Van Halen World Invasion Tour

World Invasion Tour

Tour by Van Halen
Location	North America Europe
Associated album	Women and Children First
Start date	March 19, 1980 (1980-03-19)
End date	November 15, 1980 (1980-11-15)
Legs	3
No. of shows	124
Van Halen concert chronology
World Vacation Tour (1979) World Invasion Tour (1980) Fair Warning Tour (1981)

The World Invasion Tour was a concert tour by hard rock band Van Halen in support of their third studio album, Women and Children First .

Background

The tour was dubbed the "Party 'til You Die Tour" by the band. ^[1] The tour is notable for being the first time the band played keyboards live during their shows, which would later play a role on the band's next three studio albums. The band skipped Japan on the tour, focused on playing in other smaller cities in North America, with a month of performances in Europe. ^[2] Unlike the previous tours, this tour had ended up more successful. ^[3] During the performance in Cincinnati, Roth was accused of inciting others to violate the fire code when he told the crowd to "light 'em up!", urging them to smoke with the audience lighting both matches and lighters during the song "Light Up the Sky". He was written up and later charged for violating fire codes. ^[4] He would later break his nose during a television appearance in Italy when he did his famous leap, hitting a light fixture. ^[5]

During the tour, the band had carried 50 tons of equipment, and 850,000 watts of lighting which Alex Van Halen stated would be in the Guinness Book of World Records. ^[6] The extensive stage itself featured a plane of multi-colored lights, choreographed with each song performed, with multi-platform stage to the right side where Eddie Van Halen would perform a guitar solo with seven lights pointing at him from behind to create a silhouette effect. ^[7] Before every show, Van Halen demanded that in their dressing rooms that they'd have two pounds of M&M's with all the brown ones removed. ^[8]

Set list

Songs played overall "Romeo Delight" "Bottoms Up!" Alex Van Halen drum solo "Runnin' with the Devil" "Tora! Tora!" and "Loss of Control" "Take Your Whiskey Home" "Dance the Night Away" "Women in Love..." "Jamie's Cryin'" "Feel Your Love Tonight" "Bright Lights, Big City" ("Jimmy Reed" cover) "Atomic Punk" "Everybody Wants Some!!" "And the Cradle Will Rock..." "Somebody Get Me a Doctor" "Light Up the Sky" "On Fire" Eddie Van Halen guitar solo, "Eruption", "Spanish Fly" and "Cathedral" "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" Encore "Ice Cream Man" ("John Brim" cover) "Growth" and "You Really Got Me" ("The Kinks" cover)

Typical set list "Romeo Delight" "Bottoms Up!" Alex Van Halen drum solo "Runnin' with the Devil" "Tora! Tora! + Loss of Control" "Take Your Whiskey Home" "Dance the Night Away" "Women in Love..." "Jamie's Cryin'" "Bright Lights, Big City" ("Jimmy Reed" cover) "Everybody Wants Some!!" "And the Cradle Will Rock..." "On Fire" Eddie Van Halen guitar solo, "Eruption", "Spanish Fly" and "Cathedral" "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" Encore "Ice Cream Man" ("John Brim" cover) "Growth" and "You Really Got Me" ("The Kinks" cover)

Tour dates

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

Date [9]	City	Country	Venue
North America
March 19, 1980	Victoria	Canada	Victoria Memorial Arena
March 21, 1980	Central Point	United States	Compton Arena
March 22, 1980	Eugene		McArthur Court
March 24, 1980	Spokane		Spokane Coliseum
March 25, 1980	Great Falls		Four Seasons Arena
March 26, 1980	Missoula		Adams Field House
March 29, 1980	Fort Collins		Moby Gym
March 30, 1980	Pueblo		Massari Gym
April 2, 1980	Vancouver	Canada	Pacific Coliseum
April 3, 1980	Portland	United States	Portland Memorial Coliseum
April 4, 1980	Seattle		Seattle Center Coliseum
April 5, 1980
April 7, 1980	Calgary	Canada	Stampede Corral
April 8, 1980	Edmonton		Northlands Coliseum
April 11, 1980	Winnipeg		Winnipeg Arena
April 13, 1980	Saint Paul	United States	St. Paul Civic Center
April 14, 1980	Milwaukee		MECCA Arena
April 15, 1980	Madison		Dane County Veterans Memorial Coliseum
April 24, 1980	Cincinnati		Riverfront Coliseum
April 26, 1980	Detroit		Cobo Arena
April 27, 1980
April 29, 1980	Richfield		Richfield Coliseum
April 30, 1980	Pittsburgh		Pittsburgh Civic Arena
May 1, 1980	Landover		Capital Centre
May 2, 1980	Binghamton		Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena
May 3, 1980	South Yarmouth		Cape Cod Coliseum
May 5, 1980	Buffalo		Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
May 6, 1980	Rochester		Rochester Community War Memorial Arena
May 7, 1980	Philadelphia		Spectrum
May 8, 1980
May 9, 1980	New Haven		New Haven Coliseum
Europe
May 26, 1980	Geleen	Netherlands	Burgemeester Damen Sportpark ( Pinkpop Festival ) [10]
May 27, 1980	Ludwigshafen	West Germany	Friedrich-Ebert-Halle
May 29, 1980	Essen		Grugahalle
May 30, 1980	Hamburg		Ernst-Merck-Halle
May 31, 1980	Cambrai	France	Grottos Palace
June 1, 1980	Caen		Caen Expo Hall
June 3, 1980	Paris		Palais des Sports
June 4, 1980	Lyon		Palais des Sports de Gerland
June 6, 1980	Reims		Reims Sports Palace
June 7, 1980	Würzburg	West Germany	Carl Diem Hall
June 8, 1980	Neunkirchen		Hemmerleinhalle
June 10, 1980	Düsseldorf		Philips Hall
June 11, 1980	Sindelfingen		Messehalle
June 14, 1980	Munich		Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle
June 17, 1980	Newcastle	England	Newcastle City Hall
June 18, 1980	Glasgow	Scotland	The Apollo
June 19, 1980	Manchester	England	Manchester Apollo
June 20, 1980	Leicester		De Montfort Hall
June 22, 1980	Birmingham		Birmingham Odeon
June 23, 1980	London		Rainbow Theatre
June 24, 1980
North America
July 10, 1980	Kalamazoo	United States	Wings Stadium
July 11, 1980	Toledo		Toledo Sports Arena
July 12, 1980	Fort Wayne		Allen County War Memorial Coliseum
July 13, 1980	Huntington		Huntington Civic Center
July 15, 1980	Montreal	Canada	Montreal Forum
July 16, 1980	Ottawa		Ottawa Civic Center
July 17, 1980	London		London Gardens
July 18, 1980	Toronto		Maple Leaf Gardens
July 21, 1980	Hampton	United States	Hampton Coliseum
July 22, 1980	Baltimore		Baltimore Civic Center
July 24, 1980	Hartford		Hartford Civic Center
July 25, 1980	Boston		Boston Garden
July 26, 1980	Hempstead		Nassau Coliseum
July 28, 1980	Louisville		Freedom Hall
July 29, 1980	Chicago		International Amphitheatre
July 30, 1980	Indianapolis		Market Square Arena
July 31, 1980	St. Louis		Checkerdome
August 1, 1980	Memphis		Mid-South Coliseum
August 2, 1980	Little Rock		Barton Coliseum
August 4, 1980	Birmingham		Jefferson Civic Center
August 5, 1980	Nashville		Nashville Municipal Auditorium
August 6, 1980	Atlanta		Omni Coliseum
August 8, 1980	Lakeland		Lakeland Civic Center
August 9, 1980	Pembroke Pines		Hollywood Sportatorium
August 10, 1980	Jacksonville		Jacksonville Coliseum
August 11, 1980	North Fort Myers		Lee County Civic Center
August 15, 1980	San Juan	Puerto Rico	Roberto Clemente Coliseum
August 16, 1980
August 22, 1980	Kansas City	United States	Kemper Arena
August 23, 1980	Omaha		Omaha Civic Auditorium
August 24, 1980	Salina		Bicentennial Center
August 26, 1980	Corpus Christi		Corpus Christi Memorial Coliseum
August 27, 1980	San Antonio		San Antonio Convention Center
August 28, 1980	Houston		Sam Houston Coliseum
August 29, 1980	Shreveport		Hirsch Memorial Coliseum
August 30, 1980	Baton Rouge		Riverside Centroplex
September 1, 1980	Mobile		Mobile Municipal Auditorium
September 2, 1980	Jackson		Mississippi Coliseum
September 3, 1980	Beaumont		Fair Park Coliseum
September 4, 1980	Dallas		Reunion Arena
September 6, 1980	Norman		Owen Field (Roklahoma)
September 7, 1980	Amarillo		Amarillo Civic Center
September 8, 1980
September 9, 1980	Lubbock		Lubbock Municipal Coliseum
September 10, 1980	Albuquerque		University of New Mexico Arena
September 12, 1980	Denver		McNichols Sports Arena
September 13, 1980
September 15, 1980	Phoenix		Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
September 16, 1980	Tucson		Tucson Community Center
September 18, 1980	Fresno		Selland Arena
September 19, 1980	Los Angeles		Los Angeles Sports Arena
September 20, 1980
October 3, 1980	Rapid City		Rushmore Plaza Civic Center
October 4, 1980	Bismarck		Bismarck Civic Center
October 6, 1980	Salt Lake City		Salt Palace
October 9, 1980	Oakland		Oakland Arena
October 10, 1980
October 12, 1980	San Diego		San Diego Sports Arena
October 15, 1980	Sioux Falls		Sioux Falls Arena
October 16, 1980	Des Moines		Des Moines Veterans Memorial Auditorium
October 17, 1980	Lincoln		Pershing Memorial Auditorium
October 19, 1980	Macomb		Western Hall
October 21, 1980	Terre Haute		Hulman Arena
October 22, 1980	Lexington		Rupp Arena
October 24, 1980	Knoxville		Knoxville Civic Coliseum
October 25, 1980	Johnson City		Freedom Hall
October 31, 1980	Macon		Macon Coliseum
November 1, 1980	Augusta		Augusta Civic Center
November 2, 1980	Asheville		Asheville Civic Center
November 5, 1980	Champaign		Assembly Hall
November 6, 1980	Notre Dame		Notre Dame Athletics and Convocation Center
November 7, 1980	Evansville		Roberts Municipal Stadium
November 8, 1980	Huntsville		Von Braun Civic Center
November 11, 1980	Winston-Salem		Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum
November 12, 1980	Savannah		Savannah Civic Center
November 14, 1980	St. Petersburg		Bayfront Center
November 15, 1980	Lakeland		Lakeland Civic Center

Box office score data

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

Date (1980)	City	Venue	Attendance	Gross	Ref(s)
July 18	Toronto, Canada	Maple Leaf Gardens	14,955	$150,706	[11]
July 24	Hartford, United States	Civic Center	13,300	$119,151	[12]
July 25	Boston, United States	Boston Gardens	12,000	$118,104	[13]
July 28	Louisville, United States	Freedom Hall	13,436	$105,038	[12]
July 30	Indianapolis, United States	Market Square Arena	14,000	$104,209	[13]
July 31	St. Louis, United States	Checkerdome Theatre	13,320	$117,451
August 1	Memphis, United States	South Coliseum	10,154	$83,608
August 4	Birmingham, United States	Jefferson Civic Center	11,146	$93,790
September 4	Dallas, United States	Reunion Arena	14,177	$127,593	[14]
September 6	Norman, United States	Owen Field	31,611	$410,652
September 18	Fresno, United States	Selland Arena	7,030	$61,161	[15]
October 9–10	Oakland, United States	Coliseum	23,178	$210,669	[16]

Personnel

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

References

Citations

1. Christopher 2021, p. 59.
2. Tolinski 2021. sfn error: no target: CITEREFTolinski2021 (help)
3. Gulla 2009, p. 215.
4. "Lit matches, hot water". Spokane, Washington: The Spokesman-Review. April 26, 1980. p. 5. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
5. "Van Halen's Singer Breaks Nose in Leap". Reading, Pennsylvania: Reading Eagle. June 8, 1980. p. 80. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
6. Greer, Jonathan (August 11, 1980). "Big equipment and "Best Rock Guitarist" make up that big Van Halen sound". St. Petersburg Times. p. 2D. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
7. Yagle, Timothy (June 5, 1980). "Van Halen: Hard rock that won't go away". Ann Arbor, Michigan: The Michigan Daily. p. 6. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
8. Harrington, Richard (September 20, 1980). "Bands' demands are stranger than fiction". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. p. 6-C. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
9. "Van Halen Tour Dates". Archived from the original on 2007-08-24. Retrieved 2007-09-01.
10. Panter, Horace (2009). Ska'd for Life: A Personal Journey with The Specials. London: Pan Macmillan. p. 197. ISBN   9780330508216.
11. "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 92, no. 31. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. August 2, 1980. p. 36. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved March 15, 2022.
12. "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 92, no. 32. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. August 9, 1980. p. 34. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved March 15, 2022.
13. "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 92, no. 32. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. August 16, 1980. p. 27. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved March 15, 2022.
14. "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 92, no. 38. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. September 20, 1980. p. 57. ISSN   0006-2510.
15. "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 92, no. 40. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. October 4, 1980. p. 37. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved March 15, 2022.
16. "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 92, no. 43. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. October 25, 1980. p. 30. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved March 15, 2022.

General sources

• Gulla, Bob (2009). Guitar Gods: The 25 Players Who Made Rock History. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN   9780313358067.
• Tolinski, Brad; Gill, Chris (2021). Eruption: Conversations with Eddie Van Halen (First ed.). New York, New York: Hachette Books. ISBN   9780306826672.
• Christopher, Michael (2021). Van Halen: The Eruption and the Aftershock. Lanham, Maryland: Backbeat. ISBN   9781493062102.