World Invasion Tour

Monday

Jan312011

World Invasion Tour

Kicking off in Spokane, WA, the 1980 World Invasion Tour (also dubbed the Party 'Til You Die Tour) featured an impressive sound system once belonging to the Bee Gees. The stage boasted more than 800 lights on a 64-foot tress, which according to David Lee Roth, was a Guinness world record at the time.

Alex's drum kit from this tour was donated for display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

A Dutch cinematographer (reportedly named Snade Krellmans) was hired to document the tour on film and the band intended to release a documentary that would rival The Who's The Kids Are Alright and Led Zeppelin's The Song Remains the Same. Unfortunately the footage was never released.

The band got creative with their aliases when checking into hotels. Dave liked "Hugh Jazz," Eddie used "Justin Time," Al followed with "Justin Kase" and Mike used the moniker still associated with him by diehard fans, "Biff Malibu."

The offstage carnage continued. The band routinely caused hundreds of dollars in damage to their hotel rooms, dressing rooms, and everywhere in between, including an incident believed to have taken place in Eddie's room in Fresno, CA, dubbed by management as "The Famous Ketchup Kaper."

The World Invasion Tour also saw the birth of the legendary brown M&M contract rider. The band demanded M&M candies backstage with all of the brown ones removed. Only one documented case exists where the rider wasn't adhered to, a show at the University of Colorado in Pueblo, CO. They paid dearly for their error. The band demolished their backstage dressing room causing thousands of dollars of damage.

The rider itself was genius. Its sole purpose was to ensure that venue and promoter personnel read the entire contract before each performance, and brown M&Ms backstage was an instant indicator they hadn't. If the venue couldn't perform a task as simple as removing a specified color of M&Ms, how could they be trusted to fulfill lighting, sound, and other technical requirements?

Another new idea ended up becoming the precursor to the Grid System, which was later introduced in full force on the Hide Your Sheep Tour. This early version of the Grid System involved several roadies being loaded with backstage passes marked with the letter "Q." The band would point out a particular female fan in the audience to invite backstage and the roadie would hunt her down and grace her with the pass.

A host of bands filled the opening slot throughout the tour, which had become a very tough gig. The openers were frequently targets for whatever the audience had handy, and were normally heavily booed and otherwise verbally abused by the Van Halen-hungry crowd. Some bands cracked under the pressure while others fared pretty well. Rail, the Fabulous Poodles, the Cats, and Talas (featuring Billy Sheehan on bass) were the opening bands for this tour, with Talas actually doing quite well. They weren't booed and Van Halen's production manager Patrick Whitley even let them perform encores on more than one occasion.

Reflecting back on Van Halen during Talas' stint as an opening band, Sheehan remarked, "Every night they [Van Halen] were totally awesome. On their worst night they were incredible. Every night I went out front and watched. It was an incredible education on how you perform live. How you do an arena. I'd been a club player my whole life and I was pretty good at that if I do say so myself. I knew how to do the club thing. But I learned so much more about entertainment and how it works from watching that band play night after night. Just sitting and really studying what was goin' on; it was an incredible experience. Dare I say a lot of my success, I think, eventually came from some of the inspiration that I acquired right there."

Typical set list:

3/22/80: Lane County Fairgrounds, Eugene, OR. Opening act: Rail.

3/24/80: Spokane, WA. Opening act: Rail. The song Bright Lights, Big City is added to the set list for this show. Audio recording exists.

3/25/80: Four Seasons Arena, Great Falls, MT

4/02/80: Vancouver, BC

4/03/80: Portland Memorial Coliseum, Portland, OR. Opening act: Rail.

4/04/80: Seattle Coliseum, Seattle, WA. Opening act: Rail.

4/05/80: Seattle Coliseum, Seattle, WA. Opening act: Rail.

4/07/80: Calgary, AB

4/08/80: Edmonton, AB

4/14/80: Milwaukee Arena, Milwaukee, WI. Audio recording exists.

4/24/80: Cincinnati, OH. During Light Up the Sky, Dave tells the audience to "Light 'em up!" Thinking that Roth is inciting the crowd to smoke where smoking isn't allowed, he is charged with a misdemeanor for complicity in inciting others to violate the fire code. Dave makes great use of the publicity by dressing as a bandit. The charges were later dropped due to a "lack of evidence."

4/30/80: Pittsburgh Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, PA. Opening act: Rail.

5/01/80: Capitol Center, Largo, MD. Audio recording exists.

5/03/80: Cape Cod Coliseum, South Yarmouth, MA

5/05/80: Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, NY. Opening act: Rail. Audio recording exists.

5/06/80: War Memorial, Rochester, NY. Opening act: Rail.

5/08/80: New Haven Coliseum, New Haven, CT. Opening act: Rail.

5/09/80: The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA. Audio recording exists.

5/23/80: Fakloner Centre, Copenhagen, DE

5/24/80: Stadthalle, Bremen, GER

5/26/80: Burg. Damen Sportpark, Geleen, NL. Known as the Pinkpop Festival, the bill for this show included Garland Jefferys, Raymond van het Groenewoud, Joe Jackson, the Specials, J. Geils, and The Jam. This was Van Halen's first European outdoor festival. It was originally canceled after Dave broke his nose filming a special on Italian television. The night before the gig on 5/25, probably some time after rehearsals, Eddie and Alex appeared on Dutch radio announcing they would still play the festival, quoting Dave's remark, "Fuck the doctor!" Attendance: 50,000. Audio recording exists.

5/27/80: Eberthalle, Ludwigshafen, GER

5/29/80: Grugahalle, Essen, GER

5/30/80: Ernst-Merckhalle, Hamburg, GER

5/31/80: Cambrais, Palais des Grottes, Valenciennes, FRA

6/01/80: Hall Central (Parc des Exposition), Caen, FRA. Scheduled opening act Angel City did not appear. A German band named Lucifer's Friend opened instead.

6/03/80: Palais des Sports, Paris, FRA

6/04/80: Palais des Sport, Lyon, FRA

6/06/80: Maison des Sport, Reims, FRA

6/07/80: Kuernachthalle, Nurnberg, GER

6/08/80: Nurnberg Hemmerleinhalle, Nurnberg, GER

6/10/80: Phillipshalle, Dusselforf, GER

6/11/80: Messehallen Sindelfingen, Stuttgard, GER

6/14/80: Rudi-Sedlmayerhalle, Munich, GER

6/17/80: Newcastle City Hall, Newcastle, UK

6/18/80: Apollo Theatre, Glasgow, Scotland

6/19/80: Apollo Theatre, Manchester, UK. Audio recording exists.

6/20/80: DeMont Fort Hall, Leicester, UK. Audio recording exists. Van Halen and Rush stay at the same hotel. Geddy Lee plays a tape for Eddie and whispers something in his ear. Eddie, in turn, pours his beer, glass and all, into Lee's tape recorder. As payback, Van Halen is banned from Rush's show when the two bands performed in Las Vegas, NV, one year later.

6/21/80: ZDF Rockpop, GER

6/22/80: Odeon Theatre, Birmingham, UK

6/23/80: Rainbow Theatre, Ballroom London, UK. Audio recording exists.

6/24/80: Rainbow Theatre, Ballroom London, UK. Audio recording exists.

7/10/80: Wings Stadium, Kalamazoo MI

7/12/80: Charleston Civic Center, Charleston, WV

7/13/80: Toledo Sport Arena, Toledo, OH

7/15/80: Montreal Forum, Montreal, QE

7/16/80: Ottawa Civic Center, Ottawa, ON

7/17/80: London Treasure Island Gardens, London, ON. Opening act: Teenage Head.

7/18/80: C.N.E. Coliseum, Toronto, ON. Opening act: Teenage Head. Audio recording exists.

7/21/80: Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, VA

7/22/80: Baltimore Civic Center, Baltimore, MD. Audio recording exists.

7/25/80: Boston Garden, Boston, MA. Opening act: The Cats. Audio recording exists.

7/26/80: Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY. Audio recording exists.

7/27/80: Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY. Audio recording exists.

7/28/80: Freedom Hall, Louisville, KY. Opening act: Fabulous Poodles.

7/29/80: Chicago International Amphitheater, Chicago, IL. Opening act: Rail.

7/30/80: Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, IN. Opening act: The Cats.

8/02/80: Barton Coliseum, Little Rock, AR. Opening act: The Cats.

8/08/80: Ft. Myers, FL. Audio recording exists.

8/09/80: Sportatorium, Hollywood, FL. Audio recording exists.

8/10/80: Jacksonville Coliseum, Jacksonville, FL

8/12/80: Bayfront Center, St. Petersburg, FL

8/15/80: Roberto Clemente Coliseum, San Juan, Puerto Rico

8/16/80: Roberto Clemente Coliseum, San Juan, Puerto Rico

8/22/80: Kemper Arena, Kansas City, MO

8/23/80: Omaha Civic Auditorium, Omaha, NE

8/24/80: Bicentennial Center, Salina, KS

8/26/80: Corpus Christi Memorial Coliseum, Corpus Cristi, TX

8/27/80: San Antonio Convention Center, San Antonio, TX

8/28/80: Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, TX. Opening act: The Cats.

8/29/80: Hirsh Memorial Arena, Shreveport, LA. Eddie meets Valerie Bertinelli (accompanied by her brother Patrick) for the first time, backstage after the show. As a joke, Valerie presents each of the band members with a bag of M&Ms with brown ones included. Patrick snapped a photo of the pair together with Eddie clenching his bag between his teeth. The photo was a fixture on the couple's fireplace for years.

8/30/80: Centroplex, Baton Rouge, LA. Opening act: The Cats. Valerie, with Patrick in tow, attends her second Van Halen concert.

9/01/80: Mobile Municipal Auditorium, Mobile, AL. Eddie telephones Valerie for the first time after meeting her backstage on 8/29/80.

9/02/80: Jackson Coliseum, Jackson, MS

9/03/80: Fairpark Coliseum, Beaumont, TX

9/04/80: Reunion Arena, Dallas, TX

9/06/80: University of Oklahoma (Owen Field), Norman, OK

9/07/80: Municipal Coliseum, Amarillo, TX

9/08/80: Municipal Coliseum, Amarillo, TX

9/09/80: El Paso Civic Center Coliseum, El Paso, TX. Opening act: The Cats.

9/10/80: University of New Mexico Arena, Albuquerque, NM. Audio recording exists.

9/12/80: McNichols Arena, Denver, CO

9/13/80: McNichols Arena, Denver, CO

9/15/80: Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Phoenix, AZ

9/16/80: Tucson Community Center Arena, Tucson, AZ

9/18/80: Selland Arena, Fresno, CA

9/19/80: Sports Arena, Los Angeles, CA. Opening act: The Cats.

9/20/80: Sports Arena, Los Angeles, CA. Opening act: The Cats. At least one of these L.A. shows was filmed. Dave even invited the camera crew out on stage to film the audience.

9/27/80: Toronto, ON

10/03/80: Rushmore Plaza, Rapid City, SD

10/04/80: Bismarck Civic Center, Bismarck, ND

10/06/80: Salt Palace, Salt Lake City, UT. Audio recording exists.

10/09/80: Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, CA. Opening act: Talas. Audio recording exists.

10/10/80: Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, CA. Opening act: Talas. Dave celebrates his birthday on stage with a woman who jumps out of a 5-foot tall cake. Audio recording exists.

10/12/80: San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, CA. Opening act: The Cats.

10/15/80: Sioux Falls Arena, Sioux Falls, SD

10/16/80: Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Des Moines, IA

10/17/80: Pershing Auditorium, Lincoln, NE

10/19/80: Western Hall, Macomb, IL (Western Illinois University). Opening act: Talas.

10/21/80: Hulman Center, Terre Haute, IN

10/22/80: Rupp Arena, Lexington, KY

10/26/80: Fayetteville, NC. This show was canceled.

11/06/80: Athletic and Convocation Center, South Bend, IN. Opening act: Talas.

11/07/80: Roberts Stadium, Evansville, IN. Opening act: Talas.

11/08/80: Von Braun Civic Center Arena, Huntsville, AL