers and The Rolling Stones. Attendance: 80,173.

07/15/78: Fairgrounds, Oklahoma City, OK (The Oklahoma Jam). Audio recording exists.

07/16/78: Credit Island, Davenport, IA. Known as the Mississippi River Jam 1978 and sometimes the Iowa Jam, the bill included: Journey, Atlanta Rhythm Section, and The Doobie Brothers. This outdoor festival took place in a sweltering Iowa July heat and was plagued with delays. David Lee Roth told the nearly 35,000 fans in attendance to "Get your minds off the heat and put it in the beat." Almost 50 people were treated for heat exhaustion throughout the festival. The intense temperature also created havoc for the bands. It took over an hour for the sound crew to set up Journey's equipment, which was longer than their 45-minute set. At the end of the Atlanta Rhythm Section's 50-minute set a piece of their stage equipment caught fire, sending up flames from a nearby electronic panel. After waiting for nearly two hours, close to 4,000 over-zealous fans crashed a fence before the venue opened (authorities had attempted to keep the concert-goers away from the performance area until the stage was completely erected) and almost as many left the performance early due to all of the delays.

07/18/78: Outagamic County Fairgrounds, Seymour, WI. Opened for: Journey

07/23/78: Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, CA. Known as Bill Graham's Day on the Green Festival, the bill included: AC/DC, Pat Travers, Foreigner and Aerosmith. Eddie gives his first interview for a guitar magazine on this day. Attendance: 57,512

08/03/78: Lubbock Municipal Auditorium, Lubbock, TX. Opened for: Rick Derringer. Attendance: 3,032

08/04/78: Hollywood Bowl, Amarillo, TX (West Texxas Jam)

08/09/78: Second Chance, Peoria, IL. Opeing act: Bigfoot

08/19/78: Engle Stadium, Bay City Central High School, Bay City, MI. Known as the Summer Celebration '78, the bill included two local bands and Bob Seger. Attendance: 22,572

08/22/78: Milwaukee Arena, Milwaukee, WI. Opened for: Black Sabbath. Attendance: 10,424

08/27/78: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY. Opened for: Black Sabbath.

08/29/78: The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA. Opened for: Black Sabbath. Audio recording exists.

09/02/78: Pittsburgh Civic Arena (The Igloo), Pittsburgh, PA. Opened for: Black Sabbath.

09/04/78: Cape Cod Coliseum, S. Yarmouth, MA. Opened for: Black Sabbath.

09/05/78: Portland Civic Center, Portland, NH. Opened for: Black Sabbath. Attendance: 7,744.

09/07/78: Niagra Falls Civic Center, Niagra Falls, NY. Opened for: Black Sabbath.

09/08/78: Niagra Falls Civic Center, Niagara Falls, NY. Opened for: Black Sabbath. Attendance: 8,186. Audio recording exists.

09/09/78: Baltimore Civic Center, Baltimore, MD. Opened for: Black Sabbath. Attendance: 9,253.

09/10/78: New Haven Coliseum, New Haven, CT. Opened for: Black Sabbath. Attendance: 7,438.

09/12/78: Indianapolis Convention Center, Indianapolis, IN. Opened for: Black Sabbath. Attendance: 7,653.

09/14/78: Cobo Hall, Detroit, MI. Opened for: Black Sabbath.

09/15/78: Cleveland Convention Center, Cleveland, OH. Opened for: Black Sabbath.

09/16/78: Checkerdome, St. Louis, MO. Opened for: Black Sabbath. Attendance: 13,133.

09/17/78: Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, MO. Opened for: Black Sabbath. Attendance: 11,000.

09/18/78: Assembly Center, Tulsa, OK. Opened for: Black Sabbath.

09/22/78: Selland Arena, Fresno, CA. Audio and Video recordings exist.

09/23/78: Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim, CA. The bill for this show included Richie Lecea, Sammy Hagar, Black Sabbath and Boston. Attendance: 56,000. Van Halen stold the show by hiring look-a-likes to parachute from an airplane into the stadium (David Lee Roth's idea). An announcer frantically declared, "From out of the sky, Van Halen is coming into the stadium!" Looking as though they would land right on the stage, the four parachutists maneuvered to an area just outside the stadium gates at the last minute. Moments later, Van Halen, dressed in parachute gear, took the stage arm-in-arm to a thunderous ovation (though Alex Van Halen twisted his ankle while waiting for the parachuters to land). The event set a new one-day gross record with receipts totaling $710,000. Unadvertised Lecea, fresh from opening the California Jam 2 at Ontario Motor Speedway, opened the 9-hour extravaganza, followed by Hagar, who relied heavily on his then newly released live album, All Night Long. Van Halen followed with a 10-song set made up of nine songs from Van Halen and Bottoms Up! Audio recording exists.

09/26/78: Portland Memorial Coliseum, Portland, OR. Opened for: Black Sabbath. Attendance: 11,000.

09/27/78: Vancouver Coliseum, Vancouver, BC. Opened for: Black Sabbath.

09/28/78: Spokane Coliseum, Spokane, WA. Opened for: Black Sabbath.

09/29/78: Seattle Coliseum, Seattle, WA. Opened for: Black Sabbath. Attendance: 12,000.

09/30/78: Seattle Coliseum, Seattle, WA. Opened for: Black Sabbath.

10/09/78: Musikhalle, Hamburg, GER. Opened for: Black Sabbath.

10/10/78: Cambrais, Palais des Grottes, Valenciennes, FRA. Opened for: Black Sabbath. Audio recording exists.

10/11/78: Stadthalle, Offenbach, GER. Opened for: Black Sabbath. Audio recording exists.

10/13/78: Haldenberghalle, Goppingen, GER. Opened for: Black Sabbath.

10/14/78: Friedrich-Ebert-Halle, Ludwigshafgen, GER. Opened for: Black Sabbath. Audio recording exists.

10/15/78: Kurnachthalle, Wurzburg, GER

10/17/78: Hemmerleinhalle, Wurzburg, GER. Opened for: Black Sabbath.

10/18/78: Sporthalle, Heilbronn, GER

10/22/78: Rainbow Theater Ballroom, London, UK. Down in Flames is added to set list for this show. Audio recording exists.

10/27/78: Sporthal, Koekeiaere, Belgium

11/05/78: Sportatorium, Hollywood, FL. Opened for: Black Sabbath. Attendance: 12,631.

11/08/78: Boutwell Auditorium, Birmingham, AL. Opened for: Black Sabbath.

11/13/78: Nashville Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, TN. Attendance: 9,082. Audio recording exists.

11/14/78: Mobile Municipal Auditorium, Mobile, AL. Attendance: 9,690.

11/20/78: The Myriad, Oklahoma City, OK. Attendance: 10,176.

11/23/78: Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, TX (Thanksgiving). Opened for: Black Sabbath.

11/28/78: McNichols Arena, Denver, CO. Attendance: 15,354.

12/02/78: Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, CA

12/03/78: San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, CA