OU812 Tour
Tour by Van Halen
Associated albumOU812
Start dateMay 27, 1988
End dateFebruary 4, 1989
Legs4
No. of shows76
Van Halen concert chronology

The OU812 Tour was a concert tour by hard rock band Van Halen in support of their studio album OU812.

Background

Van Halen began their tour with a United States leg known as the "Monsters of Rock" tour through 23 cities alongside Metallica, Scorpions, Dokken and Kingdom Come which would feature a specially constructed stage with lights and state-of-the-art sound equipment. The tour originated when promoter Louis Messina had approached the band and suggested a five-band summer long tour, in which the band didn't hesitate to sign up.[1][2] In the end, the leg itself was a financial failure, though it would be their most expensive tour.[3][4] Some of the cities the band performed in during the "Monsters of Rock" tour had however shown some success while there was confusion from the promoters where the tour didn't do well, bringing up speculation that the album wasn't familiar with the audience yet, while others stated that the shows were on a weekday while school was going on.[5] During the show in East Troy, Hagar fell during the opening song on the set, receiving a minor tailbone fracture. Despite his injury, he did finish the performance.[6][7] Following the Monsters of Rock tour, the band did go on a brief hiatus before continuing the tour.[8] On the second North American leg, Van Halen performed in smaller venues, wrapping up the tour with shows in Japan and Hawaii.

Reception

Mark Madden, a staff writer from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette gave the performance at the Three Rivers Stadium a positive review. He acknowledged that more than 35,000 fans couldn't help but be struck when Eddie Van Halen's fleet fingers played through two hours of the band's biggest hits. Regarding Eddie's solo Madden added that the biggest technical sparkle was that he was successfully able to play within the context of his songs and did not play a bad solo that night. Including Hagar, Madden stated that he brought all the fun, with good vocals and songs - but didn't forget to add about Michael Anthony and Alex Van Halen whom Madden stated were a quality foundation. During the conclusion of his review, Madden noted that the biggest strength for the band's performance was definitely their songs.[9]

Jeff Bunch from the Spokesman Review gave the performance at the Albi Stadium a positive review. In his opening statement, Bunch stated that rock 'n' roll was alive and well in Spokane and that it was better than nothing. He noted on the music being "hot", bringing the crowd to decibel levels that matched the band's sound system which he cited as "powerful". He acknowledged the members' solos, with Eddie Van Halen's being cited as "magical" as he captivated the audience for nearly ten minutes with his lightning-quick fingers. Not forgetting Alex Van Halen or Hagar, he brought up their solos as well - referring to Hagar as a bundle of energy, adding that he is a consummate showman. Bunch concluded his review, stating that it was a great concert, and that people got their money's worth, though he did say that it would be hard to say if the band's show had lived up to its expectations.[10]

Jerry Spangler from the Deseret News gave the Salt Palace performance he attended a mixed review. He stated that while the band had shown to be the best there is on the hard rock circuit, they still lacked the style that could one day make them one of the best bands of all time, referring to them as a good time to a near-capacity crowd they performed for. Spangler noted on one of the show's highlights when Hagar had taken center stage for an acoustic guitar solo, praising it as "warm" and "optimism". He cited that Hagar was the surprise for the show aside from the characteristic of Eddie Van Halen, but did criticize that confidence Hagar presented would translate into inanities.[11]

"The first time I went to a 'big' concert was the Monsters of Rock in 1987 (sic), at a stadium in DC: Kingdom Come, Metallica, Dokken, Scorpions and Van Halen," recalled Dave Grohl. "Standing far enough from the stage that it was taking four seconds for the sound of the snare drum to hit me made no sense at all."[12]

Setlist

  1. "There's Only One Way to Rock"
  2. "Summer Nights"
  3. "Panama"
  4. "A.F.U. (Naturally Wired)"
  5. "Runnin' with the Devil"
  6. "Why Can't This Be Love"
  7. "Mine All Mine"
  8. "Cabo Wabo"
  9. "Finish What Ya Started"
  10. "5150"
  11. "When It's Love"
  12. "Eagles Fly"
  13. "I Can't Drive 55"
  14. "Best of Both Worlds"
  15. "Black and Blue"
  16. "Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love"

Encore

  2. "You Really Got Me"
  3. "Rock and Roll"

Tour dates

List of concerts, showing date, city, country and venue
Date[13] City Country Venue
Monsters of Rock
May 27, 1988 East Troy United States Alpine Valley Music Theatre
May 28, 1988
May 29, 1988
June 4, 1988[14] Miami Orange Bowl
June 5, 1988[14] Tampa Tampa Stadium
June 10, 1988 Washington, D.C. RFK Stadium
June 11, 1988 Philadelphia JFK Stadium
June 12, 1988 Foxborough Sullivan Stadium
June 15, 1988 Pittsburgh Three Rivers Stadium
June 17, 1988 Pontiac Silverdome
June 18, 1988
June 19, 1988 Buffalo Rich Stadium
June 22, 1988[15] Akron Rubber Bowl
June 23, 1988[15]
June 25, 1988 Oxford Oxford Plains Speedway
June 26, 1988 East Rutherford Giants Stadium
June 27, 1988
July 2, 1988[16] Houston Rice Stadium
July 3, 1988 Dallas Cotton Bowl
July 6, 1988 Indianapolis Hoosier Dome
July 9, 1988 Memphis Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium
July 10, 1988 Kansas City Arrowhead Stadium
July 13, 1988 Minneapolis Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
July 17, 1988 San Francisco Candlestick Park
July 20, 1988 Spokane Joe Albi Stadium
July 24, 1988 Los Angeles Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
July 27, 1988 Seattle Kingdome
July 30, 1988 Denver Mile High Stadium
North America
September 30, 1988 Lexington United States Rupp Arena
October 1, 1988 Cincinnati Riverfront Coliseum
October 3, 1988 Atlanta Omni Coliseum
October 4, 1988 Antioch Starwood Amphitheatre
October 6, 1988 Greensboro Greensboro Coliseum
October 7, 1988 Charlotte Charlotte Coliseum
October 8, 1988 Knoxville Thompson–Boling Arena
October 11, 1988 New York City Madison Square Garden
October 12, 1988 Uniondale Nassau Coliseum
October 14, 1988 Hartford Hartford Civic Center
October 15, 1988 Syracuse Carrier Dome
October 17, 1988 Providence Providence Civic Center
October 18, 1988 Worcester Centrum in Worcester
October 20, 1988 Richmond Richmond Coliseum
October 21, 1988 Norfolk Norfolk Scope
October 22, 1988 Philadelphia Spectrum
October 25, 1988 Rosemont Rosemont Horizon
October 26, 1988 Fort Wayne Allen County War Memorial Coliseum
October 27, 1988
October 28, 1988 Milwaukee Bradley Center
October 30, 1988 Notre Dame Joyce Center
October 31, 1988 Cedar Rapids Five Seasons Center
November 1, 1988 Ames Hilton Coliseum
November 4, 1988 Valley Center Kansas Coliseum
November 5, 1988 Lincoln Bob Devaney Sports Center
November 7, 1988 Peoria Peoria Civic Center
November 8, 1988 St. Louis St. Louis Arena
November 9, 1988
November 11, 1988 New Orleans Lakefront Arena
November 13, 1988 Austin Frank Erwin Center
November 15, 1988 El Paso UTEP Special Events Center
November 16, 1988 Tucson Tucson Community Center
November 17, 1988 Phoenix Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
November 19, 1988 San Diego San Diego Sports Arena
November 21, 1988 Sacramento ARCO Arena
November 22, 1988 Reno Lawlor Events Center
November 24, 1988 Portland Memorial Coliseum
November 26, 1988 Salt Lake City Salt Palace
Asia
January 19, 1989 Tokyo Japan Tokyo Dome
January 23, 1989 Kyoto Kyoto Pulse Plaza
January 24, 1989 Osaka Osaka-jō Hall
January 25, 1989
January 27, 1989 Hiroshima Hiroshima Sun Plaza
January 29, 1989 Kyoto Kyoto Pulse Plaza
January 31, 1989 Nagoya Nagoya Rainbow Hall
February 1, 1989 Tokyo Tokyo Dome
February 2, 1989
North America
February 4, 1989 Honolulu United States Neal S. Blaisdell Center
February 5, 1989

Personnel

References

  1. ^ "Van Halen monster tour is sure to pack stadiums". No. 110. Spokane, Washington: Spokane Chronicle. February 22, 1988. p. B2. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  2. ^ Bunch, Jeff (July 15, 1988). "Do you believe in Monsters? Summer tour has been struck by lightning - literally". Spokane, Washington: The Spokesman-Review. p. 4. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  3. ^ Doughton, K. J. (December 4, 2008). Metallica Unbound: The Unofficial Biography (eBook). Hachette+ORM. ISBN 978-0-446-55458-9. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  4. ^ Bennett, Andy; Dawe, Kevin (May 18, 2020). Guitar Cultures (eBook). Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-18085-5. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  5. ^ Hazlett, Terry (July 5, 1988). "Concert a monster loss for promoters". No. 88184. Washington, Pennsylvania: Observer-Reporter. p. A-12. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  6. ^ Madden, Mark (June 11, 1988). "Van Halen on tour for the fun of it". No. 271. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 19. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  7. ^ Considine, J.D. (June 21, 1988). "Heavy metal 'Monsters of Rock' tour right on track". No. 242. Eugene, Oregon: Eugene Register-Guard. p. 3A. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  8. ^ Britt, Bruce (July 29, 1988). "What's next for Monsters?". No. 52. Spokane, Washington: The Spokesman-Review. p. 8. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  9. ^ Madden, Mark (June 16, 1988). "Eddie Van Halen's guitar work puts him among the greats". No. 275. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. pp. 17, 21. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  10. ^ Bunch, Jeff (July 20, 1988). "Some red-hot rock, but not monstrous". Spokane, Washington: The Spokesman-Review. p. A10. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  11. ^ Spangler, Jerry (November 29, 1988). "Van Halen has talent but lacks style". No. 168. Salt Lake City, Utah: The Deseret News. p. C5. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  12. ^ Chick, Stevie (July 2005). "The Mojo Interview". Mojo. No. 140. p. 46.
  13. ^ "Van Halen Tour Dates". Archived from the original on August 24, 2007. Retrieved September 1, 2007. Accessed on 31 August 2007
  14. ^ a b "Entertainment events to remember". No. 184. Lakeland, Florida: Lakeland Ledger. April 23, 1988. p. 3C. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  15. ^ a b "Van Halen's 'Monsters of Rock' booked for Akron June 22-23". Youngstown, Ohio: The Vindicator. May 13, 1988. p. 23. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  16. ^ "Music: Pop, Rock, Jazz, Etc". Texas Monthly. Vol. 16, no. 7. Austin, Texas: Emmis Communications. July 1988. p. 40. ISSN 0148-7736. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
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