Van Halen tour rumor

[DRL]

Van Halen
The tour rumor mill is overflowing. A Van Halen reunion with Sammy Hagar is viewed as a virtual certainty as being the front man.
The Van Halen rumors got rolling last fall when the band signed with Irving Azoff, longtime manager of Hagar, the Eagles, Journey and others. Around the same time, Hagar announced that he was once again on speaking terms with Alex and Eddie Van Halen. He and the brothers hadn't spoken since parting ways in 1996 after an argument.
The William Morris Agency is reportedly booking North American arenas for a Van Halen excursion this summer.
The group's last outing was in 1998, with former Extreme singer Gary Cherone handling vocal duties. Their last tour with Hagar wrapped in late 1995; the eight-month outing sold well over a million tickets, grossing more than $32 million.

[DRL]

It looks like the rumors are true. Though there has been no official announcement.





Van Halen Summer Tour A Go

The long-rumored Van Halen summer tour is finally getting off the ground. The group's official Web site reports that Van Halen will play shows on dates yet to be announced in Detroit; East Rutherford, N.J.; Greensboro, N.C.; Hershey, Pa.; Kansas City, Mo.; Las Vegas; Philadelphia; St. Louis; St. Paul, Minn.; Wilkes-Barre, Pa.; and Worcester, Mass.

There has also yet to be a formal announcement as to who will fill the group's lead singer slot, although it appears Sammy Hagar has won back the job. Hagar replaced original vocalist David Lee Roth in 1985 and remained in Van Halen until 1996. Roth returned to the fold for a brief, disastrous stint that year to record two new songs for a greatest hits album, but did not collaborate with the band further.

Former Extreme frontman Gary Cherone took over lead vocal duties for 1998's "Van Halen III" and a tour later that year, the band's most recent to date. In a bizarre twist, Roth and Hagar embarked on co-headlining U.S. tour in 2002.

As a band, Van Halen is surrounded by numerous other uncertainties, from guitarist Eddie Van Halen's battle with cancer to its lack of a record deal. The group split with Warner Bros. in early 2002 after spending its entire career recording for the label.

Hagar has a handful of shows booked with his band the Waboritas into early May. Promoters previously confirmed to Billboard.biz that Van Halen had holds for late summer dates in several U.S. arenas. In recent weeks, the group also signed a deal for representation with the William Morris Agency.

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Update: Van Halen Tour To Bow In June




Van Halen has confirmed the routing for its summer tour, as well as the return of vocalist Sammy Hagar after an eight-year absence. The group's official Web site features the greeting "Eddie, Alex, Mike & Sammy Hit the Road" as well as a new photo of the foursome. The trek will play North American arenas beginning June 11 in Greensboro, N.C., and wrapping Aug. 19 in Los Angeles.

Van Halen -- guitarist Eddie Van Halen, drummer Alex Van Halen and bassist Michael Anthony -- has not toured since 1998 and is currently without a record deal after splitting from longtime home Warner Bros. in 2002. However, June will see the release of a greatest hits album via Warner Strategic Marketing, featuring at least one new Hagar-voiced track, "It's About Time."

A tour spokesperson says the upcoming shows will offer such David Lee Roth-era classics as "Panama" and "Jump" plus Hagar-associated tracks like "Why Can't This Be Love," "Right Now," "Dreams," "Top of the World" and "Best of Both Worlds."

Tickets for some shows begin going on sale April 3 via Ticketmaster. Van Halen's site will also be offering premium ticket packages for some shows, with details to be announced Tuesday (March 30).

Here are Van Halen's tour dates:

June 11: Greensboro, N.C. (Greensboro Coliseum)
June 13: Hershey, Pa. (Hershey Park Stadium)
June 16: Philadelphia (Wachovia Center)
June 19: Worcester, Mass. (Centrum)
June 22: East Rutherford, N.J. (Continental Airlines Arena)
June 25: Hartford, Conn. (Civic Center)
June 26: Albany, N.Y. (Pepsi Center)
June 28: Washington, D.C. (MCI Center)
July 1: Pittsburgh (Mellon Arena)
July 2: Cleveland (Gund Arena)
July 3: Toronto (Air Canada Centre)
July 6: Columbus (Schottenstein Center)
July 7: Indianapolis (Conseco Fieldhouse)
July 10: Detroit (Joe Louis Arena)
July 11: Auburn Hills, Mich. (Palace of Auburn Hills)
July 19: Chicago (venue TBA)
July 22: St. Paul, Minn. (Xcel Energy Center)
July 26: Kansas City, Mo. (Kemper Arena)
July 28: St. Louis (Savvis Center)
July 31: Omaha, Neb. (Qwest Center)
Aug. 1: Denver (Pepsi Coliseum)
Aug. 5: Phoenix (America West Arena)
Aug. 7: Las Vegas (Mandalay Bay)
Aug. 10: San Jose, Calif. (HP Pavilion)
Aug. 11: Sacramento, Calif. (Arco Arena)
Aug. 13: Oakland, Calif. (Oakland Arena)
Aug. 14: Fresno, Calif. (Save Mart Center)
Aug. 19: Los Angeles (Staples Center)


I'm Bumed out no Florida Dates.

[LS]

Aw...don't get bummed yet DRL. All the above dates haven't all been comfirmed and set in stone- yet. And so far the dates are only cutting across the north...According to the grapevine- if they can manage to hold things together for this leg and don't piss each other off- and it draws well- they could be swinging through the south on a second leg...
(I'm surprised- but soooo glad it's with Sammy!!)

[DRL]

LS said:

Aw...don't get bummed yet DRL. All the above dates haven't all been comfirmed and set in stone- yet. And so far the dates are only cutting across the north...According to the grapevine- if they can manage to hold things together for this leg and don't piss each other off- and it draws well- they could be swinging through the south on a second leg...
(I'm surprised- but soooo glad it's with Sammy!!)

WHOOPEE!!! They added Florida dates and I already bought them through the AOL pre sale.
By the way if you live in my area and want to go and you don't have aol I suggest you be there Saturday at noon to get tickets.The floor and lower bowl are almost gone on the pre sale.

New dates

Wed 09/08/04 Sunrise, FL Office Depot Center

Thu 09/09/04 Tampa, FL St. Pete Times Forum

Sat 09/11/04 Jacksonville, FL Jacksonville Veterans Mem. Arena

Thu 09/23/04 Houston, TX Toyota Center

Sat 09/25/04 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center

Tue 09/28/04 San Antonio, TX SBC Center

Wed 09/29/04 Lubbock, TX United Spirit Arena

[LS]

DRL said:

WHOOPEE!!! They added Florida dates and I already bought them through the AOL pre sale.

See...I told ya to sit tight. ;D Glad ya got your tix...

Better late than never- but figured I'd mention it since it's not showing up everywhere...they added a second date at the Continental Arena- though 'bout all that's left are seats in 'nosebleed land'...

[DRL]

LS said:

See...I told ya to sit tight. ;D Glad ya got your tix...

Better late than never- but figured I'd mention it since it's not showing up everywhere...they added a second date at the Continental Arena- though 'bout all that's left are seats in 'nosebleed land'...

Thanks LS I knew you were probably right about them swinging down this way was just bumed cause I was hopeing we'd get one the early shows.
Tickets sales must be real good up north but there not moving as fast I thought they were here.
It may be that there are bunch of shows going on sale around the same time.
A bunch of them went on sale the last couple of weeks and more are expected. So far this is becomeing one of the best concert seasons in years.

[LS]

DRL said:

Thanks LS I knew you were probably right about them swinging down this way was just bumed cause I was hopeing we'd get one the early shows.

Eh, the earlier shows have their pros & cons...while it's cool to be among the 'first'- there's usually a lot of bugs that still need to get worked out. Went to the first show on the Metallica tour (mercifully they only played two songs from St. Anger) and they had major sound glitches.

Tickets sales must be real good up north but there not moving as fast I thought they were here.
It may be that there are bunch of shows going on sale around the same time.
A bunch of them went on sale the last couple of weeks and more are expected. So far this is becomeing one of the best concert seasons in years.

No sellouts yet (far as I know anyway) though all the good seats are long gone...but think it also has to do with the price- it's a little steep. Everybody's trying to figure out what happened to the lower priced seats (seems nobody was able to snag any- they were 'sold out' like the minute tickets went on sale) because even the miles away from the stage & nosebleed level seats left are going for $90- same price as the primo seats.

[DRL]

The band's forthcoming release, titled "The Very Best of Van Halen" will hit stores later this summer! The two disc set features the following tracks, including three BRAND NEW tunes (not necessarily in this order):

Eruption, When It's Love, Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love, Finish What Ya Started, You Really Got Me, Feels So Good, Jamie's Cryin', Black and Blue, Runnin' With the Devil, Poundcake, Beautiful Girls, Runaround, Dance the Night Away, Right Now, And the Cradle Will Rock..., Top of the World, Everybody Wants Some!!, Can't Stop Lovin' You, Unchained, Not Enough, Dancing In the Street, (Oh) Pretty Woman, Panama, Jump, I'll Wait, Hot For Teacher, It's About Time (NEW!), Learning To See (NEW!), Up For Breakfast (NEW!), Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love (Live), Jump (Live), Panama (Live), Why Can't This Be Love, Dreams, Best of Both Worlds, Love Walks In

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Van Halen Revitalized For Summer Tour




Van Halen is hitting the road this summer for the first time in eight years, and drummer Alex Van Halen and vocalist Sammy Hagar promise it will be well worth the wait. "This set we're playing right now is better than any set we ever played before," Hagar said during a teleconference today (May 27). "I used to be a little sensitive to the old material, but I'm not now. We have a whole different outlook on everything. Let's make this the greatest songs the Van Halen fans have ever heard. The set list will kill you!"

Although neither artist would reveal specifics, the show will find Hagar singing many more songs from Van Halen's David Lee Roth era than he did during his first stint in the band. "I'm really digging 'Jump' right now," he said. "In the old days I never got off on singing that song. I would pull a guy out of the audience to sing it. Now, I want to sing this song better than it has ever been sung. I'm tearing it up!" He also insisted "there's a couple of surprises in [the set], one in particular that is completely oddball."

The group will issue its first new material since 1998's "Van Halen III" on the upcoming "Best of Both Worlds" retrospective, due July 20 via Warner Bros. Hagar boasted that "there were 10 other songs we could have worked on. If there'd been time, we'd love to have done a whole record."

"[Alex and guitarist Eddie Van Halen had been] jamming in the studio for years putting ideas down," he continued. "I'd say, 'that song's great, let's work on that.' But then they'd say, 'listen to this.' It was never-ending. There's so much material that needs to be finished for sure. It became a heavy workload on me as soon as we started getting into it. We had to kind of pick and choose. I took about two hours of stuff home with me and used to work out to it every day. That's really how it got defined."

Both artists said any ill will they may have harbored following Hagar's rancorous 1996 exit from Van Halen is now water under the bridge, but Hagar admitted that before last fall, he hadn't even spoken to Eddie Van Halen in at least six-and-a-half years. "Not even one conversation," he said. "The first one, I was a little nervous. It was kind of like a little uncomfortable. It actually got heavy fast."

"[But] when you see a person you truly have a deep relationship with, all the sudden you realize after time that, hey, forget it. We decided rather than go to therapy, no, no, we're going to pretend like it never happened. We're going to rise above it."

The tour will be documented for potential release on DVD or a live album. "We're very particular about how our music is presented," Van Halen said. "When we do it, we do want control over it. But these days with all the different technologies, we might just join the bandwagon and do our own bootlegs." Either way, Hagar stressed the impact of experiencing the show first hand: "the only way you're gonna get fulfilled is to sit right there in that front row and just get your face bashed in."

-- Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

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Looks like things didn't go as smoothly as everybody thought they did. What a shame!


Hagar Happy Without Van Halen On Summer Tour



By Gary Graff, Detroit



Sammy Hagar has titled his latest tour "The Tequila Made Me Do It." And his fans are hoping he keeps the bottle open.

Rather than a traditional concert, Hagar, who's done stints fronting the bands Montrose and Van Halen in addition to his solo work, has created what he calls a "lifestyle concept." It's basically a Sammypalooza, a harder-rocking version of what Jimmy Buffett does, with gates opening in the afternoon and a variety of activities -- including beach volleyball, a "Sammy-oke" karaoke stage and photo ops with donkeys wearing sombreros -- preceding the music.

"We have a direction and a lifestyle and a way we want to live," explains Hagar, 57, a Monterey, Calif., native. "It's beach by day and dancing all night, tank tops and flip flops. It's all about keeping my fans happy, giving them a little direction if I can find it for them and turning them on to anything I get turned onto, and that's it."

Hagar also hopes to turn them on to some new music of his own soon. He's five songs into his next album, which he says will be a "lifestyle concept record" that will include cover songs and possibly new recordings of his older material by Hagar and his band, the Waboritas.

A year ago, however, Hagar wasn't entirely sure he'd be back to his solo enterprise. In 2004 he was in the midst of a reunion by Van Halen, who recorded three new songs for a greatest hits album and were doing big business at the box office. All indications were that the band was a going concern again.

But, Hagar, whose first run with the group was from 1985-96, says things didn't work out as planned, and he places the blame almost solely with guitarist Edward Van Halen.

"The Van Halen thing wasn't a horrible experience, but it wasn't a great experience," he recalls. "I don't get along with Eddie anymore, and that's all there is to it. I think the whole world knows that he's changed. He used to be a great guy, a fun guy, but now he's miserable and he likes to make everyone around him miserable.

He continues: "And I'm the happiest guy on the planet, y'know? Anybody who makes me miserable, I don't want to be around. That's a simple way to put it; I don't like being around Eddie. He's not any fun."

Hagar says, hopefully, that "maybe he'll change back, and then we can do it again." But he adds that things definitely ended badly. "We almost got into it after the last show," he says. "They just pulled him one way and me the other. We didn't even say goodbye to each other. It was a horrible way to end the whole thing, so I just said 'Man, that's it for me. I'm not playing with people like this."

Hagar still plays with Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony in the covers band Los Tres Guzanos. And in addition to the Waboritas, he's re-formed Montrose to play some of The Tequila Made Me Do It shows -- a model for more "special events" he'd like to be part of his future festivals.

"I like to do 'An Evening With;' I'm not interested in bringing Joe Blow & the Goofballs out to open for me," Hagar explains. "My dream come true would be to have a guy like Eddie [Van Halen] be buddies with me and go out with the Wabos and have Montrose and ... everybody, man. That's my dream situation, and I think the fans would be real happy with that."