Fair Warning Tour

Fair Warning Tour

Tour by Van Halen
Location	North America
Associated album	Fair Warning
Start date	May 12, 1981 (1981-05-12)
End date	October 25, 1981 (1981-10-25)
No. of shows	81
Van Halen concert chronology
World Invasion Tour (1980) Fair Warning Tour (1981) Hide Your Sheep Tour (1982–1983)

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

Background

The tour began with two to three night performances with the band being focused on performing only in North America. ^[1] The June 11, 12 and 13 shows in Oakland were filmed, creating music videos for "Unchained", "So This is Love?" and "Hear About It Later", though Roth stated in an interview that the two nights of filming were a disaster and the footage from the third show had to be scrapped as a result. ^[2] The band concluded their tour as an opening act for two shows with the Rolling Stones at Tangerine Bowl on October 24 and 25. ^{[3] [4]}

Reception

Don Adair from The Spokesman-Review gave the performance he attended in Spokane a positive review. He began his review, stating that Van Halen was music to be enjoyed on the most elemental levels, citing it as flashy, showy, brazen hormone rock and that it was pointless to pass judgement on Van Halen. He acknowledged the stage design, adding that there was follow-spots lighting the band from the rear of the stage with others from out front and around the drum stand - noting it as the drum kit lit up like an encounter from the third kind. He continued on the speakers hanging from the coliseum's ceiling and front wall of the building adjacent to the stage with amplifiers behind the band, comparing it to a mountain range in aluminum. He would criticize the acoustics though as it did muddle Eddie Van Halen's playing. He praised David Lee Roth as still having the moves and hitting home with unerring accuracy, but had criticized his voice as being only average, stating his trademark squeal should have been forgotten long ago. He concluded his review, stating that the sold out audience got what they paid for. ^[5]

Jim Bruce from The Windsor Star who attended the Cobo Arena show in Detroit, opening his review, noting on how all three of the shows that had sold out had translated to 50,000 fans aged between 15 and 25, with tremendous amounts of emotion given when the band had arrived on stage to which he described their entrance as if they appeared in a blaze of flashing light, adding that he thought Armageddon had arrived. He praised all four of the members in the band, citing them as proven master musicians - also referring to Eddie Van Halen as exceptionally fine lead guitarist. He concluded his review, stating that the audience at the conclusion of the show left with smiles on their faces instead of chips on their shoulders. ^[6]

Jennifer Towell from The Montreal Gazette opened her review, noting on how the band showed everything in agreement to a banner fans made which declared: "Disco Sucks". She added that the noise level wasn't no accident as the band had brought more than 100 speakers to produce the sound that in comparison, had outblasted any record banned on the regular family stereo. She praised Eddie and Alex's musical accompaniment, saying it was the perfect complement to Roth's "sexually immodest gyrations". ^[7]

Setlist

Songs played overall "On Fire" "Sinner's Swing!" Alex Van Halen drum solo "Hear About It Later" "So This Is Love?" "Jamie's Cryin'" Michael Anthony bass solo "Runnin' with the Devil" "Dance the Night Away" "Sunday Afternoon in the Park" and "Romeo Delight" "Summertime Blues" (Eddie Cochran cover) "Everybody Wants Some!!" "Ice Cream Man" (John Brim cover) "Mean Street" Eddie Van Halen guitar solo ["Eruption", "Spanish Fly", "Women in Love..." (Intro) and "Cathedral"] "Lucille" (Little Richard cover) "Feel Your Love Tonight" "You Really Got Me" (The Kinks cover) Encore "Unchained" "Growth" + "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love"

Typical set list "On Fire" "Sinner's Swing!" "Alex Van Halen drum solo" "Hear About It Later" "So This Is Love?" "Jamie's Cryin'" Michael Anthony bass solo "Runnin' with the Devil" "Dance the Night Away" "Sunday Afternoon in the Park" and "Romeo Delight" "Everybody Wants Some!!" "Ice Cream Man" (John Brim cover) "Mean Street" Eddie Van Halen guitar solo ["Eruption", "Spanish Fly", "Women in Love..." (Intro) and "Cathedral"] "Feel Your Love Tonight" "You Really Got Me" (The Kinks cover) Encore "Unchained" "Growth" and "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love"

Tour dates

List of concerts, showing date, city, country and venue

Date  [8]	City	Country	Venue
North America
May 12, 1981	Halifax	Canada	Halifax Metro Centre
May 15, 1981	Providence	United States	Providence Civic Center
May 16, 1981	Portland		Cumberland County Civic Center
May 17, 1981	Glens Falls		Glens Falls Civic Center
May 18, 1981	Rochester		Rochester Community War Memorial Arena
May 20, 1981	Charleston		Charleston Civic Center
May 22, 1981	Louisville		Freedom Hall
May 23, 1981	Dayton		Hara Arena
May 24, 1981	Kalamazoo		Wings Stadium
May 27, 1981	Edmonton	Canada	Northlands Coliseum
May 28, 1981	Calgary		Stampede Corral
May 31, 1981	Spokane	United States	Spokane Coliseum
June 2, 1981	Vancouver	Canada	Pacific Coliseum
June 4, 1981	Seattle	United States	Seattle Coliseum
June 5, 1981
June 8, 1981	Portland		Veterans Memorial Coliseum
June 9, 1981
June 11, 1981	Oakland		Oakland Arena
June 12, 1981
June 13, 1981
June 16, 1981	Las Vegas		Aladdin Theatre
June 18, 1981	Fresno		Selland Arena
June 19, 1981	Los Angeles		Los Angeles Sports Arena
June 20, 1981	Inglewood		The Forum
June 21, 1981
July 2, 1981	Milwaukee		MECCA Arena
July 3, 1981	Detroit		Cobo Arena
July 4, 1981
July 5, 1981
July 7, 1981	Saint Paul		St. Paul Civic Center
July 9, 1981	Indianapolis		Market Square Arena
July 10, 1981	Chicago		International Amphitheatre
July 11, 1981
July 12, 1981	Madison		Dane County Veterans Memorial Coliseum
July 14, 1981	Pittsburgh		Pittsburgh Civic Arena
July 16, 1981	New Haven		New Haven Coliseum
July 17, 1981	New York City		Madison Square Garden
July 18, 1981	Uniondale		Nassau Coliseum
July 20, 1981	Philadelphia		Spectrum
July 21, 1981
July 22, 1981
July 24, 1981	Boston		Boston Garden
July 25, 1981
July 27, 1981	Roanoke		Roanoke Civic Center
July 28, 1981	Landover		Capital Centre
July 29, 1981
July 31, 1981	Buffalo		Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
August 2, 1981	Richfield		Richfield Coliseum
August 3, 1981
August 4, 1981	Toronto	Canada	Maple Leaf Gardens
August 5, 1981	Montreal		Montreal Forum
August 18, 1981	Pembroke Pines	United States	Hollywood Sportatorium
August 19, 1981	Lakeland		Lakeland Civic Center
August 22, 1981	Atlanta		Omni Coliseum
August 23, 1981	Knoxville		Knoxville Civic Coliseum
August 24, 1981	Charlotte		Charlotte Coliseum
August 25, 1981	Greensboro		Greensboro Coliseum
August 27, 1981	Hampton		Hampton Coliseum
August 29, 1981	Cincinnati		Riverfront Coliseum
August 30, 1981	Nashville		Nashville Municipal Auditorium
August 31, 1981	Birmingham		Jefferson Civic Center
September 1, 1981	Memphis		Mid-South Coliseum
September 3, 1981	Huntsville		Von Braun Civic Center
September 4, 1981	Jackson		Mississippi Coliseum
September 5, 1981	Biloxi		Mississippi Coast Coliseum
September 6, 1981	Baton Rouge		Riverside Centroplex
September 8, 1981	Shreveport		Hirsch Memorial Coliseum
September 10, 1981	Dallas		Reunion Arena
September 11, 1981
September 12, 1981	Houston		Sam Houston Coliseum
September 13, 1981
September 28, 1981	Phoenix		Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
September 29, 1981	San Diego		San Diego Sports Arena
October 2, 1981	Austin		Frank Erwin Center
October 3, 1981	Norman		Lloyd Noble Center
October 6, 1981	Albuquerque		Tingley Coliseum
October 7, 1981	El Paso		El Paso County Coliseum
October 9, 1981	San Antonio		San Antonio Convention Center
October 15, 1981	Tulsa		Tulsa Assembly Center
October 16, 1981	Valley Center		Kansas Coliseum
October 17, 1981	Kansas City		Kemper Arena
October 18, 1981	St. Louis		Checkerdome
October 20, 1981	Omaha		Omaha Civic Auditorium
October 21, 1981	Cedar Rapids		Five Seasons Arena
October 24, 1981	Orlando		Tangerine Bowl
October 25, 1981

Box office score data

List of box office score data with date, city, venue, attendance, gross, references

Date (1981)	City	Venue	Attendance	Gross	Ref(s)
July 12	Madison, United States	Coliseum	8,346	$71,886	[9]
July 14	Pittsburgh, United States	Civic Arena	13,374	$129,052	[10]
July 16	New Haven, United States	Coliseum	9,832	$92,640
July 20–22	Philadelphia, United States	Spectrum	36,339	$355,380	[11]
July 24–25	Boston, United States	Garden	24,200	$249,946
July 28	Indianapolis, United States	Market Square Arena	15,500	$126,250	[12]
August 19	Lakeland, United States	Civic Center	10,000	$95,000	[13]
August 29	Cincinnati, United States	Coliseum	9,897	$98,679	[14]
August 30	Nashville, United States	Municipal Auditorium	9,055	$80,603
August 31	Birmingham, United States	Civic Center	9,542	$82,978	[15]
September 1	Memphis, United States	Coliseum	10,369	$98,506
September 4	Jackson, United States	Coliseum	8,297	$78,822
October 2	Austin, United States	Frank Erwin Center	17,617	$104,734	[16]
October 15	Tulsa, United States	Assembly Center	7,157	$67,458	[17]
October 18	St. Louis, United States	Checkerdome	14,082	$127,395

Personnel

• Eddie Van Halen – guitar, backing vocals, keyboards
• David Lee Roth – lead vocals, acoustic guitar
• Michael Anthony – bass, backing vocals, keyboards
• Alex Van Halen – drums

References

Citations

1. Christopher 2021, p. 70.
2. Christopher 2021, pp. 70–71.
3. Gerard, Eric (October 24, 1981). "These fans came to get satisfaction". St. Petersburg, Florida: The Evening Independent. p. 12-A. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
4. "Rolling Stones Set Second Concert After Sellout". Daytona Beach, Florida: Daytona Beach Morning Journal. October 3, 1981. p. 2D. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
5. Adair, Don (June 1, 1981). "Van Halen: They got what they paid for". Spokane, Washington: The Spokesman-Review. p. 15. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
6. Bruce, Jim (July 11, 1981). "Rock concert more ritual than music". Windsor, Ontario: The Windsor Star. p. C5. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
7. Towell, Jennifer (August 6, 1981). "Loyal fans knew their Van Halen". Montreal, Quebec: The Montreal Gazette. p. 43. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
8. "Van Halen Tour: 1981". vharchives.com. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
9. "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 93, no. 29. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. July 25, 1981. p. 37. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved March 15, 2022.
10. "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 93, no. 30. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. August 1, 1981. p. 40. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved March 15, 2022.
11. "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 93, no. 31. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. August 8, 1981. p. 41. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved March 15, 2022.
12. "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 93, no. 32. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. August 15, 1981. p. 35. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved March 15, 2022.
13. "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 93, no. 35. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. September 5, 1981. p. 45. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved March 15, 2022.
14. "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 93, no. 36. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. September 12, 1981. p. 52. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved March 15, 2022.
15. "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 93, no. 37. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. September 19, 1981. p. 43. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved March 15, 2022.
16. "Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 93, no. 41. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. October 17, 1981. p. 38. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved March 15, 2022.
17. "Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 93, no. 43. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. October 31, 1981. p. 86. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved March 15, 2022.

General sources

• Christopher, Michael (2021). Van Halen: The Eruption and the Aftershock. Lanham, Maryland: Backbeat. ISBN   9781493062102.