It's on. Van Halen, featuring original lead singer David Lee Roth, will tour North America from September.
This will be Roth's first time on tour with the band since he left in 1985.After his departure, Sammy Hager joined and continued the band's multi-platinum success, but was dumped from the group in 1996. Meanwhile, Roth made a name for himself as a solo singer and had a couple of cheesy hits with covers of 'California Girls' and 'Just A Gigalo/I Ain't Got Nobody'.
The next event started a decade of disaster for Van Halen. The third lead singer Gary Cherone (ex-Extreme) failed to connect with the audience and that marriage lasted just one album. Van Halen went into hibernation but dabbled in tour plans over the years featuring Hagar or Roth.
In 2002, the activity began when both Roth and Hagar, after a failed attempt to mount a tour featuring both singers, went out on their own 'Sam & Dave' tour. While the idea was good, the formula wasn't right without Van Halen and the tour fizzled.
In 2004, Hagar went back to Van Halen for a reunion tour. Again, while the big cities attracted sell-out crowds, the band struggled through middle America. The tension between Hagar and Van Halen was compounded by the lack of business being done with the crowds and the tour ended without leaving North America.
So now to the 2007 chapter of the Van Halen soap-opera. 28 dates were announced today with the tour kicking off in North Carolina on September 27.
The line-up is indeed questionable with founding bass player Michael Anthony out of the line-up, only to be replaced by Eddie Van Halen's teenage son Wolfgang.
However, when it comes to putting together a setlist of VH songs with Roth, the word "heritage" will be a big selling point.
Roth voiced 'Running With The Devil', 'Ain't Talking About Love', 'You Really Got Me', 'Hot For Teacher', 'Jump', 'Dance The Night Away' and 'Panama' with this band. If they stick to the hits, the tour is a potential killer.
Under Roth, the band has had two platinum selling albums (10m+) in their 1978 self-titled debut and 1984's '1984'.
In addition, with Roth, 'Van Halen II' sold 5m+, 'Diver Down' went 4 times platinum, 'Women and Children First' sold more than 3 million and 'Fair Warning' did over 2 million.
VAN HALEN TOUR
North American Dates
Sep. 27 Charlotte, NC Charlotte Bobcats Arena
Sep. 29 Greensboro, NC Greensboro Coliseum
Oct. 01 Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Center
Oct. 07 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre
Oct. 10 Cleveland, OH Quicken Loans Arena
Oct. 14 Indianapolis, IN Conseco Field House
Oct. 16 Chicago, IL Allstate Arena
Oct. 18 Chicago, IL United Center
Oct. 22 Auburn Hills, MI Palace of Auburn Hills
Oct. 24 Minneapolis, MN Target Center
Oct. 26 Kansas City, MO Sprint Center
Oct. 28 St. Louis, MO Scottrade Center
Oct. 30 Boston, MA TD Banknorth Garden
Nov. 03 E. Rutherford, NJ Continental Airlines Arena
Nov. 13 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
Nov. 20 Los Angeles, CA Staples Center
Nov. 23 Glendale, AZ Jobing.Com Arena
Nov. 25 San Diego, CA Cox Arena
Nov. 27 Sacramento, CA Arco Arena
Nov. 29 San Jose, CA HP Pavilion at San Jose
Dec. 01 Portland, OR Rose Garden
Dec. 03 Seattle, WA Key Arena
Dec. 05 Vancouver, BC General Motors Place
Dec. 09 Edmonton, AB Rexall Place
Dec. 11 Calgary, AB Pengrowth Saddledome
